# Vercel alternative for a site that is already built Vercel is the best place in the world to run a Next.js application and this page is not going to argue otherwise. It is a lot of platform to carry if what you have is a finished folder, a personal-use-only free tier, and a password that costs $150 a month. ## Who should not switch Most Vercel projects should stay on Vercel. This list is longer than the usual one because the overlap between the two products is genuinely small. - Your app uses server-side rendering, API routes, middleware, ISR or image optimisation. None of that runs here. A fully static export works; the rest is the platform. - You want a preview deployment for every pull request, with the comment on the PR. Droply has no Git integration and cannot do this. - You use Vercel's analytics, edge config, KV, blob storage or AI SDK deployments. Those are platform products with no counterpart here. ## Why people look for a Vercel alternative ### The free tier is personal, non-commercial use only Vercel's pricing page states plainly: "Our Hobby plan is for personal, non-commercial use." A freelance deliverable, a client preview or a company page is not personal use, which moves it to Pro at $20 a month plus $20 a month per developer seat. Source: Vercel pricing page, read 8 September 2026. Droply: The free plan makes no judgement about who you are or what the site is for. It is 1 site, 25 MB, 5,000 visits and 5 GB a month, and the acceptable use policy governs content rather than commerce. ### A password on a preview is a $150 a month add-on Password Protection is available on Enterprise, or on Pro as part of the Advanced Deployment Protection add-on at $150 a month, which cannot be cancelled for 30 days. On Hobby, Standard Protection covers preview deployments but leaves the production domain public. Source: Vercel docs, Deployment Protection, page last updated 28 August 2026, read 8 September 2026. Droply: Password protection is part of the plan from Starter, with no add-on, no minimum term and no separate billing line. The check runs at the edge, so the assets sit behind it too. ### The whole platform assumes a repository and a build Vercel is designed around Git: connect a repo, and a build runs on every push. That is excellent when you have a repo and a build. When somebody has emailed you a ZIP of a finished site, it is a pipeline you have to construct before anything is on the internet. Source: Vercel docs, deployment methods table, read 8 September 2026. Droply: Upload the ZIP. There is no repository, no build configuration and no framework detection to get wrong, because nothing is built: the files you upload are the bytes served. ### You are paying for compute you are not using The Hobby allowance is denominated in edge requests, data transfer and active CPU hours, because the platform assumes your site computes. A finished static site does not compute; it just gets served. Source: Vercel pricing page, read 8 September 2026. Droply: Nothing of yours executes here, so nothing is metered for compute. The limits are storage, visits and bandwidth, which are the only three numbers a static site can actually consume. ## Droply and Vercel, row by row Vercel is a much larger product. These are the rows where the two overlap. - **Server-side rendering and functions.** Droply: Not supported at all. Vercel: Supported, and the reason to use it. - **Runs your build.** Droply: Never. Build locally, upload the output. Vercel: Yes, on every push, with framework detection. - **Git integration.** Droply: None. Vercel: Deploy on every push, preview per pull request. - **Publishing without Git.** Droply: The only way. Browser, API or extension. Vercel: Vercel Drop or the CLI. Each Drop makes a new project. - **Free tier terms.** Droply: No restriction on commercial use. Vercel: Hobby is "for personal, non-commercial use". - **Free tier limits.** Droply: 1 site, 25 MB, 5,000 visits, 5 GB a month. Vercel: 1M edge requests, 100 GB data transfer, 4 hours active CPU a month. - **Password protection.** Droply: From Starter, included in the plan. Vercel: Enterprise, or a $150 a month add-on on Pro with a 30-day minimum. - **Expiring links.** Droply: From Starter: six hours, a week, or a date. Vercel: Not offered. - **PDFs and documents.** Droply: First-class files with an in-browser viewer. Vercel: Servable as static assets, not a product feature. - **Security check on every publish.** Droply: Every plan, including free. Vercel: Not offered. - **Seats.** Droply: Pricing is per plan. See the pricing page for team seats. Vercel: $20 a month per developer seat on Pro, viewers free. - **Entry paid price.** Droply: $5 a month for Starter. Vercel: $20 a month for Pro. Vercel figures come from its own pricing page and its Deployment Protection documentation (page last updated 28 August 2026), both read on 8 September 2026. Rows marked "not offered" mean the feature is not part of Vercel's static hosting on that date. Product plans can change. ## How to move a static site from Vercel This only works for a site that is genuinely static. Find that out first, because the build will tell you in a minute and a half. 1. **Produce a static export and see whether it succeeds.** Run the framework's static export locally. For Next.js that is the output: export configuration; the Next.js guide gives the exact form. If the export fails or drops routes, the site has server-side parts and it should stay on Vercel. 2. **List what the export left behind.** API routes, middleware, on-demand revalidation and image optimisation do not come across. Decide what replaces each one before you move the domain, not after. 3. **Drop the folder on Droply.** Sign up, then drag the folder, the ZIP or the single HTML file onto the upload area. Nothing is repackaged and no build runs: the files you upload are the files served. 4. **Check what the security pass found.** Every publish is read for things that should not be public: a committed .env, a .git directory, a private key, an API key in a bundle. Old exports carry these more often than fresh builds do, so read it before you send the link anywhere. 5. **Point your domain at it, if you had one.** From Pro at $15 a month you move the DNS record to Droply and the certificate is issued for you. Change the record last, once the Droply URL already renders what you expect, so there is no window where the domain resolves to nothing. ## Pricing compared Vercel meters compute because Vercel runs your code. Nothing of yours runs here, so the ladders measure different things and the rows say which. The headline gap is still worth naming: the entry paid tier here is $5 a month flat, against $20 a month plus $20 for each developer seat. - **Free.** Droply: 1 site, 25 MB, 5,000 visits and 5 GB a month, work or personal. Vercel: Hobby: 1M edge requests, 100 GB transfer, 4 hours active CPU, personal and non-commercial only. - **Entry paid tier.** Droply: $5 a month for Starter. Vercel: $20 a month for Pro, plus $20 a month per developer seat. - **Password protection.** Droply: Included from Starter. Vercel: $150 a month Advanced Deployment Protection add-on on Pro, or Enterprise. - **What is metered.** Droply: Storage, visits and bandwidth. Vercel: Edge requests, data transfer, active CPU, function invocations and more. Vercel prices from its own pricing page and Deployment Protection documentation, read 8 September 2026. Droply prices are read live from the plans table on this page. Product plans can change. ## What you get without paying anything No seats, no compute meter, and no clause about whether the site is for work. - 1 live site on a 25 MB account, with no card and no trial clock. - Up to 25 MB per upload, and up to 25 publishes a day. - 5,000 visits and 5 GB of traffic a month. - HTTPS with a real certificate, issued and renewed for you. - The same URL on every re-upload, so a link you already sent keeps working. - The deploy-time security check, which reads what you published and warns about a stray .env file, a .git folder, a private key or an API key left in your JavaScript. - A small Droply badge in the corner of the page. Removing it starts on Starter. - Free sites are served noindex, so search engines do not list them. Search visibility starts on Starter. - A published site with no build configuration to get wrong, because no build runs. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Droply free? Yes. 1 live site, 25 MB of storage, 5,000 visits and 5 GB a month, HTTPS included, no card, and no restriction on commercial use. ### Is Droply a good Vercel alternative? Only for a site that is already static. If your project uses server-side rendering, API routes or middleware, Vercel is the right platform and moving would break the site. ### Can I use Vercel free for client work? Vercel's pricing page says the Hobby plan is for personal, non-commercial use, so read it before putting a client site there. Droply's free plan has no equivalent clause. ### Can I host a Next.js site here? Only a fully static export. Set the export output, run the build, and upload the folder it produces. The Next.js guide covers the configuration and what it silently drops. ### How much does password protection cost? It is included from Starter here. On Vercel it is an Enterprise feature, or a $150 a month Advanced Deployment Protection add-on on Pro that cannot be cancelled for 30 days. ### Do I pay per developer? No. Droply prices per plan, and team seats are a plan feature listed on the pricing page. Vercel Pro is $20 a month plus $20 a month per developer seat. ### What do I lose by moving? Git-triggered deploys, preview URLs per pull request, framework builds, functions, middleware, image optimisation and Vercel's analytics and storage products. None of those exist here. ### What do I gain? Uploads without a repository, a free tier you may use commercially, password protection inside the plan, expiring links, document hosting, and a security check on every publish. ### Can I keep the same URL when I republish? Yes, always. Each upload is a new version and publishing repoints the same address, so links you already sent keep working. Vercel Drop, the no-Git path there, creates a new project per drop instead. ## Other comparisons - [Vercel Drop alternative](https://droply.host/vercel-drop-alternative) - [Netlify Drop alternative](https://droply.host/netlify-drop-alternative) - [Render alternative](https://droply.host/render-alternative)