Vercel Free Plan 2026: What's Included & What's Not
Honest breakdown of the free tier limits and features
Vercel costs Free to $20 per user/month as of May 2026. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: No free tier available
Yes, Vercel offers a freemium plan as of May 2026. The free tier includes 11 features with limits on seats and transfer. Paid plans start at $20/developer/month (Pro). Pricing verified from 3 sources by CostBench.
Vercel offers a freemium model with limited features; upgrade to unlock more.
What's Included in the Free Plan
- 1 developer seat
- 100 GB fast data transfer/month
- 1M function invocations/month
- 4 hours Active CPU/month
- 1M edge requests/month
- 5,000 image transformations/month
- 1 GB blob storage
- Web Application Firewall + DDoS mitigation
- CDN included
- 50,000 web analytics events/month
- Non-commercial use only
What's NOT Included (Paid Only)
- $20 included usage credit per billing cycle
- 1 TB fast data transfer/month included
- 10M edge requests/month included
- Unlimited viewer seats (free)
- Pay-as-you-go overages above included allocations
- Custom domains with SSL
- 40 custom firewall rules
- Advanced spend management (configurable cap)
- Webhook triggers
- Skew protection
- 1 custom environment
- HIPAA BAA available ($350/month add-on)
- SAML SSO available ($300/month add-on)
Free Plan Limits
| Limit | Free Plan | Paid Plans |
|---|---|---|
| seats | 1 developer | Unlimited/Higher |
| transfer | 100 GB/month (hard cap — cannot purchase more) | Unlimited/Higher |
| functions | 1M invocations/month | Unlimited/Higher |
| commercial | Not for commercial/business use | Unlimited/Higher |
You'll Need to Upgrade When...
- You exceed the user limit
- You need features like $20 included usage credit per billing cycle or 1 TB fast data transfer/month included
- You require premium support or SLA guarantees
- You need to remove branding or watermarks
- You need advanced integrations or API access
Hidden Restrictions on Free Plan
- Vercel branding may appear on your content or communications
- Support is limited to community forums or email with longer response times
- Export options may be restricted or include watermarks
- API access is typically limited or not available
- Advanced reporting and analytics require paid plans
Free vs Paid: Which Do You Need?
Free Plan is Enough If...
- You're an individual or very small team
- You need only basic features
- You don't mind usage limits
- Branding on output is acceptable
- Community support is sufficient
You Need Paid If...
- Your team is growing beyond limits
- You need advanced features
- Professional branding is required
- You need priority support
- Integrations/API access is critical
Free vs Pro Plan Comparison
| Hobby $0 | Pro $20/developer/month | |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 11 included | 13+ included |
| Support | Community/Email | Priority Support |
| Branding | Vercel branding | Your branding |
| Best For | Personal projects, side projects, and learning — non-commercial only | Commercial projects and teams needing pay-as-you-go scaling without Enterprise contracts |
Frequently Asked Questions
01 Is Vercel free?
Yes, Vercel offers a freemium plan with 11 core features included. However, there are limits on seats, transfer that may require upgrading.
02 What's included in Vercel's free plan?
Vercel's free plan includes: 1 developer seat, 100 GB fast data transfer/month, 1M function invocations/month, 4 hours Active CPU/month, 1M edge requests/month, and 6 more features. Key limits include seats: 1 developer, transfer: 100 GB/month (hard cap — cannot purchase more), functions: 1M invocations/month.
03 What's NOT included in Vercel's free plan?
The free plan excludes: $20 included usage credit per billing cycle, 1 TB fast data transfer/month included, 10M edge requests/month included, Unlimited viewer seats (free), Pay-as-you-go overages above included allocations. You'll also have Vercel branding and limited support options.
04 When should I upgrade from Vercel's free plan?
Consider upgrading when: you hit user or storage limits, need features like $20 included usage credit per billing cycle or 1 TB fast data transfer/month included, require premium support, or want to remove branding. The cheapest paid plan starts at $20/developer/month.
05 Is Vercel's free plan really free forever?
Yes, Vercel's free plan is available indefinitely with no time limit. However, feature and usage limits may restrict what you can do without upgrading to a paid plan.