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Our pickReviewed

Cheapest hosting and deploy for AI-built apps

Cloudflare Workers & Pages is our pick for the cheapest serious hosting: a generous free tier, a $5/month paid minimum and no egress fees. Vercel is the smoothest for Next.js but its free plan is non-commercial; Railway is best for servers and databases. Coolify is free if you already have a server.

Editorial picks

Alternative 1Verified

Vercel

The easiest deploys for Next.js, with previews for every branch and pull request. The free Hobby plan is for non-commercial use, so a paid product needs Pro at $20 per seat.

Free tierfrom $20/moVisit Vercel ↗
Alternative 2Verified

Railway

Run real servers, workers and databases with per-second billing. A $1/month free plan and a $5 Hobby plan that includes $5 of usage.

Free tierfrom $5/moVisit Railway ↗
Open-source pickVerified

Coolify

Self-host a Vercel-style platform on your own VPS for free. You pay only for the server, and you manage it yourself.

Free tierOpen sourcefrom $5/moVisit Coolify ↗

Editorial picks are never paid for. How we make money.

How we picked

  • Free tier you can launch on
  • Cost of the first paid step
  • Fit for your app type
  • No surprise bills

Prices are checked against each vendor's official pricing page. Our methodology.

When to switch

  • You need long-running processes or full Node.js compatibility

    → Move to Railway. Run regular containers with per-second billing.

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FAQ

Can I use Vercel's free plan for my startup?

Vercel's Hobby plan is for personal, non-commercial use. A commercial product should be on Pro or another host.

Where should I host a backend that runs all the time?

Use a host built for long-running processes, like Railway, Render or Fly.io. Edge platforms like Cloudflare Workers have per-request CPU limits.

How do I avoid surprise hosting bills?

Set spend limits or budget alerts where available, and check usage dashboards weekly in your first months.