Sure, for 1.5 grand a month, you can get a crazy amount of dedicated hardware, but then, that's one-half to one-third of one developer's salary. Heroku charges

Sure, for 1.5 grand a month, you can get a crazy amount of dedicated hardware, but then, that's one-half to one-third of one developer's salary. Heroku charges a premium to save on developer time (and hopefully benefit from economies of scale).