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Serverless vs Zeit Now: What are the differences?
Introduction
Serverless computing and Zeit Now are both popular options for deploying and running applications in the cloud. While they have some similarities, there are key differences that set them apart from each other. This article will outline and explain these differences in detail.
Deployment Options: One of the main differences between Serverless and Zeit Now is the deployment options they offer. Serverless is a framework that allows developers to build and deploy applications that run on serverless architecture, such as AWS Lambda or Azure Functions. On the other hand, Zeit Now is a deployment platform that supports various serverless providers, including AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, and Google Cloud Functions. This means that while Serverless limits the deployment to serverless architectures, Zeit Now provides more flexibility by allowing developers to choose from multiple serverless providers.
Pricing Model: Another significant difference is the pricing model of Serverless and Zeit Now. Serverless pricing is typically based on the number of invocations, duration of the function execution, and resources used. This means that developers are billed for the actual usage of their serverless functions. In contrast, Zeit Now follows a simpler pricing model based on the number of deployments and the amount of bandwidth used. This makes Zeit Now more straightforward and easier to estimate the costs.
Ease of Use: Both Serverless and Zeit Now aim to provide an easy and simple way for developers to deploy and manage their applications. However, there are subtle differences in their ease of use. Serverless is feature-rich and offers various tools and plugins that cater to different use cases. It allows developers to define their infrastructure as code and provides built-in support for monitoring, logging, and debugging. Zeit Now, on the other hand, focuses on simplicity and minimal configuration. It provides a seamless deployment experience with just a single command and has built-in support for static websites. This makes Zeit Now an excellent choice for developers who prioritize simplicity and quick deployments.
Community and Ecosystem: Both Serverless and Zeit Now have vibrant communities and an ecosystem of plugins, libraries, and integrations. However, Serverless has a larger and more mature ecosystem due to its early prominence in the serverless space. It has a vast collection of plugins and integrations for various serverless providers and technologies. Zeit Now, being a newer player, has a smaller ecosystem but is rapidly growing and gaining popularity. It has its own set of integrations, including seamless integration with Next.js, a popular React framework. Developers should consider the ecosystem and community support when choosing between Serverless and Zeit Now.
Vendor Lock-in: Vendor lock-in is an important consideration when selecting a deployment platform. Serverless, being a framework, can be used with different serverless providers, which provides some flexibility and decreases vendor lock-in. However, as it relies on specific serverless architectures, there is still some degree of lock-in to those platforms. On the other hand, Zeit Now supports multiple serverless providers, providing more flexibility and reducing the risk of vendor lock-in.
In Summary, Serverless and Zeit Now are both viable options for deploying applications in the cloud. Serverless offers a feature-rich framework specifically designed for serverless architectures, while Zeit Now provides a simpler and more flexible deployment platform that supports multiple serverless providers. The choice between the two largely depends on the specific needs of the project, the desired level of flexibility, and the preference for either a comprehensive feature set or a minimalist deployment experience.
When adding a new feature to Checkly rearchitecting some older piece, I tend to pick Heroku for rolling it out. But not always, because sometimes I pick AWS Lambda . The short story:
- Developer Experience trumps everything.
- AWS Lambda is cheap. Up to a limit though. This impact not only your wallet.
- If you need geographic spread, AWS is lonely at the top.
Recently, I was doing a brainstorm at a startup here in Berlin on the future of their infrastructure. They were ready to move on from their initial, almost 100% Ec2 + Chef based setup. Everything was on the table. But we crossed out a lot quite quickly:
- Pure, uncut, self hosted Kubernetes — way too much complexity
- Managed Kubernetes in various flavors — still too much complexity
- Zeit — Maybe, but no Docker support
- Elastic Beanstalk — Maybe, bit old but does the job
- Heroku
- Lambda
It became clear a mix of PaaS and FaaS was the way to go. What a surprise! That is exactly what I use for Checkly! But when do you pick which model?
I chopped that question up into the following categories:
- Developer Experience / DX 🤓
- Ops Experience / OX 🐂 (?)
- Cost 💵
- Lock in 🔐
Read the full post linked below for all details
Pros of Serverless
- API integration14
- Supports cloud functions for Google, Azure, and IBM7
- Lower cost3
- 3. Simplified Management for developers to focus on cod1
- Auto scale1
- 5. Built-in Redundancy and Availability:1
- Openwhisk1
Pros of Vercel
- Simple deployment23
- Free tier17
- Free SSL13
- Simple setup12
- Easy custom domain setup8
- Build and deploy via git push4
- One tap build4
- SSR3
- Student1
- SSG1
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Cons of Serverless
Cons of Vercel
- Pricing Unclear1