Launch in Days, Not Weeks
Professional one-page website. Only a few slots left this month
Your developer picked Vercel because everyone else is on Vercel. Six months later, the bill landed and nobody understands the units. There is a quieter alternative that often performs better from UK locations, costs less, and has fewer surprise charges. Here is the honest comparison.
What Each Platform Actually Is
Vercel started as the company behind Next.js and built a hosting platform optimised for that framework. It supports other frameworks, but the product is tightly integrated with the Next.js ecosystem. Serverless functions, edge middleware, and the Vercel AI SDK are all designed with Next.js in mind first. If you are building a Next.js application, Vercel is the most frictionless deployment path.
Cloudflare Pages is static and edge-first hosting on Cloudflare’s global network. It is framework-agnostic: it builds and serves Astro, Next.js static exports, Hugo, Eleventy, SvelteKit, and virtually any framework that produces static output or edge-compatible functions. It is part of Cloudflare’s broader platform, which means you get access to their CDN, DDoS protection, and DNS management in the same account.
The core difference: Vercel is an application hosting platform with a focus on dynamic Next.js features. Cloudflare Pages is a static and edge hosting platform with a focus on performance and cost predictability.
Performance from UK Edges
Cloudflare operates 330+ data centres globally, including multiple locations across the UK and Europe. Static assets cached at Cloudflare’s edge are delivered in under 50ms from any UK location. TTFB (Time to First Byte) for cached content on Cloudflare Pages is consistently under 100ms in UK testing.
Vercel’s edge network is smaller (approximately 100 locations globally) but well-distributed across major markets. UK performance on Vercel is also strong: cached content delivers in under 200ms from UK locations in typical testing.
For static marketing sites, both platforms perform well enough that the performance difference is not a primary decision factor. The gap becomes more meaningful for dynamic server-side rendering, where Cloudflare Workers’ execution model can produce lower cold-start latency than Vercel’s serverless functions.
Where Cloudflare has a structural advantage: it serves all content through its anti-DDoS layer by default. On Vercel, DDoS protection requires a higher plan tier.
Pricing in Plain English
This is where the comparison gets important for business decision-makers.
Cloudflare Pages free tier:
- Unlimited sites
- 500 builds per month
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Unlimited requests
- Custom domains and HTTPS included
Cloudflare Pages paid tier (£20/month):
- Up to 5,000 builds per month
- Additional team members
- Access to advanced analytics
Most B2B marketing sites never leave the free tier. A site receiving 500,000 visits per month on Cloudflare Pages costs the same as one receiving 5,000: nothing.
Vercel free tier (Hobby):
- 1 project
- 100GB bandwidth per month
- 100 serverless function invocations per day
- No commercial use allowed (terms prohibit business use on free tier)
Vercel Pro (£20/month per member):
- Unlimited projects
- 1TB bandwidth
- Additional compute units
- Bandwidth overages: approximately £0.16 per GB above the included limit
The Vercel billing model has several moving parts: bandwidth, function invocations, edge function execution time, build minutes, and log drain usage. A marketing site with heavy serverless usage or high traffic can generate unexpected charges. A site on Cloudflare Pages generating the same traffic and using similar functions will typically cost less.
For a UK B2B marketing site receiving 100,000 monthly visits with a few serverless functions (contact forms, simple APIs):
- Cloudflare Pages: £0 per month (well within free tier limits)
- Vercel: £20 per month minimum, potentially £40 to £80 if serverless usage is significant
Over three years, that is £720 to £2,880 in savings for a comparable setup.
Developer Experience and Build Tooling
Vercel has invested heavily in developer experience. Automatic preview deployments on every pull request, instant rollbacks, a polished dashboard, and deep Next.js integration are genuine strengths. If your team’s primary frustration is deployment workflow, Vercel’s DX is excellent.
Cloudflare Pages has caught up significantly in developer experience. Git integration with GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket, automatic preview URLs, and rollback are all available. The dashboard is functional without being as refined as Vercel’s.
For Astro deployments specifically, Cloudflare Pages has a first-class integration that handles the build pipeline, edge functions, and asset optimisation. The experience is comparable to Vercel for Next.js.
Lock-In and Exit Risk
Vercel’s lock-in concern is real but often overstated. If you are using Next.js features that depend on Vercel infrastructure (Image Optimization API, Edge Middleware with @vercel/edge, Vercel AI SDK), moving away requires code changes. A straightforward Next.js static export with no Vercel-specific features can be migrated to Cloudflare Pages in an afternoon.
Cloudflare Pages has lower lock-in risk for static and Jamstack sites. Astro on Cloudflare Pages can be moved to Netlify, Render, or any static host with minimal changes. The Cloudflare Workers adapter for edge functions is the primary lock-in point.
The Right Choice by Site Type
Static marketing site (Astro, Hugo, Eleventy): Cloudflare Pages. Better free tier, equivalent performance, lower running cost.
Next.js application with dynamic features (SSR, API routes, auth): Vercel is the path of least resistance. The DX integration is genuinely better for complex Next.js projects.
Next.js static export (marketing site using Next.js for familiarity): Either works. Cloudflare Pages will cost less at scale.
Hybrid marketing site and product dashboard: Consider whether these should be on separate domains. The marketing site on Cloudflare Pages, the app on Vercel or your own infrastructure.
At Fernside Studio, all client sites are deployed to Cloudflare Pages. The performance is excellent from UK locations, the running cost for our clients is zero (covered in our hosting fee), and the platform has never produced a surprise bill. For Astro-based marketing sites, it is the right choice.
If you want help evaluating hosting options for your specific project, book a call with us. Our web development service includes hosting setup and ongoing management, so you never have to interpret a cloud bill yourself.