When deploying a full-stack application, choosing the right hosting provider can make a big difference in cost, performance, and developer experience. Two popular options are Vercel and Render.
This post breaks down how each works, their pricing, and what to keep in mind if you’re switching from Render to Vercel — especially around serverless functions.
Deploying with Vercel
Vercel is built around serverless and works especially well with frameworks like Next.js. The workflow is simple:
- Push your project to GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket.
- Import the repository into Vercel.
- Vercel auto-detects the framework and sets up build settings.
- Add environment variables if needed.
- Deploy — your app gets a global CDN, scaling, and preview builds.
Serverless functions are part of the package:
- Free tier includes 100 GB bandwidth and 1M function invocations per month.
- Functions are stateless and have execution time limits (10 seconds on the free tier).
Deploying with Render
Render feels more like a traditional PaaS. You can deploy both web services (always-on servers) and static sites.
Steps are similar:
- Push your project to a Git repository.
- Connect it to Render.
- Define build and start commands.
- Configure environment variables.
- Deploy.
Key difference: instead of being purely serverless, Render lets you run persistent services (good for apps that don’t fit the serverless model).
Free tier: 750 hours of a small instance each month. Paid services start at $19/month.
Pricing at a Glance
| Feature | Vercel (Free) | Vercel (Pro) | Render (Free) | Render (Paid) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bandwidth | 100 GB/month | 100 GB/month | 100 GB/month | 100 GB/month |
| Function executions | 1M/month | 1M/month | 1M/month | 1M/month |
| Persistent services | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | Pay-as-you-go overages | Subscription + overages | Free tier + hourly billing | Subscription + hourly billing |
Switching from Render to Vercel: Things to Watch
If you’re moving an app from Render to Vercel:
- Serverless limits: Vercel functions have short execution timeouts. Long-running jobs need to be redesigned.
- Cold starts: Some latency may appear for functions that aren’t used frequently.
- Pricing model: Vercel charges mainly by usage (invocations + bandwidth). Render charges more like a traditional VM model.
- CI/CD flow: Vercel is Git-first and automatically builds every branch with previews. Render is more configurable but less opinionated.
Conclusion
- Choose Vercel if your app fits into the serverless model (fast, short-lived API calls, static frontends, and scaling spikes).
- Choose Render if you need always-on services, longer-running processes, or more predictable billing.
If you’re switching, plan ahead for the differences in function execution limits and redesign any backend tasks that aren’t a good fit for serverless.
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