Vercel

Why Vercel is the default

If you build modern web apps as a one-person shop, Vercel removes the entire "how do I deploy this" decision. Connect your GitHub repo, push to a branch, get a preview URL. Push to main, your production site updates. There is no other host that gets that loop as right.

For Next.js specifically (which Vercel makes), the integration is so tight that most features ship Vercel-tested first. Image optimisation, ISR, edge functions, middleware all work out of the box without any configuration.

What you actually use

• Preview URLs. Every branch and every pull request gets its own deployment URL. Showing a client a draft means "click this link", not "let me set up staging". This single feature is worth real money.
• Custom domains and SSL. Free on the Hobby tier, including subdomains. DNS instructions are clear, certificates renew automatically.
• Build logs. Clean, searchable, with proper error highlighting. Beats hand-rolling a CI pipeline for solo work.
• Analytics. Real-user metrics (Web Vitals) with no extra setup. Hobby tier gets a sample, Pro gets full data.
• Edge functions. Run code at the CDN edge instead of from a fixed origin. Good for personalisation, A/B tests, geo-routing.

Where it costs you

The Hobby tier is for "non-commercial" use, and Vercel's definition of that is stricter than most realise. Affiliate links, monetised content, paid SaaS all push you to Pro. Pro is $20/seat/mo and covers a single solo founder fine.

The trickier cost is overage. Hobby has soft limits: 100GB bandwidth, 100GB-hours of serverless execution, 10k image optimisations. Cross those and you are pushed to upgrade. Pro has higher limits but the same model: function invocations, bandwidth, and edge requests all metered, and a viral post can spike you into overage charges fast.

For most one-person businesses, the Pro tier covers normal use without overage. Just know the meter is running.

Alternatives

• Netlify: very similar product, slightly less Next.js-specific, slightly less polished overall.
• Cloudflare Pages: cheaper bandwidth, simpler pricing, weaker DX for full-stack apps.
• Self-host on a VPS: cheaper and full control, but you are now also a sysadmin.

Verdict

If you ship modern web apps, Vercel is the cleanest path from idea to deployed in 2026. Hobby tier is enough to validate, Pro at $20/mo covers most solo commercial use, and the deploy-on-push experience is genuinely best-in-class.