Git-connected hosting from the team that builds Next.js, tuned so framework features work with no configuration.
Cost shape: Free hobby tier, then per-seat plans plus usage-based charges for bandwidth, functions and image optimization.
Strengths
- ✓Next.js features land here first and work without any build configuration.
- ✓Preview deployments per pull request make review genuinely visual.
- ✓Zero infrastructure work, so a solo developer never touches a server.
Tradeoffs
- ✗Serverless model rules out long-running processes and persistent connections.
- ✗Usage-based bandwidth billing can spike sharply if a page goes viral.
- ✗Optimised around their own framework, so other stacks get less attention.
The original git-push frontend host, strong on static sites, forms, redirects and edge functions.
Cost shape: Free tier for personal sites, then per-seat plans with usage-based bandwidth and function invocations.
Strengths
- ✓Framework-neutral, so no stack is treated as a second-class citizen.
- ✓Built-in forms and identity remove small services from a marketing site.
- ✓Redirect and header rules live in a file, so routing is version controlled.
Tradeoffs
- ✗Server-rendered frameworks run through adapters that lag upstream releases.
- ✗Bandwidth overage charges have historically caught people by surprise.
- ✗Build minutes on shared runners are slower than dedicated infrastructure.
Deploy containers and databases from a repo with almost no configuration, aimed at developers who want a real server.
Cost shape: Usage-based on the compute, memory and storage your services actually consume, with a small monthly base.
Strengths
- ✓Runs long-lived processes, websockets and workers that serverless hosts refuse.
- ✓One-click Postgres, Redis and queues sit next to the app in the same project.
- ✓Any language works, since deployment is container-based rather than framework-based.
Tradeoffs
- ✗Consumption billing is hard to forecast before you have run production traffic.
- ✗Fewer regions than the large cloud providers, which matters for latency.
- ✗You still own scaling decisions rather than getting them automatically.
Runs your containers as lightweight virtual machines in many regions, so the app itself can live near users.
Cost shape: Usage-based per machine, priced by CPU, memory and running time, with volumes billed separately.
Strengths
- ✓Multi-region deployment of a normal app, not just of cached static files.
- ✓Machines can sleep and wake on request, keeping idle services cheap.
- ✓Private networking between regions makes distributed architectures achievable.
Tradeoffs
- ✗Closer to infrastructure, so you own more operational decisions than on a platform host.
- ✗Distributed regions force you to think about data locality and replication.
- ✗Configuration lives in files and CLI flags rather than a guided dashboard.
Code that runs in Cloudflare's edge network on a lightweight runtime, with storage primitives designed around it.
Cost shape: Free tier with a daily request allowance, then low usage-based pricing per million requests and CPU time.
Strengths
- ✓Runs in hundreds of locations, so cold starts are effectively invisible.
- ✓R2 storage has no egress fees, which changes the maths for media-heavy apps.
- ✓Durable Objects give strongly consistent coordination without running a database.
Tradeoffs
- ✗Not full Node, so libraries touching filesystem or native modules break.
- ✗CPU time limits per request rule out heavy synchronous computation.
- ✗Storage primitives are proprietary, so building on them is a commitment.
A straightforward managed platform for web services, cron jobs and databases, closest in spirit to classic Heroku.
Cost shape: Free tier for small services that sleep when idle, then fixed monthly pricing per instance size.
Strengths
- ✓Fixed instance pricing makes the monthly bill predictable before traffic arrives.
- ✓Blueprint files describe the whole environment as code in the repository.
- ✓Cron jobs and background workers are first-class service types.
Tradeoffs
- ✗Free instances spin down when idle, so the first request is slow.
- ✗Build times on shared infrastructure are noticeably slower than dedicated runners.
- ✗Fixed instances mean you pay for headroom you are not using.
Pricing described qualitatively because published plans change often. Data checked 2026-08-23.
