Netlify
The value is the network, the data or the infrastructure. Keep paying.
Builds a site from a git push and serves it from an edge network, with a preview URL per branch, serverless functions, and domains and certificates handled for you.
Set me up to host a static site and a few functions on one VPS with the deploy ergonomics I would miss. STACK - Caddy as the reverse proxy with automatic TLS - A deploy script over SSH, no Kubernetes, no container orchestration - systemd for any long-running process DEPLOYS - Each build lands in a timestamped directory; a symlink named current is flipped atomically - Keep the last ten builds so a rollback is one symlink flip and a reload - A health check the deploy waits on before flipping, rolling back automatically if it fails PREVIEWS - A branch deploys to branch-name.preview.example.com, with a wildcard certificate - Previews expire after 14 days and are removed by a cron job that logs what it deleted CACHING - Hashed asset filenames served with a one-year cache lifetime - HTML served with must-revalidate, so a deploy is visible immediately FUNCTIONS - A directory of small Node handlers, each behind a path, run under systemd with a socket - Document the cold-start behaviour honestly: there is none, because they are always running WHAT YOU ARE TAKING ON - One region, no edge. Say so in the README along with the latency to your furthest users Include a README with the first-boot sequence, the certificate renewal check, and the rollback command.
What you lose
- A global edge network with cache invalidation on every deploy
- Deploy previews per pull request, each on its own URL
- Atomic deploys and instant rollback to any previous build
- Certificates, domains and DNS handled without a ticket
- Build minutes on somebody else’s machines, including the queue when everyone deploys at once
If you would rather not build
- Cloudflare Pages — free tier, closest edge alternative
- Render — paid, similar ergonomics, single-region services
The escape hatch
open source · no votes, no paid placement
Dokku
$0A small platform on one machine: push to deploy, with buildpacks.
dokku/dokkufree · open source
Why this verdict
our own opinion · changed only by a person
21/100
Verdict no at 21: the deploy mechanics are a weekend and the prompt makes them atomic, but a single VPS is not an edge network. Netlify is bought for the geography and the pull-request previews, and only the second of those is really portable.
History
tracked since 9 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten
Questions about Netlify
answered from the record above
Is Netlify free?
No — the plan we track is $19 a month. Pro at $19 per member per month; bandwidth, build minutes and function invocations are billed on top of the seat.
Can you replace Netlify by building your own?
KEEP IT. The value is the network, the data or the infrastructure. Keep paying. Replacement score 21 out of 100, build time longer than it saves. Read what you lose before you decide.
How much does Netlify cost?
$19 a month on Pro — $228 a year. Recorded 9 Aug 2026.
What do you lose by replacing Netlify?
A global edge network with cache invalidation on every deploy; Deploy previews per pull request, each on its own URL; Atomic deploys and instant rollback to any previous build; Certificates, domains and DNS handled without a ticket; Build minutes on somebody else’s machines, including the queue when everyone deploys at once. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Netlify?
Yes: Coolify, Dokku. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.
Related entries
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PocketBase
Coolify
Appwrite
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