Vercel is the best choice for frontend-heavy sites built with Next.js. Railway wins for full-stack apps that need databases and backend services in one platform. Netlify matches Vercel's workflow for simpler static and Jamstack sites. Hostinger makes sense if you want flat-rate pricing with no surprise bills. Here's the full breakdown.
You built an app with Cursor, Replit, or Claude Code. It works locally. Now you need it on the internet — and the deployment platform you pick affects your costs, performance, and how much infrastructure you end up managing for the next year.
How I'm Comparing These
I've deployed projects on all four platforms over the past year. The comparison focuses on what matters to someone who just vibe-coded their first app: how fast can you deploy, what does it actually cost after the free tier, what breaks when you scale, and how much infrastructure knowledge do you need. I'm not covering enterprise features — this is for indie builders, solo developers, and small teams.
Deployment Experience
Vercel sets the standard here. Connect your GitHub repo, push code, your site is live in under 90 seconds. It auto-detects Next.js, React, Vue, Svelte, and most popular frameworks. Preview deployments for every pull request are automatic. The developer experience is genuinely excellent — this is why people use Vercel despite its pricing.
Railway comes close. Push code or a Docker image, Railway detects the runtime and deploys. The interface is clean and fast. One advantage over Vercel: you can add a PostgreSQL database, Redis, or any other service alongside your app in the same project with a few clicks. No separate database provider needed.
Netlify mirrors Vercel's workflow for static and Jamstack sites. Git-push deploys, preview URLs for every branch, instant rollbacks. For Next.js specifically, Netlify has improved significantly with OpenNext integration, but it's still a step behind Vercel's native optimization.
Hostinger is different. It's traditional managed hosting — you deploy via GitHub integration or FTP, your Node.js app runs as a persistent process. No serverless, no edge functions. The setup takes longer than the other three, but once running, your server stays warm. No cold starts, ever.
Winner: Vercel for pure speed and polish. Railway if you need a database alongside your app.
Pricing and the "Gotcha" Factor
This is where the real differences show up.
Vercel's free tier is generous — 100GB bandwidth, serverless functions, edge middleware — but it explicitly prohibits commercial use. The moment your project makes money, displays ads, or serves a business, you need the Pro plan at $20 per team member per month. A team of 5 is $100/month before any compute charges. Bandwidth overages and function invocations can add up quickly. There are documented cases of startups hitting $2,000/month bandwidth bills unexpectedly.
Railway charges for what you use: $20/vCPU/month and $10/GB RAM/month, billed by the second. The Hobby plan is $5/month with $5 in usage credits. A typical Next.js app with moderate traffic runs $8–15/month total. No seat-based pricing — your whole team can deploy for the same cost. The downside: usage-based billing means your bill fluctuates, and debugging unexpected charges is harder.
Netlify's free tier allows commercial use — a significant advantage over Vercel for side projects that might generate revenue. Pro is $19/seat/month. Netlify recently moved to credit-based pricing (300 credits/month on free tier), which adds complexity. Build minutes and bandwidth have hard limits that can catch you if your site gets traffic spikes.
Hostinger is flat-rate at $3.99/month for Node.js hosting. No usage-based surprises. No seat pricing. You get a persistent server with defined resources. The tradeoff is less automation — you manage more of the deployment pipeline yourself. For someone who just wants a predictable bill, this is appealing.
Winner: Railway for best value at scale. Hostinger for most predictable billing. Netlify for best free tier (commercial use allowed).
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Backend and Database Support
This is where Vercel and Netlify show their frontend-first roots.
Vercel runs your backend as serverless functions with a maximum execution time of 800 seconds and 4GB memory limit. No persistent connections, no WebSockets (without workarounds), no long-running processes. Vercel does offer built-in storage (KV, Blob, Postgres), but they're relatively new and priced separately.
Railway runs your backend as a persistent container with no timeout. WebSockets, background workers, cron jobs, and long-running processes all work natively. Built-in provisioning for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, and Redis. This is Railway's strongest selling point — your app and database live in the same project, connected automatically.
Netlify has serverless functions similar to Vercel, with a 10-second default timeout (extendable to 26 seconds on paid plans). More limited than Vercel for backend work. No built-in databases.
Hostinger gives you a full Node.js server. Your Express or NestJS backend runs as a persistent process. You manage your own database connections — connect to a hosted database service or use Hostinger's own database hosting.
Winner: Railway by a wide margin for anything beyond simple API routes.
Performance and Reliability
Vercel deploys to a global edge network. Static assets serve from the nearest CDN node. Serverless functions run in your selected region. Cold starts exist but have been significantly reduced — Vercel reports 99.37% of requests see zero cold starts on paid plans. For frontend-heavy apps, performance is excellent.
Railway runs on their own hardware (Railway Metal) in 4 regions: US West, US East, EU West, and Asia Southeast. Fewer regions than Vercel's 20, but containers stay warm — no cold start issue. For apps where your users are concentrated in one region, performance is comparable to Vercel.
Netlify has a global CDN similar to Vercel. Performance for static sites is excellent. Serverless function performance is slightly behind Vercel for Next.js-specific optimizations.
Hostinger runs on managed servers. Performance depends on the plan you choose. No global edge distribution — your site serves from one datacenter. For a small to medium site with a regional audience, this is fine. For a global audience, you'd want to put a CDN (like Cloudflare) in front of it.
Winner: Vercel for global frontend performance. Railway for consistent backend performance.
Who Should Use What
Use Vercel if you're building a Next.js site, you need global edge performance, you want the best developer experience, and you're okay with per-seat pricing. Best for: marketing sites, SaaS frontends, content sites, portfolios.
Use Railway if you need a database alongside your app, you're building a full-stack product, you want usage-based pricing without seat costs, or you need persistent backend services. Best for: SaaS products, API-first apps, apps with databases, side projects that might scale.
Use Netlify if you're building a static or Jamstack site, you want commercial use on the free tier, or you prefer Netlify's deploy preview workflow. Best for: documentation sites, blogs, marketing pages, small business sites.
Use Hostinger if you want predictable flat-rate billing, you need a persistent Node.js server, you're comfortable with more manual deployment, or you're hosting a simple app where $3.99/month is the entire budget. Best for: MVPs on a tight budget, simple apps, developers who prefer traditional hosting.
Use both Vercel + Railway (increasingly common in 2026) if you want Vercel's frontend performance with Railway's backend flexibility. Deploy your Next.js frontend on Vercel, your API and database on Railway.
The Bottom Line
For most vibe-coded projects — especially if you built with Next.js in Cursor or Replit — start with Vercel's free tier. It's the fastest path to "live on the internet." When you hit the commercial use restriction or need a database, Railway is the natural next step.
The deployment platform matters less than actually deploying. Ship your project today on whichever platform you can set up in 10 minutes. You can always migrate later.
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