How I Broke the Vercel Hobby Tier Limits

TL;DR: I broke the free tier limits when hosting my Next.js app with Vercel. I realised this too late, and I urgently hosted on Netlify to buy some time to think. I plan on hosting on AWS once I get used with it.

I will give 3 lessons I learnt from this experience to stop you from getting into the same situation.

So without further ado… Let’s dive right in!

Recognizing the Problem Too Late

Here is my website for reference.

I didn't plan enough for this moment...

The only planning I did was look into Cloudflare hosting.

After I realised my Next.js app isn't fully compatible, (since Cloudflare doesn't support node.js runtime) I gave up on looking for hosting providers, and left it until the last second.

Tip #1: Always have a backup plan for scaling. You never know when your app will take off, and it will require fast action to remain afloat; never leave it to the last second.

My Temporary Solution

Because I left this to the last second, I spent the entire day looking for a hosting service that is 100% compatible with my Next.js app.

Fortunately, I came across Netlify.

Netlify is very similar to Vercel, and has excellent support for Next.js apps.

Additionally, their free plan is very generous, which means I bought enough time to discover a permanent solution.

Tip #2: Have a basic understanding of many technologies. In this case, I have experience with Netlify, which made the migration very smooth, even without a backup plan!

You may ask why I didn't stick with Vercel and purchase their pro plan, and my answer would be that it's expensive to scale compared to alternatives.

Plans for the Future

After some research, I have decided I want to host my app on AWS.

While the learning AWS is challenging, I believe this is the cheapest option that is 100% compatible with my Next.js application.

I plan on watching lots of videos, reading documentation, and also seeking advice from others to make this migration easy and worthwhile.

Tip #3: Always do proper research before any major decision, like selecting a hosting provider. Doing this will save you a lot of time and money.

Conclusion

My experience of urgently migrating from Vercel was full of valuable lessons.

It taught me to:

1. Always have a backup plan
2. Always be prepared by learning a lot of technologies
3. Do proper research before making major decisions

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References

• My Website