The Hidden Cost of Free Hosting: What Vercel and Netlify Don't Tell You

The "Free" That Isn't Free

Let's be clear: Vercel, Netlify, and similar platforms have genuinely generous free tiers. For hobby projects and low-traffic sites, they're incredible value. But "free" has limits, and those limits have a way of sneaking up on you.

The Common Free Tier Gotchas

Bandwidth Limits

Vercel Free: 100GB/month

Netlify Free: 100GB/month

Sounds like a lot? A typical Next.js site with images can be 2-5MB per page load. At 3MB average:

• 100GB = ~33,000 page views
• That's about 1,100 visitors/day assuming 1 page each
• Real users view multiple pages

One viral post, one ProductHunt launch, one successful Reddit thread—you can blow through 100GB in days.

Function Execution Limits

Vercel Free: 100GB-hours of serverless function execution

Netlify Free: 125,000 function invocations

If your site has an API, auth, or any dynamic features, you're using functions. A busy API can hit these limits fast.

Build Minutes

Vercel Free: Shared build queue (slower during peak times)

Netlify Free: 300 build minutes/month

If you deploy frequently (which you should), build minutes add up. Large Next.js apps can take 5-10 minutes to build. That's 30-60 deploys per month.

The Real Cost When You Graduate

Here's what happens when you hit those limits:

Vercel Pro: $20/month

• Still has limits (1TB bandwidth, 1000GB-hours functions)
• Overage charges: $40/100GB bandwidth, $40/100GB-hours
• One viral moment can mean hundreds in overage

Netlify Pro: $19/month/member

• 1TB bandwidth, 25,000 build minutes
• Overage: $20/100GB bandwidth

The Overage Trap

The most expensive words in SaaS: "overage charges."

Unlike a fixed monthly bill, overages are unpredictable. Your site goes viral, you celebrate... then you see the bill.

What "Free" Doesn't Include

Uptime Monitoring

Free tiers don't tell you when your site is down. You find out from users.

Real Analytics

Basic analytics are included, but detailed performance data often requires paid tiers.

Priority Support

When something breaks at 2 AM, free tier support is... email. Eventually.

The Smart Approach to Free Hosting

Use Free Tiers Wisely

They're perfect for:

• Personal projects
• Development/staging environments
• Very low-traffic sites
• Testing and prototyping

Know Your Numbers

Before you launch:

• Estimate your page weight
• Estimate your traffic
• Calculate rough bandwidth usage
• Know the overage rates

Set Up Alerts

Monitor your usage dashboards. Have a plan for when you approach limits.

The Bottom Line

Free hosting tiers are a gift to developers. Use them! But use them with eyes open.

Know the limits. Watch your usage. Have a plan for graduation day.

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SlyDuck monitors your sites whether they're on free or paid hosting. Track uptime, performance, and get alerts before your users notice problems. Start free.