diff --git a/recipes/settings.py b/recipes/settings.py
index 3105c67f..62b54cd0 100644
--- a/recipes/settings.py
+++ b/recipes/settings.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import string
 from django.contrib import messages
 from django.utils.translation import gettext_lazy as _
 from dotenv import load_dotenv
+import dj_database_url
 
 BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
 
@@ -172,16 +173,21 @@ WSGI_APPLICATION = 'recipes.wsgi.application'
 
 # Database
 # Load settings from env files
-DATABASES = {
-    'default': {
-        'ENGINE': os.getenv('DB_ENGINE') if os.getenv('DB_ENGINE') else 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
-        'HOST': os.getenv('POSTGRES_HOST'),
-        'PORT': os.getenv('POSTGRES_PORT'),
-        'USER': os.getenv('POSTGRES_USER'),
-        'PASSWORD': os.getenv('POSTGRES_PASSWORD'),
-        'NAME': os.getenv('POSTGRES_DB') if os.getenv('POSTGRES_DB') else 'db.sqlite3',
+if os.getenv('DATABASE_URL'):
+    DATABASES = {
+        'default': dj_database_url.config(conn_max_age=600)
+    }
+else:
+    DATABASES = {
+        'default': {
+            'ENGINE': os.getenv('DB_ENGINE') if os.getenv('DB_ENGINE') else 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
+            'HOST': os.getenv('POSTGRES_HOST'),
+            'PORT': os.getenv('POSTGRES_PORT'),
+            'USER': os.getenv('POSTGRES_USER'),
+            'PASSWORD': os.getenv('POSTGRES_PASSWORD'),
+            'NAME': os.getenv('POSTGRES_DB') if os.getenv('POSTGRES_DB') else 'db.sqlite3',
+        }
     }
-}
 
 # Vue webpack settings
 VUE_DIR = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'vue')
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 61dce5f9..210c6e97 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -31,3 +31,4 @@ Jinja2==2.11.3
 django-webpack-loader==0.7.0
 django-js-reverse==0.9.1
 django-allauth==0.44.0
+dj-database-url==0.5.0
\ No newline at end of file