Vercel vs AWS Amplify: how to choose
Vercel and AWS Amplify both deploy frontend applications from a Git repository with previews, a CDN, and managed TLS. Vercel is a focused product built around the frontend deployment experience, and is where Next.js is developed. Amplify is AWS's frontend hosting service, and its advantage is being inside AWS.
For a Next.js application, Vercel is the reference implementation — new features work there first and without configuration. Amplify supports Next.js but tends to lag on newer rendering capabilities, and some features need workarounds or are unsupported for a period after release.
Amplify wins on proximity. If the backend is already Lambda, DynamoDB, and Cognito, keeping the frontend in the same account means one bill, one IAM model, one VPC, and no cross-provider egress. That organisational simplicity is worth more than it appears on a feature comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper?
Amplify is usually cheaper at scale, particularly for bandwidth, since it bills close to underlying AWS rates. Vercel's pricing is simpler and generous at small scale but its bandwidth and function invocation charges grow faster. The crossover depends on traffic shape — a high-traffic site with mostly static assets favours Amplify most clearly.
Do I need Vercel to run Next.js well?
No, but it is the smoothest path. Next.js self-hosts as a Node server or container anywhere, and Amplify supports it. What Vercel provides is that every feature works on release day with no configuration, and that its infrastructure was designed around the framework's rendering model. Elsewhere you occasionally wait, or configure something manually.
How do preview deployments compare?
Both build a preview per pull request. Vercel's are faster and better integrated, with comments back on the pull request and a polished sharing flow. Amplify's work and are adequate, but the experience is plainer. If previews are central to how your team reviews work, the difference is noticeable daily.
What about vendor lock-in?
Lower than it looks on both sides for the hosting itself, since a Next.js app is portable. The lock-in comes from adjacent services — Vercel's edge middleware and image optimisation, or Amplify's generated backend and Cognito integration. Keeping the application a standard Node server with a thin deployment layer preserves the ability to move.
Which suits a team already deep in AWS?
Amplify, usually, and the reason is organisational rather than technical. One account, one bill, one IAM model, and no new vendor to review is a real advantage in a company with procurement and security processes. Choose Vercel over that when the frontend developer experience is the priority and the friction is worth accepting.
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