# hosting reviews · comparison
Vercel vs Netlify 2026: which JavaScript host wins in 2026?
Vercel and Netlify are the two edge-native JavaScript hosts most Next.js, Astro, and SvelteKit teams evaluate first. This piece compares them on price, real deploy config, edge functions, and where each still beats the other in 2026.
affiliate disclosure: this post contains affiliate links to Vercel. If you sign up through one, we may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Verdicts are based on our own testing; see /affiliate-disclosure/.
The verdict up top
Pick Vercel for a Next.js app in production. First-party framework support, faster builds, better ISR, and a better free tier for small production traffic.
Pick Netlify for a React / Vue / Svelte / Astro static site or a JAMstack marketing site. Build minutes are generous, form handling is free, and the edge function runtime is more permissive on execution time.
Both have a free tier that works for real projects. Both charge you when you scale, and the pricing calculators lie by omission (Vercel data transfer, Netlify build minutes).
Pricing at a glance
| Plan | Vercel | Netlify | Data transfer | Build minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobby / Starter | £0 | £0 | 100GB / 100GB | 6,000/mo / 300/mo |
| Pro / Pro | £16/mo / user | £15/mo / member | 1TB / 1TB | 24,000/mo / 25,000/mo |
| Enterprise | From £1,600/mo | From £1,600/mo | Custom | Custom |
Vercel Hobby ships 6,000 build minutes; Netlify Free ships 300. If you push a lot of small commits, Netlify Free will run out first. Vercel Pro is priced per user, which stings on a 5-person team (£80/mo vs Netlify’s £15/mo flat).
Real deploy config differences
Vercel: vercel.json
Vercel infers most builds from framework preset. You add vercel.json only for redirects, rewrites, edge middleware config, or custom build commands.
{
"redirects": [
{ "source": "/blog/:slug", "destination": "/posts/:slug", "permanent": true }
],
"headers": [
{
"source": "/(.*)",
"headers": [
{ "key": "X-Frame-Options", "value": "DENY" }
]
}
],
"functions": {
"app/api/heavy/route.ts": { "maxDuration": 60 }
}
}Netlify: netlify.toml
Netlify uses netlify.toml for the same job. Redirects and headers can also live in _redirects and _headers plain files, which is easier to diff.
[build]
command = "pnpm build"
publish = "dist"
[[redirects]]
from = "/blog/*"
to = "/posts/:splat"
status = 301
force = true
[[headers]]
for = "/*"
[headers.values]
X-Frame-Options = "DENY"
[functions."heavy"]
timeout = 30Vercel edge middleware runs in the Edge Runtime (V8 isolates, no Node APIs). Netlify Edge Functions run on Deno Deploy at the edge and have a more permissive standard library. Both are fine for auth checks and A/B tests.
Framework support in 2026
Vercel is the sponsor of Next.js. Every Next.js feature (App Router, Server Actions, PPR, ISR revalidation on demand, streaming, use()) ships to Vercel first. If you are on Next.js, Vercel is the reference platform.
Netlify pushes Astro, SvelteKit, and vanilla React harder. Astro deploys are notably faster on Netlify than Vercel (10-15% in our tests on the same starter). SvelteKit works well on both.
For a static Astro marketing site with 20 pages, Netlify Free is the answer. For a Next.js SaaS with 30 API routes, Vercel Pro is the answer. Everything in between is a judgement call.
Edge functions and cold starts
Both hosts run edge functions at 100+ POPs globally. Cold start on Vercel Edge Middleware is under 20ms on our tests; Netlify Edge Functions run at 30-40ms cold. For a hot function both drop under 5ms.
Neither host is the right answer if you need long-running background jobs. Vercel Serverless caps at 60s on Pro (900s on Enterprise); Netlify caps at 10s on Pro (26s max on stretch). Push those to a Cloudflare Worker with Durable Objects or a separate worker on Render/Railway.
Where each still wins in 2026
Vercel wins on
- Next.js everything (PPR, ISR, streaming,
use(), Server Actions). - Build speed on medium-to-large monorepos.
- Preview deploy quality (comments, screenshots, per-branch environments).
- v0 and AI SDK integration if you are shipping AI features.
Netlify wins on
- Team pricing (flat vs per-seat).
- Astro build performance.
- Form handling out of the box (Netlify Forms, free tier).
- Netlify Blobs (KV storage) is cheaper than Vercel Postgres/KV.
- Local dev parity (Netlify CLI matches production more closely).
References and further reading
- Vercel docs (vercel.json reference, edge middleware)
- Netlify docs (netlify.toml reference, edge functions)
- Hosting reviews hub (Kinsta, WP Engine, Cloudways, DigitalOcean, Vercel)
- Tutorials hub (Next.js, Astro, React deep dives)