Deploy a Next.js App With API Routes for Free in 2026
Next.js with server-side rendering and functions on the free tier. Three viable hosts and how to choose.
- STEP 1
Decide if your project has any commercial element
Vercel Hobby's terms forbid commercial use. If your app has ads, paid features, affiliate links, or is for a client, do not deploy on Hobby , Vercel will eventually flag it. The polished DX is genuinely worth $20/month for Pro on a real product. For purely personal projects, Hobby is the most generous free tier in this category (6,000 build minutes, 100 GB-hours of serverless compute, 100 GB bandwidth).
- STEP 2
If commercial, pick Netlify or Cloudflare Pages
Netlify Starter allows commercial use, gives 100 GB bandwidth, 300 build minutes, and 100 GB-hours of edge function execution. Best when your API routes are lightweight (cookie checks, redirect logic, small data fetches). Cloudflare Pages allows commercial use, gives unlimited bandwidth, 500 builds/month, and 100K Worker requests/day. Best when bandwidth is the binding constraint or you serve media. Note: Cloudflare Pages support for full Next.js SSR is uneven , static export plus separate Workers works cleanly; full server runtime is in active development.
- STEP 3
Optimize for the binding constraint
On Vercel, watch function compute (100 GB-hours kicks in fast). Cache aggressively at the edge with revalidate headers. On Netlify, watch build minutes (300 is genuinely tight). Skip preview deploys on uninteresting branches. On Cloudflare Pages, watch the 500 builds/month cap. Build locally and deploy via Direct Upload for high-frequency repos. The constraint that bites first is rarely bandwidth , sort by build minutes and function compute, not by the headline number.
- STEP 4
Plan the migration path before you launch
Free tiers are designed to make scaling a paid problem. Before you launch, know which paid plan you would buy at 10x your current traffic and what changes break with the move. Vercel Hobby → Pro = $20/mo, no code change. Netlify Starter → Pro = $19/mo, no change. Cloudflare Pages free → Pro = $5/mo, plus Worker overage. Knowing the cost in advance lets you not panic when an article gets shared.