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How to upgrade a Heroku PostgreSQL database to a new plan
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how-to-upgrade-heroku-postgresql.md

How to upgrade a Heroku PostgreSQL database to a new plan

I started a project on a Hobby Dev plan (free, limit 10,000 rows), and then later needed to upgrade it to Hobby Basic ($9/month, limit 10,000,000 rows).

After assigning the new database, I had two databases attached to the application. They looked something like this:

  • HEROKU_POSTGRESQL_OLIVE (postgresql-dimensional-3321) Old, free-tier (Hobby Dev) database
  • HEROKU_POSTGRESQL_COPPER (postgresql-perpendicular-6628) New Hobby Basic, $9/month database

Here's how I ran the upgrade:

heroku maintenance:on
heroku pg:copy DATABASE_URL HEROKU_POSTGRESQL_COPPER_URL
heroku pg:promote HEROKU_POSTGRESQL_COPPER
heroku maintenance:off

The pg:promote command set the DATABASE_URL environment variable to the new database.

More instructions: https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/upgrading-heroku-postgres-databases#upgrade-with-pg-copy-default

@levarberry
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levarberry commented Jan 12, 2020

You should teach Heroku how to write documents. Their own documentation made no sense. This is straight to the point.

@armenarmen
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armenarmen commented Feb 28, 2020

I'm with @levarberry on that

@skalibog
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skalibog commented May 13, 2020

Agree with @levarberry

@rakib06
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rakib06 commented Jun 21, 2020

Thank you so much

@anirudhsama
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anirudhsama commented Aug 30, 2020

Very useful, thanks!

@Antoine-lb
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Antoine-lb commented Oct 6, 2020

+1, @levarberry agree

@fakefarm
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fakefarm commented Nov 17, 2020

LIKE.A.GLOVE 💯

@galbrecht18
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galbrecht18 commented Nov 18, 2020

Mucho thanks for this. Agreed with all on this thread, Heroku's documentation sucked on this. You'd think they'd want to make it very clear and visible for something that makes them more money.

@sgino209
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sgino209 commented Dec 13, 2020

Thank you very much, fully agree with levarberry...

@uhw76tgwquerhjbqwnejk
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uhw76tgwquerhjbqwnejk commented Dec 20, 2020

The hero we need.

@jonsinclair1
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jonsinclair1 commented Jan 2, 2021

Amazing. Thank you

@takaria0
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takaria0 commented Apr 5, 2021

Super nice, thank you so much.

@a1iraxa
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a1iraxa commented Jun 16, 2021

Heroku should learn amazing skills from you.

@skyforest
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skyforest commented Dec 7, 2021

🤗 for this

@peternixey
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peternixey commented Dec 17, 2021

Thanks Simon - very helpful. One thing to add is that if you have multiple apps you will also need to include the app name:

heroku maintenance:on -a yourappname
heroku pg:copy DATABASE_URL HEROKU_POSTGRESQL_COPPER_URL -a yourappname
heroku pg:promote HEROKU_POSTGRESQL_COPPER -a yourappname
heroku maintenance:off -a yourappname

@amman20
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amman20 commented Jun 28, 2022

Many Thanks @simonw & @peternixey for sharing this

@lastnamehurt
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lastnamehurt commented Jul 1, 2022

Thanks all. Heroku was great until I needed to rely on their docs for a damn db upgrade! How in the hell do they send an email stating I need to upgrade asap without comprehensive docs on how to do so!?

@Innarticles
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Innarticles commented Aug 31, 2022

Still my go-to place for PG upgrades!

@jdowning
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jdowning commented Nov 7, 2022

As of today, you can upgrade these databases with one command:

heroku addons:upgrade DATABASE_URL heroku-postgresql:mini --app myapp

This will change the plan but not require any maintenance or data migration. This only works for "in kind" Essential-tier database plan changes (hobby-dev, hobby-basic, mini, basic). If you want to change plans to another, larger plan, you'll need to use Simon's instructions. 💜

@ranmax123
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ranmax123 commented May 11, 2023

HEROKU_POSTGRESQL_COPPER_URL -> what is this for? I created a Python django heroku app and a postgre db addon in another app. But this HEROKU_POSTGRESQL_COPPER_URL came? Can I delete this? Otherwise, I have to pay for two databases

@kikikiblue
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kikikiblue commented May 30, 2025

It still works great!! Thanks.

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