Vercel vs Netlify vs Cloudflare Pages: Which Should Host Your Site?
All three deploy your site from GitHub with a CDN, preview links and free SSL. The differences are in framework support, how backend code runs, and how billing behaves under load. A plain comparison, and when none of them is the right answer.
Vercel, Netlify and Cloudflare Pages look almost identical from the outside: connect a GitHub repo, push, and your site is live on a global CDN with HTTPS and a preview link for every branch. For a simple static site, any of them will do and you can stop reading here.
The differences show up when your app has a backend — API routes, server rendering, a database, a login.
The short version
| Vercel | Netlify | Cloudflare Pages / Workers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best at | Next.js | Static sites, Jamstack, forms | Speed and cheap bandwidth |
| Backend code runs as | Serverless functions (Node) | Serverless functions (Node) | Workers (V8 isolates, not full Node) |
| Next.js support | First-class (same company) | Good, via adapter | Via OpenNext adapter |
| Built-in extras | Image optimisation, analytics | Forms, identity, split testing | KV, R2 storage, D1 database, queues |
| Bandwidth cost | Metered | Metered | Very generous |
| Free tier | Hobby (non-commercial) | Free plan, credit-based | Generous |
Plans and limits change often — check each provider's pricing page before committing.
Vercel
The natural home for Next.js, because Vercel builds it. Every new Next.js feature works there first. The developer experience is the most polished of the three.
Watch out for: the free Hobby plan is for non-commercial use; commercial projects need a paid seat. Usage-based charges for functions and bandwidth add up on busy sites. (What is Vercel?)
Netlify
The original "push to deploy" platform. It's framework-agnostic and has handy built-ins for small sites: form handling without a backend, redirects in a simple file, and split testing.
Watch out for: Netlify moved to credit-based pricing, so understand which actions spend credits. Next.js works, but Vercel will usually support new Next.js features sooner.
Cloudflare Pages and Workers
Cloudflare runs one of the largest networks in the world, and its pricing reflects that: bandwidth is cheap to free, and Workers are fast to start. It also offers its own storage (R2), key-value store (KV) and SQLite-based database (D1), so you can build a whole app inside Cloudflare. Cloudflare has been folding Pages into Workers, so new projects are often just "Workers with static assets."
Watch out for: Workers are not Node.js. They run in a lighter environment with most, but not all, Node APIs available through compatibility flags. Libraries that expect a full Node runtime — some database drivers, image tools, anything that spawns processes — may not work. Expect to adapt.
What none of them do well
All three are built around short-lived functions, which means the same gaps:
- Long tasks. Anything that runs for minutes needs a separate worker or queue. (Background jobs)
- A regular database. You bring one (Neon, Supabase, PlanetScale…) and manage connection limits from many short-lived functions. (Connection pooling)
- Files on disk. Nothing persists between requests.
- Always-on processes like WebSocket servers or bots.
If your app is mostly frontend, that's fine. If it's a real backend with jobs and data, a server is often simpler. (VPS vs PaaS)
How to choose
- Next.js with server features → Vercel.
- Static site or simple Jamstack, want forms and redirects without code → Netlify.
- Traffic-heavy site, bandwidth-sensitive, happy to adapt to Workers → Cloudflare.
- Backend with a database, jobs, uploads, WebSockets → a server, possibly with one of these in front for static assets.
The summary
- For static sites the three are interchangeable; pick the dashboard you like.
- Vercel wins on Next.js, Netlify on built-in small-site features, Cloudflare on bandwidth and edge speed.
- All three are function-based; long jobs, databases and persistent processes live elsewhere.
EasySpawn is the "elsewhere": a dedicated server that runs your frontend, backend, jobs and Postgres together on your own domain, with SSL and daily backups, at a flat monthly price. See pricing or join the waitlist.
Related: What Is Vercel? · What Is Cloudflare? · What Is Web Hosting? · Static vs Dynamic Websites
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