VercelvsRender
Frontend cloud for static sites, Next.js, and serverless/edge functions on a global CDN. Render: Container PaaS: static sites, always-on web services, workers, cron, and managed Postgres.
Where they agree
Both natively cover Web hosting, Cron jobs, Domain + DNS, SSL / TLS, CI/CD, Logs, and more.
Free tier
Both have a genuine free tier to start on.
Vercel stands out for
Serverless, Object storage, Buy domains, Analytics
Render stands out for
Always-on server, SQL database, KV / cache
Cheapest paid plan: Vercel $20/mo · Render $25/mo. Vercel is a paas, Render a paas.
Feature-by-feature
| Compute | Data | Domains & email | Growth & ops | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provider | Web hosting | Serverless | Always-on server | SQL database | Object storage | KV / cache | Cron jobs | Domain + DNS | Buy domains | Email | SSL / TLS | Analytics | Auth | CI/CD | Logs | CDN / edge |
Tap a provider for its full per-tier pricing. Verified 2026-06-18.