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Netlify vs Vercel

Two frontend cloud options for hosting. When each fits, what it costs, who moves from one to the other, and what makers who chose it say.

NetlifyFrontend cloudllms.txtIn Bolt
VercelFrontend cloudllms.txtMCPCLIIn v0
Ask your AI about this, with this page as the source:ChatGPT ↗Claude ↗Perplexity ↗

Which fits you

Choose Netlify if
  • You built a Next.js or other frontend-heavy app and want preview URLs on every pull request

Use it whenYour site is static or JAMstack on a framework other than Next.js.

Trade-offServer-side features run as functions with time limits; long-running work needs another host.

Choose Vercel if
  • You built a Next.js or other frontend-heavy app and want preview URLs on every pull request

Use it whenYour app is Next.js, or you want a preview URL on every pull request with no setup.

Trade-offThe Hobby plan is non-commercial; costs grow with usage.

At a glance

NetlifyVercel
Used by239 makers' products · 54 open-source projectsNo maker's product yet
Cost at default usagerequests 5 million requests, data transfer out 100 GB, serverless function compute 100 GB-hours$27/mo Pro 3,000 credits$40/mo Pro + Flat Rate CDN 10M
Moved to it on GitHubpull requests since Oct 202465 from Vercel117 from Netlify
Downloads323.1k/wk−55% vs npm5.7M/wk+93% vs npm
PricingFree tier; paid plans from $9/month, billed by monthly credits. · paid from $9/moFree Hobby plan (non-commercial); Pro per seat plus usage. · paid from $20/mo
Free tierYesYes
Open sourceNoNo
Incidents, 90 daysfrom its status page11 (4 major)31 (10 major)

Cost as you grow

Both cost $0 up to 100k requests; from 500k requests Vercel costs less ($0 vs $9.00); from about 5M requests Netlify does ($27 vs $40); from about 10M requests Vercel does ($40 vs $53); from about 500M requests Netlify does ($2,659 vs $2,766).

$0$100$500$1,000$2,0000.10.5151050100500
VercelNetlifyx: requests per month (million requests), other usage scaled with it; held at 1 seat (developers on the team) · cheapest usable plan at each point, list prices · try your own numbers
The numbers, plan by plan
Requests per monthNetlifyVercel
0.1$0 Free$0 Hobby
0.5$9.00 Personal$0 Hobby
1$9.00 Personal$0 Hobby
5$27 Pro 3,000 credits$40 Pro + Flat Rate CDN 10M
10$53 Pro 5,000 credits$40 Pro + Flat Rate CDN 10M
50$259 Pro 20,000 credits$127 Pro + Flat Rate CDN 50M
100$526 Pro 20,000 credits$353 Pro + Flat Rate CDN 150M
500$2,659 Pro 20,000 credits$2,766 Pro (on-demand CDN)

From each vendor's pricing page: Netlify, Vercel.

Who moves from one to the other

Public pull requests on GitHub since Oct 2024 whose title says "Netlify to Vercel" or the reverse — real code changes, by developers in general rather than makers only.

Vercel → Netlify65 PRs
All matching pull requests on GitHub ↗
Netlify → Vercel117 PRs
All matching pull requests on GitHub ↗

What makers say

Makers on using it for hosting, from Product Hunt and Starter Story interviews, each linked to the source. Products with a page of their own and fuller notes first.

On Netlify
Hosts tidymacapp.com and serves the app itself. Deploying is dragging a folder onto a page. For a solo dev shipping a $9 utility, that's exactly the right amount of infrastructure.
Tidy, the makerSep 2026 ↗
Turn has been served from Netlify since v1 and it handles our global user base well. I also love being able to use the A/B testing function of Netlify to test new features.
Turn, the makerSep 2026 ↗
Netlify is great for hosting next.js. I used to love Vercel, but decided to switch due to the recent updates. Overall it has been quick and easy to deploy and have so far not had any issues.
Random Song Generator, the makerSep 2026 ↗
36 more on the Netlify page →
On Vercel

No maker quote about Vercel for hosting yet.

Loved and watch-outs

Themes that recur in makers' words and Hacker News comments, each linked to what it summarises.

Netlify
Most loved
  • Connecting a GitHub repo gives automatic builds and deploys on every commit. PHPH 2HN
  • The free tier covers low-traffic static sites. PHHNHN 2
  • Built-in forms, pull request previews, SSL, CDN and instant rollbacks remove extra setup. HNPH
Watch-outs
  • Free-tier sites get paused at usage limits, and large surprise bills have happened. HNHN 2HN 3
  • Price increases and weak bot-traffic protection push small customers to look elsewhere. HNHN 2
  • Scammers abuse netlify.app subdomains, so some sites and DNS blocklists block them. HNHN 2HN 3
On Product Hunt: 5.0★, 57 reviews · mentioned most: easy deployment, Git integration, automatic builds
Vercel
Most loved
  • Pushing to Git deploys automatically with zero configuration. PHPH 2PH 3PH 4
  • Every commit or pull request gets a preview URL, so changes are reviewed live before release. PHPH 2PH 3PH 4
  • Small teams ship without managing infrastructure or CI/CD themselves. PHPH 2PH 3PH 4
Watch-outs
  • Heavy bot traffic, such as Meta's crawler, can multiply the bill with little protection. HNHN 2HN 3
  • Execution limits and middleware quirks need workarounds. PH
On Product Hunt: 5.0★, 1,077 reviews · mentioned most: fast deployment, Next.js integration, developer experience · complaints: pricing, UI dependencies

Who uses each

Netlify239 makers' products
AritectAviquillBank Statement ConverterBurnLinkClaio.aiDEV CommunityDiracDoverEddie AIEyedropperFlexi DomainGreta+227 more
Vercel0 makers' products
None tracked yet.

What makers pair each with

With Netlify
Frontend Framework
Transactional Email
Web Analytics
Database
With Vercel
Frontend Framework
Transactional Email
Database
Payments

Neither quite right?

See the whole hosting decision →
CloudflareEdge platformCheap global hosting with Workers, plus database (D1) and storage (R2) on the same platform.vs Netlify →vs Vercel →
RailwayPaaSServers, workers and databases deployed together, with almost no configuration.vs Netlify →vs Vercel →
RenderPaaSA Heroku-style platform for web services, cron jobs and Postgres.vs Netlify →vs Vercel →
Fly.ioContainer platformDocker apps that should run close to users in many regions.vs Vercel →
Amazon Web ServicesHyperscaler cloudThe widest catalog of building blocks — Lambda, containers, managed databases, queues — to assemble your own infrastructure.vs Vercel →
Hetzner CloudYour own serverA lot of CPU and RAM per euro, in European, US and Singapore regions.
CoolifyYour own serverA Heroku- or Vercel-style dashboard on your own server, with many one-click services.