Heroku Dyno

Required Heroku Dyno Attributes

The following cost calculation tags are required for traces originating from Heroku dynos.

Always Required Fields

These fields are always required for Heroku dyno cost calculation:

Attribute Name	Example Value	Allowed Values
cloud.platform	heroku_dyno	heroku_dyno
service.name	my-heroku-app	Your Heroku app name
host.id	web.1	Heroku dyno instance name (from DYNO env var)
host.type	Standard-1X	See supported dyno types
cloud.region	us	us, eu

Why service.name matters

Heroku dyno names like web.1 and worker.1 are not globally unique — every Heroku app has its own web.1. If you run multiple Heroku apps, service.name is what distinguishes them. Without it, Beakpoint cannot tell whether two web.1 spans came from the same app or different apps, which leads to incorrect cost splitting.

Set service.name to your Heroku app name (e.g., my-api, my-worker). This is standard OpenTelemetry practice and most SDKs set it by default.

Optional Fields

These fields provide additional context but are not required for cost calculation to work:

Attribute Name	Example Value	Allowed Values	Purpose
cloud.provider	heroku	heroku	Identifies the cloud provider; helps organize costs by platform

Supported Dyno Types

Dyno Type	Memory	CPU	Monthly Cost
Basic	512 MB	Shared	$7
Standard-1X	512 MB	Shared	$25
Standard-2X	1 GB	Shared	$50
Performance-M	2.5 GB	Dedicated	$250
Performance-L	14 GB	Dedicated	$500
Performance-L-RAM	30 GB	Dedicated	$500
Performance-XL	62 GB	Dedicated	$750
Performance-2XL	126 GB	Dedicated	$1,500
Private-S	1 GB	Dedicated	$125
Private-M	2.5 GB	Dedicated	$250
Private-L	14 GB	Dedicated	$500
Private-L-RAM	30 GB	Dedicated	$500
Private-XL	62 GB	Dedicated	$750
Private-2XL	126 GB	Dedicated	$1,500
Shield-S	1 GB	Dedicated	$150
Shield-M	2.5 GB	Dedicated	$300
Shield-L	14 GB	Dedicated	$600
Shield-L-RAM	30 GB	Dedicated	$600
Shield-XL	62 GB	Dedicated	$900
Shield-2XL	126 GB	Dedicated	$1,800

note

Eco dynos are not supported. Eco dynos use a shared-pool pricing model ($5/month for 1000 hours across all Eco dynos) that cannot be accurately attributed to individual spans. Consider upgrading to a Standard dyno if you need span-level cost tracking.

Fir generation dynos are not yet supported. This includes dyno types like dyno-2c-8gb. Currently, only Cedar-generation dynos (listed above) are supported for cost calculation. Check your dyno type with heroku dyno:type --app <app-name>.

Cost Calculation

Heroku dynos are priced at a fixed monthly rate. Beakpoint converts this to an hourly rate using 730 hours/month and calculates cost per span based on span duration:

cost = (span_duration_seconds / 3600) × (monthly_price / 730)

When multiple spans execute concurrently on the same dyno instance (identified by service.name + host.id), costs are proportionally shared using a time-sharing algorithm. Spans running on different dyno instances are priced independently.

Example Configuration

Set these as OpenTelemetry resource attributes in your application. The DYNO and other values are automatically set by Heroku at runtime:

export OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES="service.name=my-heroku-app,cloud.platform=heroku_dyno,host.id=${DYNO},host.type=Standard-1X,cloud.region=us,cloud.provider=heroku"

For Python (using OpenTelemetry SDK):

from opentelemetry.sdk.resources import Resource

resource = Resource.create({
    "service.name": "my-heroku-app",
    "cloud.platform": "heroku_dyno",
    "host.id": os.environ.get("DYNO"),
    "host.type": "Standard-1X",
    "cloud.region": "us",
    "cloud.provider": "heroku",
})

tip

Heroku automatically sets the DYNO environment variable on every dyno (e.g., web.1, worker.2). Use this as host.id to uniquely identify each dyno instance and ensure correct cost attribution. This guarantees that concurrent spans on the same dyno share costs proportionally, while spans on different dynos are priced independently.

Attribute Mapping

Beakpoint Insights Attribute	Source	Notes
service.name	Application configuration	Your Heroku app name — distinguishes apps that share dyno names
cloud.platform	Static configuration	Always heroku_dyno
host.id	DYNO environment variable	Set automatically by Heroku (e.g., web.1, worker.2)
host.type	Heroku dyno configuration	Must match a supported dyno type exactly (case-sensitive)
cloud.region	Heroku app settings	us for United States, eu for Europe
cloud.provider	Static configuration	Optional, always heroku

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Missing or Incorrect Attributes

Missing service.name: Without this attribute, Beakpoint cannot distinguish between the same dyno type running in different apps. This causes cost data to be merged incorrectly. Always verify that your telemetry instrumentation sets service.name to your Heroku app name.

Mismatched host.type: The dyno type must match exactly (case-sensitive). Use Standard-1X, not standard-1x or Standard 1X. If the dyno type is not recognized, it won't be priced.

Wrong cloud.region: Ensure cloud.region matches where your Heroku app actually runs. Check your app's region with heroku info --app <app-name> and set cloud.region to us or eu accordingly.

Cost Calculation Issues

Zero or unexpected costs: Verify that:

1. All required attributes are present and correctly formatted
2. The span duration is non-zero
3. The dyno type exists in the supported list
4. The application is receiving and exporting spans correctly

Eco dynos showing no cost: Eco dynos use a shared-pool pricing model and are intentionally not supported. Upgrade to a Standard-tier dyno for accurate span-based cost tracking.