Compare / Vercel
The Vercel alternative that runs a process, not a function
Vercel has run Dockerfiles since June 2026, and each one is still a Vercel Function underneath: 300 seconds by default, a read-only filesystem, nothing kept between requests. Lizard runs the same image as a long-lived process in its own container, with first-party Postgres, Redis, and S3-compatible storage.
Why developers look for a Vercel alternative
Containers, not processes
A container on Vercel inherits Function limits — 300s by default, 800s on Pro, a read-only filesystem with a 500 MB /tmp, and a SIGTERM after 5 idle minutes. Good request handler, poor home for a daemon.
Databases come from the marketplace
Postgres, Redis, and vector stores on Vercel are Neon, Upstash, and Supabase products. One command installs them; you end up with a second vendor and a second bill.
No shell into a running app
You cannot open a shell in a deployed Vercel Function or container image, and it has no persistent disk. Only Vercel Sandbox, a separate product for running untrusted code, gives you a shell and a filesystem that survives a stop. When a deploy behaves differently from local, you are guessing from logs.
Requests are billed, twice
$0.60 per million invocations, from $2.00 per million edge requests past 10 million, and Fast Origin Transfer from $0.06 per GB from the first byte on top of Fast Data Transfer.
Lizard vs Vercel
Every figure read off Vercel’s published pricing and our own. Last verified: 27 August 2026.
| Compared by | Lizard | Vercel |
|---|---|---|
| Unit of deployment | Long-lived process, app or worker, no time limit | Container or function — 300s default, 800s max on Pro |
| Filesystem | Full read-write root | Read-only, with a 500 MB /tmp |
| Idle behaviour | Process stays up | Scales to zero after 5 minutes, SIGTERM with a 30s grace period |
| CPU | $0.0278 per vCPU-hour on measured use | From $0.128 per Active CPU-hour in US regions, up to $0.221 in São Paulo |
| Egress | 50 GB a month included on Hobby, 300 GB on Pro, then $0.05 per GB | From $0.15 per GB past the first 1 TB ($0.15–$0.35 by region), plus $0.06–$0.43 per GB origin transfer |
| Requests | Not billed | $0.60 per million invocations, from $2.00 per million edge requests past 10M ($2.00–$3.20 by region) |
| Builds | No charge for the hosted build step; running apps and Sandboxes still incur resource charges | $0.0035 per CPU-minute — $0.014 a minute on 4 vCPU, $0.105 on Turbo |
| Databases | First-party Postgres, Redis, and S3-compatible storage in one command | Marketplace — Neon, Upstash, Supabase |
| Debugging a live app | lizard ssh -- <cmd> runs any command in the live container, plus logs and metrics | Logs and observability, no shell |
| Seats | Not billed | $20/month includes one deploying seat and $20 credit per team; each extra deploying seat is $20/month; viewers are free |
When Vercel is the better choice
A Next.js frontend with bursty traffic and no long-lived backend. Vercel’s edge network, image pipeline, and preview flow are excellent, its Functions genuinely cost nothing when nobody visits, and the framework integration is deeper than anyone else’s. If your app is a site rather than a system, stay.
Moving from Vercel
No Dockerfile required — lizardpack detects the stack and writes one on the build node. If your repo already has a Dockerfile, it is used as it stands.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, and that is the main reason people switch. Lizard runs long-lived processes, so APIs, workers, WebSocket servers, and background loops all deploy the same way, and Postgres, Redis, and object storage are first-party rather than marketplace products.
It depends what is in the image. If it serves HTTP and finishes inside 800 seconds, Vercel runs it fine. If it is a daemon, a poller, or a scheduler holding state in memory, Vercel will not: a container there runs under Function limits, keeps nothing between requests, and gets a SIGTERM after 5 idle minutes.
Compare the full bill after credits and allowances. Lizard Pro costs $29/month with $29 of usage credit and 300 GB of egress per billing period. Vercel Pro costs $20/month with one deploying seat, $20 of usage credit per team and 1 TB of Fast Data Transfer. Extra deploying seats cost $20 each. Lizard does not charge for hosted builds; Vercel paid build machines start at $0.0035 per CPU-minute. Actual bills depend on CPU, memory, requests, transfer and build use.
Yes. Rename Dockerfile.vercel to Dockerfile, or point dockerfilePath at it, and Lizard builds it as it stands — as long as it has a real build step. A Dockerfile that only copies pre-built artifacts is treated as incomplete and gets rewritten. Without one, lizardpack detects the stack and writes a multi-stage Dockerfile on the build node.
All of them. lizardpack detects Go, Node, Python, Rust, Ruby, PHP, Java, and static sites, and writes the Dockerfile for you. There is no platform-specific config to add.
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