Deployment platforms: Part 1 — How to choose between Vercel, Netlify and Dokploy

When a website or web application is ready, it needs to be hosted so that every code change reaches users without manual work. This is solved in two ways: a cloud platform that handles build, hosting and content delivery, or a self-hosted server with a deployment panel. This comparison covers three tools: Vercel and Netlify — cloud platforms for frontend, Dokploy — a panel you install on your own server.

How deploy from Git works

The overall flow is the same for all three. You connect a repository on GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket, and on every change to the main branch the platform builds the project and publishes a new version. Preview builds with separate addresses are created for other branches and pull/merge requests: they are convenient to show colleagues and the client before publishing. If the new version has a bug, you can roll back to the previous one.

Differences are where the build runs and where the application runs, how much it costs and who is responsible for the server.

Vercel

The cloud platform of the company that develops the Next.js framework. It works best with Next.js projects: server-side rendering, API routes and image optimization work out of the box. Other frameworks are supported as well: React, Vue, Svelte, Astro.

Vercel’s Hobby free tier is, per Vercel rules, intended only for personal non-commercial use. A company website, online store or client project requires the Pro plan: $20 per month per developer; the plan includes a $20 resource credit.

Netlify

A cloud platform founded in 2014. Historically it has been focused on static sites and generators like Hugo, Astro and Eleventy; serverless functions, form handling and user sign-up have been added to that.

Since September 4, 2025 new accounts operate on a credit model: production deploys, traffic, requests and function executions deduct credits from a shared balance. The Free tier gives 300 credits per month, Personal for $9 — 1000 credits, Pro for $20 — 3000 credits for the whole team, with no extra charge per member.

Dokploy

A panel you install on your own VPS. It runs on top of Docker: deploys applications from Git, from a Dockerfile or docker-compose file, provisions databases and issues Let’s Encrypt certificates via the Traefik reverse proxy.

The core code is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license. Enterprise features — single sign-on (SSO), audit log, custom roles — are provided under a separate license and are enabled only with a key. For ordinary commercial use without them, according to the developers, a key is not required. You mainly pay for the server: Dokploy requires at least 2 GB of RAM and 30 GB of disk.

Comparison

Data as of September 2026.

What to consider in Russia

• Payment. Since March 2022 Visa and Mastercard do not process transactions on cards issued by Russian banks abroad, so you cannot pay Vercel and Netlify with such a card.
• Personal data. From July 1, 2025 the primary collection of personal data of Russian citizens must be stored in databases on Russian territory. If a site accepts requests with names and phone numbers, the form handler and the database must be located in Russia. A static site that doesn’t collect data is not affected by this requirement.
• Availability. According to users on the Vercel forum, in 2026 the IP address that Vercel assigns for a custom domain is inaccessible from some Russian ISPs, while addresses like *.vercel.app are reachable. There is no official statement from Vercel.

How to choose

• Project on Next.js, audience abroad, and you can pay for Pro — Vercel.
• Static site, documentation, landing page without data collection — Netlify or Vercel.
• Backend, databases, multiple services, data must stay in Russia, need predictable budget — Dokploy on a VPS of a Russian provider.
• No one to update the server and manage backups — choose a cloud platform, not your own server.

Common mistakes

• Running a commercial project on the Hobby free tier. This violates Vercel’s rules; the account may be suspended.
• Choosing based on the free tier without calculation. On cloud platforms costs grow with traffic and number of deploys, while a server’s cost is fixed.
• A form that sends personal data to a foreign service.
• A self-hosted server without updates and backups. Dokploy simplifies deployment but does not eliminate administration.