Vercel vs Cloudflare: Real Costs Compared
Both Vercel and Cloudflare offer free hosting. Both are fast. Both handle millions of requests. But the pricing gets complicated once you scale.
I use both. Here's the honest breakdown for budget-conscious businesses.
Free Tier Comparison
| Feature | Vercel Free | Cloudflare Free |
|---|---|---|
| Bandwidth | 100 GB/month | Unlimited |
| Builds | 6,000 mins/month | 500/month |
| Serverless Functions | 100 GB-hrs, 100k/day | 100k requests/day |
| Preview Deployments | Yes | Yes |
| Custom Domains | Yes | Yes |
| SSL | Free | Free |
| Team Members | 1 (Hobby) | Unlimited |
Paid Tier Comparison
| Plan | Vercel Pro | Cloudflare Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $20/user/month | $25/month (flat) |
| Bandwidth | 1 TB included | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth overage | $40/100GB | N/A (unlimited) |
| Team members | Unlimited ($20 each) | Unlimited |
| Analytics | Built-in | Basic (Pages) |
Per-user vs flat pricing is the big difference. A 3-person team on Vercel Pro = $60/month. On Cloudflare = $25/month.
What Each Does Best
Vercel
- Best Next.js support (they made it)
- Great developer experience
- Preview deployments are polished
- Built-in analytics
- Edge functions are easy
- Great for complex SSR
Cloudflare
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Cheaper at scale
- Global edge network
- Free CDN and DDoS protection
- DNS management included
- Workers are powerful
Real Cost Scenarios
Scenario 1: Small business website (10k visitors/month)
- Vercel Free: $0
- Cloudflare Free: $0
- Winner: Tie
Scenario 2: Growing SaaS (100k visitors, 3 team members)
- Vercel Pro: $60/month (3 users × $20)
- Cloudflare Pro: $25/month (flat)
- Winner: Cloudflare by $35/month
Scenario 3: High-traffic site (500GB bandwidth/month)
- Vercel Pro: $20 + $160 overage = $180/month
- Cloudflare Pro: $25/month (unlimited)
- Winner: Cloudflare by $155/month
Scenario 4: Solo developer, complex Next.js app
- Vercel Free/Pro: Best DX, zero-config SSR
- Cloudflare: Works but more configuration needed
- Winner: Vercel (for convenience)
My Approach
I choose based on the project:
- Static sites, marketing pages: Cloudflare Pages. Unlimited bandwidth, free, fast everywhere.
- Next.js apps with complex SSR: Vercel. Best-in-class support, worth the cost for productivity.
- Budget-sensitive clients: Cloudflare. Predictable pricing, no bandwidth surprises.
- Projects I maintain long-term: Vercel if client pays, Cloudflare if I'm absorbing costs.
The Hidden Costs
Vercel gotchas:
- Bandwidth overage adds up fast at $40/100GB
- Per-seat pricing makes teams expensive
- Serverless function execution can spike
Cloudflare gotchas:
- Pages doesn't support some Next.js features out of box
- Less polished developer experience
- Workers have different mental model than traditional serverless
Recommendation
For most Bangkok businesses I work with:
- Start with Vercel Free. Best experience, 100GB is plenty for most sites.
- Monitor your bandwidth. If you're approaching limits, consider Cloudflare.
- Scale to Cloudflare if costs become an issue or you need unlimited bandwidth.
Both are excellent. Neither will let you down. Choose based on your priorities: developer experience (Vercel) or cost efficiency (Cloudflare).
Need help choosing?
I deploy to both platforms regularly. Happy to recommend based on your specific project.
Get in Touch