Deployment platforms compared — with real pricing, hidden costs, and scaling gotchas from the community.
Every platform is assessed on: pricing transparency (including bandwidth and compute overage), framework support, scaling behavior, and known gotchas.
Quick recommendation:
| I need… | Use this | Starting price | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deploy Next.js with edge functions | Vercel | Free (hobby), Pro $20/mo | Bandwidth overage $0.15/GB — viral post = $1K+ |
| Usage-based, pay only when running | Railway | ~$5/mo (usage-based) | No permanent free tier |
| App + database + cron in one platform | Render | Free (static), $7/mo (web service) | Free tier sleeps after 15 min idle |
| Global edge containers | Fly.io | Free (3 shared VMs), $1.94/mo per VM | Complex networking; Postgres is self-managed |
| Service | Free Tier | Catches | Permanent? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vercel | 100 GB bandwidth, 1 project | Commercial use requires Pro ($20/mo) | Yes (hobby) |
| Railway | $5 credit for 30 days | Trial only | No |
| Render | Static sites free; web services sleep | Web services sleep after 15 min idle | Yes (limited) |
| Fly.io | 3 shared-cpu-1x VMs, 160 GB bandwidth | VMs suspended on free tier if inactive | Yes (limited) |
Vercel is the obvious choice for Next.js — they created the framework. Edge functions, ISR, image optimization, and preview deployments all work out of the box. The risk: bandwidth overage at $0.15/GB can cause surprise bills if a page goes viral.
Render offers the most generous permanent free tier for web services (though they sleep after 15 min). Railway is cheapest for active usage with per-second billing starting at ~$5/month. Fly.io gives 3 free VMs globally.
Choose Vercel for Next.js (first-party framework support). Choose Railway for Node.js/Python APIs where you want usage-based billing. Choose Render for simple apps where you want hosting + database + cron in one dashboard. Choose Fly.io if you need global edge deployment with containers.
Global edge deployment with Firecracker VMs. Deploy containers close to users worldwide. Powerful but steeper learning curve than Vercel or Render.
Usage-based deployment platform. Deploy anything with a Dockerfile or supported buildpack. Pay per second of compute. No permanent free tier.
All-in-one platform: web services, databases, cron jobs, static sites. Simple pricing with a free tier — but free web services sleep after 15 minutes.
The deployment platform behind Next.js. Best-in-class for React frameworks with edge functions, ISR, and preview deployments — but bandwidth overage can cause surprise bills.