diff --git a/recipes/settings.py b/recipes/settings.py
index 0b5d200e..a0ca67a9 100644
--- a/recipes/settings.py
+++ b/recipes/settings.py
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.0/ref/settings/
 """
 import ast
 import os
+import random
+import re
+import string
 
 from django.contrib import messages
 from django.contrib.staticfiles.storage import staticfiles_storage
@@ -180,18 +183,45 @@ 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',
-        'OPTIONS': ast.literal_eval(os.getenv('DB_OPTIONS')) if os.getenv('DB_OPTIONS') else {},
-        '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',
-        'CONN_MAX_AGE': 600,
+if os.getenv('DATABASE_URL'):
+    match = re.match(
+        r'(?P<schema>\w+):\/\/(?P<user>[\w\d_-]+)(:(?P<password>[^@]+))?@(?P<host>[^:/]+)(:(?P<port>\d+))?(\/(?P<database>[\w\d_-]+))?',
+        os.getenv('DATABASE_URL')
+    )
+    settings = match.groupdict()
+    schema = settings['schema']
+    if schema.startswith('postgres'):
+        engine = 'django.db.backends.postgresql'
+    elif schema == 'sqlite':
+        engine = 'django.db.backends.sqlite3'
+    else:
+        raise Exception("Unsupported database schema: '%s'" % schema)
+
+    DATABASES = {
+        'default': {
+            'ENGINE': engine,
+            'OPTIONS': ast.literal_eval(os.getenv('DB_OPTIONS')) if os.getenv('DB_OPTIONS') else {},
+            'HOST': settings['host'],
+            'PORT': settings['port'],
+            'USER': settings['user'],
+            'PASSWORD': settings['password'],
+            'NAME': settings['database'],
+            'CONN_MAX_AGE': 600,
+        }
+    }
+else:
+    DATABASES = {
+        'default': {
+            'ENGINE': os.getenv('DB_ENGINE') if os.getenv('DB_ENGINE') else 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
+            'OPTIONS': ast.literal_eval(os.getenv('DB_OPTIONS')) if os.getenv('DB_OPTIONS') else {},
+            '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',
+            'CONN_MAX_AGE': 600,
+        }
     }
-}
 
 # Vue webpack settings
 VUE_DIR = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'vue')