10 Best Next.js Hosting Providers in 2026

You've built your Next.js application and now need to ship it. The hosting landscape has shifted significantly since 2024, with OpenNext maturing, Cloudflare improving Node.js compatibility, and Vercel's pricing model pushing teams toward alternatives. This guide breaks down your options based on what actually matters: cost, developer experience, and production constraints.

Quick recommendations:

• Beginners & MVPs: Start with Vercel's free tier (zero friction)
• Growing SaaS: Railway ($5-20/month, best DX-to-cost ratio)
• Cost-conscious: Self-host with Coolify on Hetzner VPS ($5-6/month)
• Global edge: Cloudflare Workers via OpenNext (free tier available)
• Enterprise AWS mandate: SST or FlightControl with OpenNext

Next.js hosting is the infrastructure that runs your application in production, handling HTTP requests, serving static assets, executing server-side code, and managing serverless functions or containers depending on the platform.

Updated January 2026 for Next.js 16 and OpenNext 1.x.

How to Choose a Next.js Hosting Provider

Your choice depends on four factors:

1. Developer experience - How quickly can you deploy and iterate?
2. Scalability - Can it handle traffic spikes without manual intervention?
3. Cost - What's the total cost at your expected scale?
4. Security - Does the platform handle SSL, DDoS protection, and updates? (See our Next.js security guide for application-level concerns.)

Here's how each provider stacks up.

The Hosting Options

1. Vercel - The Default Choice

What is Vercel? Vercel is the company that created and maintains Next.js. Their hosting platform is purpose-built for Next.js applications, offering zero-configuration deployment with automatic HTTPS, global CDN distribution, serverless functions, and instant preview deployments for every pull request. Because they build the framework, new Next.js features like Partial Prerendering and Server Actions work on Vercel immediately.

Vercel supports every Next.js feature out of the box. Git push deploys, preview URLs for PRs, built-in analytics, and zero configuration for most apps. If you're new to Next.js deployment, start here.

Vercel Pricing Breakdown

The free Hobby tier handles personal projects well. The Vercel Pro plan costs $20/month base with a $20 usage credit included, 1TB bandwidth (worth up to $350), and 10M edge requests. Developer seats cost $20/month each, though viewer seats are free.

The catch is what people call the "Vercel Tax." Add a second team member and you're at $40/month before touching bandwidth. A team of 5 starts at $100/month before any usage.

Pros:

• Zero-configuration deployment for Next.js
• Instant preview URLs for every PR
• Built-in analytics and Web Vitals monitoring
• First to support new Next.js features
• Excellent documentation and DX

Cons:

• Per-seat pricing adds up quickly for teams
• Vendor lock-in for Vercel-specific features (KV, Blob, Edge Config)
• Function timeout limits on lower tiers (10s Hobby, 60s Pro)
• No SSH access or custom runtime control

Best for: Solo developers, small teams shipping fast, and projects needing cutting-edge Next.js features on day one.

2. Railway - Best Balance of DX and Cost

Railway is my current recommendation for most production apps. It matches Vercel's developer experience while using a container-based model that's more predictable at scale. One-click Next.js deployment, managed databases, preview environments for PRs.

Railway Pricing

You pay for actual CPU and memory usage, not per-seat licensing. A typical Next.js app with moderate traffic runs $8-15/month total.

# Deploy Next.js to Railway
railway init
railway up

What makes Railway compelling for SaaS applications is running your database, Redis, and background workers in the same platform. Scale-to-zero works great for staging environments. The Discord community is active and support is responsive.

Worth noting: Railway runs on their own hardware (Railway Metal), not AWS or GCP. This gives them more control over pricing and performance, and they've been expanding their own data centers across the US, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

Pros:

• Usage-based pricing (no per-seat tax)
• Run databases, Redis, and workers alongside your app
• Excellent DX with preview environments
• Scale-to-zero for staging environments
• Active community and responsive support

Cons:

• No edge deployment (requests route to central servers)
• Smaller ecosystem than Vercel
• Less mature than established cloud providers
• Limited regions compared to global CDN options

Best for: Growing SaaS products, teams wanting predictable costs, and apps needing databases alongside the frontend.

3. Cloudflare Workers - Edge Performance, Lower Costs

Cloudflare Workers runs your app at the edge across 300+ cities. The pricing is aggressive: unlimited bandwidth on all plans, free tier with 100K requests/day, and paid starts at just $5/month for 10M requests.

The catch is that Cloudflare doesn't run Node.js natively. You need OpenNext to transform your Next.js build for Workers. As of January 2026, the @opennextjs/cloudflare adapter supports Next.js 14+ with the Node.js runtime (not just Edge), which is a significant improvement.

npm create cloudflare@latest -- my-next-app --framework=next --platform=workers

I've had good results with Cloudflare for apps that don't rely heavily on Node.js-specific APIs. The latency improvements are real. But you'll occasionally hit compatibility issues: some npm packages don't work, file system operations aren't available, and certain crypto methods behave differently. If you use Nodemailer or similar libraries, you'll need workarounds or external services.

Pros:

• Unlimited bandwidth on all plans
• Sub-50ms latency globally (300+ edge locations)
• Generous free tier (100K requests/day)
• Integrated with Cloudflare ecosystem (R2, D1, KV)
• Excellent DDoS protection included

Cons:

• Requires OpenNext adapter (extra build step)
• Some Node.js APIs unavailable
• Debugging can be more complex
• npm package compatibility issues possible
• Learning curve for Workers-specific patterns

Best for: Performance-focused apps, global audiences, and developers comfortable with edge computing constraints.

4. AWS with OpenNext - Enterprise Scale

AWS powers most of the internet, and if your organization already uses it, running Next.js there makes sense. You'll use OpenNext to deploy to Lambda with streaming, CloudFront for CDN, and S3 for static assets.

Fair warning: AWS isn't plug-and-play. You need familiarity with Lambda, CloudFront, and IAM. Most teams use a wrapper like SST or FlightControl to manage the complexity:

// sst.config.ts example
export default $config({
  app(input) {
    return { name: "my-app", region: "us-east-1" };
  },
  async run() {
    new sst.aws.Nextjs("MyApp");
  },
});

After running npx sst deploy, you'll see output like:

✓ Deployed MyApp
   URL: https://d1234abcd.cloudfront.net

Pricing is pay-per-use (Lambda invocations, CloudFront requests, data transfer). It can be cheaper than Vercel at scale, but AWS billing is notoriously complex.

Pros:

• Virtually unlimited scale
• Full AWS ecosystem integration
• Compliance certifications (SOC2, HIPAA, etc.)
• Fine-grained control over infrastructure
• Can be cost-effective at high scale

Cons:

• Steep learning curve
• Complex billing and cost management
• Requires DevOps expertise
• Slower iteration compared to managed platforms
• Manual scaling configuration needed

Best for: Enterprise teams with AWS mandates, compliance requirements, or existing AWS infrastructure.

5. Fly.io - Global VMs with Great DX

Fly.io runs your app on VMs at edge locations worldwide. Unlike serverless platforms, you get persistent compute with fast boot times and the option to scale to zero. This makes it ideal for apps needing WebSockets, real-time features, or anything that suffers from cold starts.

No free tier for new accounts. Per-second billing means a shared 256MB instance runs about $1.94/month if always on, plus $2/month for a dedicated IPv4.

The tradeoff is more operational overhead than Railway or Vercel. You're managing VMs, not just pushing code. If your app is simple enough that serverless works fine, Fly.io adds complexity you don't need.

Pros:

• True edge deployment (VMs in 30+ regions)
• Persistent compute (no cold starts)
• WebSocket and real-time support
• Scale-to-zero capability
• Per-second billing

Cons:

• No free tier for new accounts
• More operational overhead than serverless
• Requires understanding VM management
• IPv4 addresses cost extra ($2/month)
• Smaller ecosystem than major clouds

Best for: Real-time applications, WebSocket-heavy apps, and teams wanting edge VMs without serverless constraints.

6. Netlify - Solid Alternative to Vercel

Netlify offers similar features to Vercel: free tier available, Pro at $19/user/month, serverless functions, ISR, and image optimization.

Feature parity with Vercel has improved significantly. Netlify's OpenNext integration means better Next.js support than in previous years. If you're already using Netlify for other projects or prefer their UI, it's a reasonable choice.

Pros:

• Mature platform with proven reliability
• Good free tier for small projects
• Strong form handling and identity features
• Large plugin ecosystem
• Familiar UI for teams already using Netlify

Cons:

• New Next.js features lag behind Vercel
• Per-seat pricing similar to Vercel
• Some Next.js features require workarounds
• Build minutes can be limiting on free tier

Best for: Teams already using Netlify, projects not needing cutting-edge Next.js features, and those preferring Netlify's UI/workflow.

7. Self-Hosted VPS with Coolify - Maximum Value

If cost is your primary concern and you're comfortable with Linux basics, self-hosting delivers the best value. Run Next.js on a VPS from Hetzner, Digital Ocean, or Contabo for $4-6/month.

Coolify (open source) gives you Vercel-like features on your own infrastructure: git push deploy, preview URLs for PRs, automatic SSL, monitoring, and one-click databases.

# Install Coolify on your VPS
curl -fsSL https://cdn.coollabs.io/coolify/install.sh | bash

MakerKit includes deployment configurations for Docker, Cloudflare, and VPS to get you started quickly.

Pros:

• Lowest cost at scale ($5-6/month for capable VPS)
• Full control over infrastructure
• No vendor lock-in
• Run multiple apps on one server
• Coolify provides Vercel-like DX

Cons:

• Responsible for security updates and patches
• No automatic scaling
• Debugging is on you (no support team)
• Requires Linux knowledge
• Single point of failure without redundancy setup

Best for: Cost-conscious teams, developers comfortable with Linux, and projects where infrastructure control matters more than convenience.

8. Render - Simple Container Deployments

Render positions itself as the "Heroku successor" with modern pricing. Deploy Next.js with a Dockerfile or let Render auto-detect your framework. Free tier available for static sites, with web services starting at $7/month.

Render handles SSL, CDN, and auto-deploys from Git. The platform supports multiple languages, so if your stack includes Python services or Go APIs alongside Next.js, you can manage everything in one place.

# render.yaml for Next.js
services:
  - type: web
    name: my-nextjs-app
    runtime: node
    buildCommand: npm install && npm run build
    startCommand: npm start

Pros:

• Simple, predictable pricing
• Good free tier for static sites
• Multi-language support in one platform
• Automatic SSL and CDN
• Preview environments for PRs

Cons:

• Free tier web services spin down after inactivity
• Fewer Next.js-specific optimizations than Vercel
• Cold starts on lower tiers
• Less mature than Railway for Node.js apps

Best for: Teams wanting Heroku-like simplicity, multi-language projects, and developers who prefer straightforward container deployments.

9. AWS Amplify - Simplified AWS

AWS Amplify is AWS's answer to Vercel and Netlify. It abstracts away Lambda, CloudFront, and S3 configuration while keeping your app within the AWS ecosystem. If your backend already uses AWS services, Amplify provides a simpler deployment path than raw OpenNext.

Amplify Hosting includes automatic builds from Git, preview environments, and a global CDN. The free tier includes 1,000 build minutes and 15GB bandwidth monthly.

# Install Amplify CLI and deploy
npm install -g @aws-amplify/cli
amplify init
amplify add hosting
amplify publish

Pros:

• Simpler than raw AWS infrastructure
• Integrates with AWS backend services (Cognito, AppSync, DynamoDB)
• Free tier available
• Automatic CI/CD from Git
• AWS compliance and security

Cons:

• Still more complex than Vercel/Railway
• Next.js feature support can lag
• AWS billing complexity remains
• Vendor lock-in to AWS ecosystem

Best for: Teams already invested in AWS, apps using AWS backend services, and organizations requiring AWS compliance.

10. DigitalOcean App Platform - Middle Ground

DigitalOcean App Platform offers a managed PaaS that sits between raw VPS hosting and fully managed platforms like Vercel. Deploy Next.js with automatic builds, scaling, and managed databases.

Pricing starts at $5/month for basic apps. The platform auto-detects Next.js projects and configures builds appropriately. You get the simplicity of a managed platform with DigitalOcean's straightforward pricing.

Pros:

• Simpler than self-hosted VPS
• Predictable DigitalOcean pricing
• Managed databases available
• Automatic scaling on higher tiers
• Good documentation

Cons:

• Less Next.js-specific than Vercel
• Fewer edge locations than Cloudflare
• Build times can be slower
• Limited free tier

Best for: Teams familiar with DigitalOcean, projects wanting managed hosting without Vercel pricing, and apps needing integrated databases.

Quick Comparison

Real-World Recommendations

For Side Projects and MVPs

Start with Vercel's free tier. Zero friction, generous limits, and you can always migrate later. Don't optimize costs before you have users.

For Growing SaaS Products

Railway offers the best combination of developer experience and predictable pricing. The ability to run your database alongside your app simplifies operations.

For Cost-Conscious Production Apps

Self-host with Coolify on a Hetzner VPS. You'll pay 10-20% of what Vercel would cost at similar scale. MakerKit includes deployment guides for VPS hosting.

For Global Performance Requirements

Cloudflare Workers via OpenNext, if you can work within the constraints. Otherwise, Fly.io for VM-based edge deployment.

For Enterprise with AWS Mandate

Use SST or FlightControl with OpenNext. Both abstract away much of the AWS complexity while giving you production-grade infrastructure.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Premature optimization: Don't pick the cheapest option before you have traffic. Developer time spent fighting infrastructure is more expensive than hosting.
• Underestimating self-hosting overhead: A $5 VPS is cheap until you're debugging production issues at 2am. Budget for the operational cost, not just the hosting cost.
• Assuming feature parity: Not every provider supports every Next.js feature immediately. Server Actions, Partial Prerendering, and other new features may lag on non-Vercel platforms.
• Forgetting environment variable differences: NEXT_PUBLIC_ variables require a rebuild to change. Runtime environment variables don't. Plan your configuration strategy accordingly.
• Not testing preview deployments: Production bugs are often caught in staging. Use preview deployments for PRs on whatever platform you choose.

Deploying Next.js with Docker

For self-hosting or container-based platforms like Railway and Render, you'll need a Dockerfile. Here's a production-optimized Next.js Dockerfile:

FROM node:20-alpine AS base
# Install dependencies only when needed
FROM base AS deps
RUN apk add --no-cache libc6-compat
WORKDIR /app
COPY package.json pnpm-lock.yaml* ./
RUN corepack enable pnpm && pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
# Build the application
FROM base AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=deps /app/node_modules ./node_modules
COPY . .
RUN corepack enable pnpm && pnpm run build
# Production image
FROM base AS runner
WORKDIR /app
ENV NODE_ENV=production
RUN addgroup --system --gid 1001 nodejs
RUN adduser --system --uid 1001 nextjs
COPY --from=builder /app/public ./public
COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/standalone ./
COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/static ./.next/static
USER nextjs
EXPOSE 3000
ENV PORT=3000
ENV HOSTNAME="0.0.0.0"
CMD ["node", "server.js"]

This Dockerfile uses multi-stage builds to minimize image size and requires output: 'standalone' in your next.config.js:

// next.config.js
module.exports = {
  output: 'standalone',
}

The standalone output creates a minimal production bundle that includes only the necessary dependencies, reducing your Docker image from ~1GB to ~100-200MB.

Deploying MakerKit to Production

MakerKit supports all the hosting options covered here. We provide deployment guides and configuration generators for:

• Docker deployment (works with Railway, Render, Fly.io, VPS)
• Cloudflare deployment
• VPS self-hosting with Coolify
• Vercel (works out of the box, zero configuration)

For most teams building a SaaS, we recommend starting with Vercel for speed, then evaluating Railway or self-hosting as you scale and costs become meaningful. The Docker configuration works across Railway, Render, Fly.io, and any VPS provider.