Netlify vs Vercel: Which Free Portfolio Hosting 2026
You need a sleek landing page or professional portfolio. You don’t want the “cookie-cutter” look of Google Sites and you also don’t want your private code sitting in a public GitHub repository just to use GitHub Pages.
So the current champions of free static site hosting in 2026 are Netlify and Vercel. the question is, which one to pick?
For me, both are fantastic options that allow private repositories (I’ve tried both). They offer incredibly generous free tiers—typically around 100GB of bandwidth monthly. Frankly, if your personal portfolio exceeds that, it’s a nice problem to have because it means you are going viral.
(How do they survive if it’s free? Their business model relies on hooking developers early. Enterprise clients pay significant fees for advanced security and collaboration tools, essentially subsidizing free users)
Netlify vs. Vercel
While Vercel is brilliant (especially for Next.js apps), their free tier terms of service are stricter regarding commercial usage. If your portfolio directly helps you run a business, Vercel’s free tier might technically be off-limits.
Netlify is often recommended for general portfolios because their free tier is more lenient regarding commercial use. Furthermore, Netlify utilizes its own blazing-fast, purpose-built CDN right out of the box to serve your site globally.
Here are some pros and cons list of these two.
Netlify – Pros
- Commercial Use Allowed: You can host a portfolio that sells services or a client’s landing page for free (as long as you stay within bandwidth limits).
- Built-in Forms: You can add a simple HTML attribute (
netlify-form) to your contact form, and Netlify will automatically handle the backend and email you submissions—no extra code or services needed. - Drag & Drop: You can literally drag a folder of HTML files onto their dashboard to deploy if you don’t want to use Git.
Netlify – Cons
- Slower Next.js Builds: If you use the Next.js framework specifically, build times and feature support are sometimes slightly behind Vercel.
- Cache Invalidation: Occasionally slower to propagate changes globally compared to Vercel’s instant updates.
Vercel – Pros
- Best for Next.js: If your portfolio is built with Next.js, Vercel offers the fastest build times and zero-configuration setup.
- Developer Experience (DX): The dashboard is incredibly clean, and the CI/CD (continuous integration) pipeline is often cited as the fastest and most reliable in the industry.
- Instant Rollbacks: Reverting to a previous version of your site happens almost instantly.
Vercel – Cons
- Strict “Hobby” Limits: If your portfolio helps you get hired as a freelancer, you are technically in a gray area; if it directly sells products, you are violating the free tier terms.
- Vendor Lock-in: Many of their best features (like Vercel Analytics or Image Optimization) are specific to their platform, making it harder to move your site elsewhere later.
My Recommendation
- Choose Netlify if you want a set it and forget it portfolio with a contact form, or if you plan to use the site for any commercial purpose.
- Choose Vercel only if you are strictly building a non-commercial personal brand using the Next.js framework.
Final Tips – Terrified of hitting that 100GB limit? You can place the free Cloudflare CDN in front of either host. Cloudflare caches your content and absorb the bulk of the traffic spikes before it even hits your Netlify or Vercel bandwidth meter, though this does add a layer of DNS complexity.
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