The short answer
- A static site or a small app with light traffic: Cloudflare's free plan covers Git deploys, previews, functions and custom domains with SSL. Modeled first-year saving against Vercel Pro: $190. the math
- One developer: Netlify Personal at $9/mo covers the same 4 features and is modeled to save $82 in year one. the math
- Vercel's free Hobby plan is for personal, non-commercial use only, so it's not an option for a business. vercel.com
- Self-hosting Coolify on a VPS is modeled at $1,220 more than Vercel Pro in year one once your upkeep time counts. the math
Who should switch, and who shouldn't
Switch if
- You use Git push deploys, preview deployments, serverless functions and custom domains, not Vercel's image optimization, analytics, firewall or Blob storage. recipe
- Your site is static and not commercial: GitHub Pages is free, with a 1 GB site and a soft 100 GB a month of bandwidth. docs.github.com
- Your traffic fits Cloudflare Workers Free: 100,000 requests a day and 10 ms of CPU per request. developers.cloudflare.com
Stay if
- You rely on the Edge CDN, image optimization, web analytics, firewall and bot protection, Blob storage or cron jobs. recipe
- Your usage fits Pro's included credit: every Pro plan includes $20 of usage a month. vercel.com
- Nobody wants to run servers: with Coolify you manage the servers and the uptime. the math
What Vercel costs today
List prices from the vendor's pricing page, as stored in the Stackcut catalog. Each price links its source.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly (per month) | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vercel Pro | $20/user/mo | not shown | $20/mo per developer seat; $20 included usage credit; unlimited free viewer seats; Flat Rate CDN; usage beyond credit billed |
- Pro includes 1 deploying seat and $20 of usage credit a month; each extra deploying seat is $20 a month, and viewer seats are free. vercel.com
The alternatives, ranked
4 ways out, ranked by modeled saving in the first year after setup and upkeep (4 priced). Modeled, not measured: each figure links the math on the recipe page.
- Paths are modeled for 1 deploying seat against Vercel Pro at $20/user/mo. recipe
What hosting costs at 1, 5 and 20 deploying users
Vercel Pro charges per deploying seat, on top of usage beyond the included credit. Netlify Personal is single-member. Cloudflare prices the account, not the people.
| Option | List price | 1 deploying user | 5 deploying users | 20 deploying users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vercel Pro today$20 of usage included | $20/deploying user/mobilled monthly | $20 | $100 | $400 |
| Vercel Hobbynon-commercial only | $0free plan | $0free tier | up to 1 user | up to 1 user |
| Netlify Personal | $9/mobilled monthly | $9 | up to 1 user | up to 1 user |
| Netlify Free300 credits a month, hard limit | $0free plan | $0free tier | up to 1 user | up to 1 user |
| Cloudflare Workers Paidper account, plus usage | $5/mobilled monthly | $5 | $5 | $5 |
| Cloudflare Free100,000 requests a day | $0free plan | $0free tier | $0free tier | $0free tier |
| GitHub Pagesstatic only, not for commercial SaaS | $0free plan | $0free tier | $0free tier | $0free tier |
| Coolify Cloudyou bring the servers | $5/mobilled monthly | $5 | $5 | $5 |
| Coolify (self-hosted) | $0 licenseApache-2.0 | $0+ your server | $0+ your server | $0+ your server |
How to leave Vercel
Export first, then cancel. Every step links the vendor's own help page, checked on the date shown.
- Your code and build settings live in your Git repository, so the move is mostly DNS and environment variables. Deploy the new host first, check it, then switch DNS. recipe
How to leave Vercel
Export first
- Invoices: Team → Settings → Invoices → download each PDF (PDF). Invoices are also emailed to the team's invoice recipient; keep those emails. vercel.com
What you lose
- Team members other than the original owner
- Commercial use, on Hobby
Cancel
- Download every invoice PDF you need: a deleted team's invoice history can't be recovered.
- Move connected Stores and Domains to their new home first; the downgrade flow requires it.
- Dashboard → your team → Settings → Billing → Plan → Downgrade Plan.
- Refunds
- Not stated for a downgrade. Each invoice charges the coming cycle plus the previous cycle's extra usage.
- After you cancel
- All active members except the original owner are removed. Each account can have only one Hobby team, so you may have to delete or merge a team.
Not covered by the paths above, per the recipe: Edge CDN, Image optimization, Web analytics, Firewall and bot protection, Blob storage, Cron jobs. If you rely on one of these, keep the incumbent or check the path closely.
Open-source and forkable options
- Coolify: Self-host a Vercel-like PaaS on a cheap VPS; you manage servers and uptime. License: Apache-2.0 · source code
Open source means no license fee, not free to run: the server, backups and upgrades are yours. Read the license before you fork or resell; several of these are open-core or source-available.
FAQ
How do I downgrade Vercel Pro to Hobby?
Dashboard → your team → Settings → Billing → Downgrade Plan in the Plan section. Move connected Stores and Domains first; the flow requires it. vercel.com
What happens to my team when I downgrade?
All active members except the original owner are removed, and an account can have only one Hobby team, so you may need to delete or merge a team. vercel.com
Can a startup use Vercel's free plan?
No. Hobby is for personal, non-commercial use only. vercel.com
Is Cloudflare's free plan enough?
For many sites: Workers Free allows 100,000 requests a day with 10 ms of CPU per request. Workers Paid costs $5/mo with 10 million requests a month included. developers.cloudflare.com
Keep reading
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find_alternatives({"vendor": "Vercel", "seats": 3,
"features_used": ["Git push deploys", "Preview deployments", "Serverless functions"]})