Vercel

What it does

Vercel is a hosting platform for modern web apps, especially Next.js (which they also build). One-command deploys, automatic HTTPS, edge functions, image optimization, and a generous free tier that handles real production traffic.

Who it's best for

Frontend developers, indie hackers, side-project founders, and any team shipping React/Next.js apps. Vercel is the de facto default for "I want to deploy a website without setting up infrastructure."

Where it's strong

Developer experience. git push and your site is live. PR previews on every branch, automatic rollback on bad deploys, instant cache invalidation. Setup is 5 minutes from zero.

Edge network. Sites are fast everywhere — content distributed across 100+ edge locations globally. Cold-start latency on serverless functions is also class-leading.

Free tier. Free Hobby plan handles real traffic for personal projects. You can ship a side project and pay $0 until it gets actual users.

Where it's weak

Pricing scales aggressively. Hobby (free) → Pro ($20/mo) is easy. Pro → Enterprise can be a 10x+ cost jump. Heavy bandwidth or function invocation users can see surprise bills.

Vendor flavor. Vercel's framework choices push you toward Next.js. Other frameworks work but Next.js is the obvious favorite.

Function timeout limits. Free tier limits serverless function execution. Long-running tasks (LLM API calls, heavy processing) may hit timeouts before completing.

Verdict

Pick Vercel as the default for any Next.js or React app you want to ship fast. Pick Netlify for similar developer experience with slightly different priorities. Pick Cloudflare Pages for the most generous free tier and edge-first approach. For most users in 2026, Vercel is the right starting point — and the Hobby tier is genuinely free for serious side projects.