What Next.js hosting costs on each route in India
A Next.js site can run for nothing on a non-commercial free tier, for about $20 per deploying developer on Vercel Pro plus usage, or for ₹5,900 a month before GST on a 2 vCPU cloud VPS in India. The framework is free on every route.
| Route | Monthly cost | What the price assumes |
|---|---|---|
| Vercel Hobby | ₹0 | Non-commercial projects only; hard caps instead of overage |
| Vercel Pro | $20 per deploying seat, plus usage | A usage credit is included; transfer, functions and builds are metered |
| WebJi® cloud VPS | ₹5,900 before 18% GST | 2 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 100 GB storage; the whole server, not a seat |
| Managed Node host | ₹199 promo, renews at ₹649 | A 48-month upfront term; the plan page lists prices without GST |
Only the VPS row and the managed row bill in rupees. A dollar plan moves with the exchange rate and your card's markup, while an INR invoice stays fixed and carries GST that a registered business can claim as input credit where it applies.
Which Next.js hosting route fits your team
Take Vercel for zero setup and preview URLs, an Indian VPS for one flat rupee bill and root access, Coolify when you want push-to-deploy on your own server, and Cloudflare when the site is static-first.
| Route | Choose it when | What you give up |
|---|---|---|
| Vercel | You want previews and new Next.js features on release day | Per-seat cost, dollar billing, no root access |
| Indian cloud VPS (WebJi®) | You want one INR invoice and control of the stack | You patch the OS and restart the app |
| Coolify on that VPS | You want push-to-deploy without Vercel | Another service to keep updated |
| Cloudflare Workers | The site is mostly static and global | Adapter steps and a few Node compatibility gaps |
Two of these rows are the same server with different software on it. A VPS running Coolify is still a VPS; the difference is who triggers the deploy.
Why a Vercel bill grows: seats, bandwidth and functions
Vercel Pro charges $20 per deploying developer a month, then meters the work: transfer past the included allowance, function invocations and build minutes. Five developers start near $100 before any traffic arrives.
The seat line is predictable; the usage lines are not. A campaign that triples page views also triples transfer and invocations, and the next invoice shows all three at once.
Per-request pricing suits spiky projects. For a site that receives steady traffic, a server that is already running and mostly idle serves each page for less, because you pay for capacity rather than for each request.
What a Next.js app needs from any host
Every current Next.js feature runs on a plain Node.js server, so a VPS is not a cut-down Vercel. The host needs a recent Node runtime, the sharp package, a process manager and a proxy that terminates TLS.
- Node 20 or newer — next start serves server components, route handlers, ISR and server actions.
- sharp — the image optimiser next/image calls on the server.
- A process manager — PM2 or systemd restarts the app after a crash or a reboot.
- A reverse proxy — Nginx or Caddy handles the certificate and forwards to port 3000.
- Standalone output — output: 'standalone' trims the deploy to the files the server needs.
A managed platform adds a CDN and shared caching on top. Those improve latency; they do not change whether a feature works, and a CDN can be placed in front of the VPS later.
Self-host Next.js on an Indian VPS in six steps
Build the app, run it under PM2, put Nginx in front and point the domain at the server. The first deploy takes an afternoon; later updates are a pull and a restart.
- Create the VPS with Ubuntu 24.04 and add your SSH key.
- Install Node 20 LTS and PM2, then confirm node -v returns a current version.
- Clone the repository, run npm ci and npm run build with output: 'standalone' in next.config.
- Start the app with pm2 start "npm start" --name nextapp, then pm2 save and pm2 startup.
- Add an Nginx server block on 443 with a Let's Encrypt certificate and proxy_pass to 127.0.0.1:3000.
- Point the domain's A record at the VPS address and load the site over https.
The check is three commands: pm2 status shows the process online, curl -I https://yourdomain returns 200, and the build id in the page source matches the deploy you just ran.
Move a Next.js site off Vercel without downtime
Copy every environment variable, replace Vercel-specific packages, deploy to a staging subdomain, then switch DNS with a short TTL and keep the old project live for a week as a rollback.
- Export all environment variables, including the NEXT_PUBLIC_ ones that are baked in at build time.
- Replace @vercel imports and Vercel storage calls with the new host's equivalent.
- Deploy to a staging subdomain and test login, checkout and image optimisation there.
- Lower the DNS TTL to 300 seconds a day before the switch.
- Change the A or CNAME record, then raise the TTL after a week of clean logs.
If the app runs more than one instance, set the same server-actions encryption key on every instance and a shared cache for ISR. Without both, a login or a revalidation can behave differently on each request.
How WebJi prices a Next.js VPS in INR
WebJi lists a 2 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 100 GB cloud VPS at ₹5,900 a month before 18% GST, billed in INR with a GST invoice. Larger sizes are quoted by email before payment.
That price is a whole server, not a seat: the Next.js app, a database and a queue worker can share it without a second invoice. The Next.js hosting page covers the app side, and the VPS server range lists the other sizes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest way to host Next.js in India?
A 2 vCPU cloud VPS at ₹5,900 a month before GST is the cheapest commercial route for a normal site. A free tier costs nothing but limits you to non-commercial projects and hard caps.
How much does Vercel cost for Next.js?
Hobby is free for non-commercial use. Pro is $20 per deploying developer a month with a usage credit, and transfer, functions and builds are metered on top.
Can I self-host Next.js on an Indian VPS?
Yes. Next.js runs on Node 20 or newer with sharp for images, and the app runs under PM2 behind Nginx on port 3000. Every framework feature works on that setup.
Why do Vercel bandwidth charges grow so fast?
Transfer and CDN requests are metered per gigabyte and per million requests past the included allowance. A traffic spike raises both lines, and image-heavy pages use more transfer per visit.
Is Coolify a good Vercel replacement?
It is a good fit when you already rent a VPS and want push-to-deploy, previews per branch and automatic TLS. You still own the server, its updates and its backups.
Does Cloudflare work for a Next.js app?
Cloudflare serves static assets cheaply and runs server-rendered Next.js on Workers through its adapter. Dynamic rendering has CPU and memory limits, and a few Node libraries need replacing.
Do I need a CDN in front of a Next.js VPS?
Not to launch. A CDN helps when visitors are far from the server or most pages are static; it is an add-on in front of the VPS, not a replacement for it.
Do you provide GST invoices?
Every purchase and renewal gets a GST invoice with our GSTIN, and hosting prices are quoted exclusive of 18% GST. Claim input credit as applicable.