Vercel Free Tier Guide: Hosting, Functions, Blob, Analytics, and CDN
Vercel is the leading platform for deploying frontend frameworks and full-stack apps. The Hobby plan is free forever for personal projects and covers hosting, serverless functions, blob storage, analytics, and a global CDN.
Best for personal projects, open-source sites, portfolio pages, Next.js apps, and frontend prototypes that need zero-config CI/CD and global CDN delivery.
Hobby plan prohibits commercial use. Watch for function invocation limits, 100 GB bandwidth cap, log retention of only 1 hour, and no team collaboration features.
Verified against official Vercel pricing page on 2026-05-23.
Vercel Hobby Plan Limits
The numbers below are the practical limits developers should confirm before relying on Vercel Hobby for their project.
| Area | Free allowance | Developer note |
|---|---|---|
| Deployments | Unlimited | Automatic CI/CD on every git push with instant rollback support. |
| Bandwidth (Fast Data Transfer) | 100 GB / month | Covers most personal and small open-source sites; heavy traffic sites should upgrade. |
| Serverless Functions | 1M invocations / month | Also includes 4 CPU-hours/month and 360 GB-hrs provisioned memory. |
| Edge Requests | 1M / month | Edge Middleware and Edge Functions requests combined. |
| Blob Storage | 1 GB + 10 GB transfer | Vercel Blob for storing and serving files directly from the CDN. |
| Web Analytics | 50,000 events / month | Privacy-friendly analytics built into the Vercel dashboard, no extra SDK needed. |
| Image Optimization | 5,000 transforms / month | Automatic WebP/AVIF conversion and resizing via Next.js Image component. |
| Team Seats | 1 developer (personal only) | Hobby plan is for personal use only. Commercial projects must upgrade to Pro. |
How developers should use Vercel Hobby
Vercel Hobby is strongest as a deployment target for personal Next.js or React projects. The zero-config CI/CD, automatic preview URLs, and global CDN make it the fastest way to put a frontend on the web.
The key constraint is the commercial-use restriction. Once your project generates revenue or is used in a business context, you must upgrade to Pro ($20/month). Keep this in mind if you plan to monetize.
Vercel + Supabase + Resend
Use Vercel for the frontend and API routes, Supabase for auth and Postgres, and Resend for transactional email. This trio covers a real full-stack MVP completely within free tiers.
Best Vercel use cases
Next.js apps with zero-config deployment
Vercel is the creator of Next.js and offers first-class support. Push to git and your app is live in seconds with SSR, ISR, and edge middleware fully supported.
Frontend prototypes and portfolio sites
Free custom domains, HTTPS, global CDN, and preview deployments make Vercel the go-to platform for showcasing personal or open-source projects.
API routes and lightweight serverless backends
Use Vercel Functions for webhooks, form handlers, API proxies, and background tasks. 1M free invocations per month covers most hobby workloads.
Static sites with edge caching
React, Vue, Svelte, and Astro sites deploy with automatic CDN caching, compression, and DDoS mitigation included at no cost on the Hobby plan.
Alternatives to compare
Cloudflare Pages
Choose Cloudflare Pages for more generous bandwidth limits and when you need Workers-based edge compute.
Netlify
Choose Netlify when you need form handling, identity, or a mature plugin ecosystem for static-first workflows.
GitHub Pages
Choose GitHub Pages when your project is purely static and you want the simplest possible git-based deployment.
Vercel Hobby Plan FAQ
Is the Vercel Hobby plan really free forever?+
Yes, the Hobby plan is free with no time limit. However, it is restricted to personal, non-commercial use. If you deploy a commercial product on the Hobby plan, you are required by Vercel's terms to upgrade to Pro.
Can I use a custom domain on Vercel Hobby?+
Yes. You can connect your own domain to any Vercel project on the Hobby plan. Free HTTPS via automatic TLS certificates is included.
What counts as commercial use on Vercel?+
Vercel considers any project that generates revenue, is deployed for a business, or is used in a work context to be commercial. Open-source projects, portfolios, and personal experiments typically qualify for Hobby.
Does Vercel Free include preview deployments?+
Yes. Every pull request and branch push generates an isolated preview URL automatically. This is one of Vercel's strongest free-tier features for developer workflows.
How does Vercel Hobby compare to Cloudflare Pages?+
Cloudflare Pages offers unlimited bandwidth on its free tier, while Vercel caps at 100 GB/month. Vercel is generally better for Next.js and React ecosystems, while Cloudflare Pages shines for edge-first and Workers-based architectures.
What frameworks does Vercel support for free?+
Vercel supports Next.js, React, Vue, Nuxt, Svelte, SvelteKit, Astro, Remix, Angular, and many more. Framework detection is automatic with zero config required.