Top 10 Serverless Hosting Providers

Serverless hosting solutions play promising roles in dropping costs and bringing modernization to the virtual landscape.

These serverless offerings rely on cloud computing models and get businesses free from infrastructure administration. That is why the use of these hosting platforms is accelerating in the IT industry.

A survey by Statista forecasts that the revenue of the cloud market will reach 355.81 billion USD by the end of 2029. Storage, computing, and hosting are significant components of this report.

Similarly, a GMI report forecasts that the serverless architecture market will be worth 90 billion USD by 2032. This figure was only 9 billion USD in 2022. This signifies that the serverless architecture industry can grow at a CAGR of 25% during these years.     

Indeed, these hosting products are becoming popular day by day, but it is crucial to explore them blow by blow before making a decision.

Therefore, this article presents one of the sterling serverless hosting providers in detail, describing their key characteristics.

What is Serverless?  

Serverless is a cloud-based approach to confer backend resources. It permits developers to script and deploy codes without managing the infrastructure.

Businesses are only charged for utilized instances, and there is no upfront or fixed fee involved. 

Although dev teams and companies don’t administer the servers, this doesn’t mean physical servers are not used by serverless providers.

Yes, these CSPs rely on a combination of software and hardware resources. Users can rent them remotely.

However, the installation and maintenance of the physical and virtual architecture are up to the cloud vendors. 

Backend as a Service (BaaS) and Function as a Service (FaaS) are two major serverless computing offerings. 

Key Benefits of Serverless

Let’s discover the key advantages of using serverless computing providers:

Lower Management Overhead

Reduced management overhead is the primary benefit of serverless platforms. Vendors are responsible for fully handling, setting up, and updating the servers and other computing resources.

This feature lowers the DevOps financing, and you don’t have to hire technical experts to monitor the on-premises infrastructure.  

Increased Development Agility

Serverless development is agile, where programmers can robustly upload and publish the script. It doesn’t require any server-side configuration in this regard.

Correspondingly, you can swiftly modify or amend the code using a single function. 

Lower Cost

Serverless computing is a low-cost model compared to conventional hosting. Firstly, it doesn’t require any on-premises infrastructure installation or maintenance cost.

Secondly, such a platform only bills you for used backend resources. The majority of these hosting providers offer a pay-as-you-go pricing structure. 

Top 10 Serverless Hosting Providers

Back4app, Netlify Functions, AWS Lambda, and Deno are excellent serverless hosting providers. Let’s discuss them meticulously. 

1. Back4app

Back4app is an intelligible and advanced serverless hosting provider with BaaS and CaaS products.

This platform lets businesses and developers build and deploy apps without taking care of server-side functions.

You can emphasize frontend programming, and this low-code CSP takes care of backend operations. 

Moreover, when using Back4app, hardware and software infrastructure need not be supervised. This solution prominently features an exclusive real-time database, cloud functions, scalable storage, containerized deployments, APIs and SDKs. 

By the same token, using Back4app along with open-source technologies, including Postgres, Docker, Node.js, and Redis, is seamless.

Detailed documentation and ample community support are advantages of using this serverless hosting. 

Features

• Cloud Functions – This property authorizes you to use single-purpose JS functions to affix business logic to your applications. These functions are typically hooked up to user authentication systems and databases. Besides, cloud functions are usually driven by the reaction of any API call, data modification, etc.

• Realtime Database – You can instantly define, store, fetch and query datasets using SDKs and APIs. This hosting provider also allows you to conduct different research through geo-queries and relational queries. However, you must subscribe to the ‘Live Queries’ function.

• Authentication – Modern applications emphasize user comfort. That is why Back4app lets app users effortlessly register via social or email accounts. Fortunately, this CSP has a full-fledged native user management system. With built-in security, you can also smoothly regulate sessions.

• File Storage – Highly scalable file storage is another appealing property of Back4app. It is easy to back up all types of data, such as images, ads, videos and text, on the cloud and connect it to DBs. Similarly, its brisk content delivery network stores and ships the data in real-time.

Pricing

• Free: Back4app facilitates the newbies and prototypes with a Free Plan. Under this program, you can get a subscription for 1 app, 1GB file storage, 25k monthly requests and 1GB data transfer. 

• MVP: This is an ideal option if you want to get serverless hosting to launch your MVPs. With annual billing, this plan costs you $15/month and offers 50GB file storage, 500k monthly requests and 250GB data transfer. 

• Pay-as-you-go: This package is suitable for dealing with extensible applications. Although the starting cost is $80/month, it lets you only pay for used resources. Its key highlights include 250GB file storage, 5 million monthly requests, and 1TB data transfer. 

• Dedicated: Enterprise-grade applications usually prefer dedicated infrastructure. Luckily, Back4app fulfils this demand via its Dedicated plan. With a beginning cost of $400/month, this plan offers unmetered monthly requests. It also grants you 2TB data transfer, 1TB file storage, and 80GB data storage. 

2. AWS Lambda

Powered by Amazon Web Services, AWS Lambda is a remarkable serverless vendor that falls into the Function as a Service (FaaS) provider category.

This event-oriented computing system lets developers execute the code without overseeing the servers, scaling, operating systems, logging, etc.

It also governs the EC2 instances, builds tailored backends and spontaneously refines the data. In this regard, you must set up the script in Lambda functions using the Zip file.

On the other hand, if we talk about the use cases of AWS Lambda, it is perfect for streaming, IoT, file processing and web applications. 

Features

• Custom Logic & Backend Services – AWS Lambda permits you to compute tailored logic for various AWS features, such as Amazon Kinesis Data Streams, DynamoDB and S3 buckets. Similarly, developers can leverage Amazon API Gateway to craft customized backend services for their projects.

• Automated Administration – This serverless web hosting vendor operates your resource on a fully updated, fault-tolerant and highly available OS and infrastructure. With this platform, it is also quick to hire more servers.

• Support for Programming Languages – With AWS Lambda, you don’t have to learn new scripting skills. Yes, it is effortless to get support for all prominent programming technologies, including Node.js, Java, Python, Go, and C#.

• Container Images – You can create and deploy applications utilizing easily understandable container image toolsets. Indeed, AWS Lambda backs container images to host functions.  

Pricing

As a serverless platform, AWS Lambda offers a free tier. Under this plan, you can get 1 million requests, 400k GB-seconds compute time, 100GiB of HTTP response and Graviton2 processors monthly. 

Contrarily, AWS Lambda divides its architecture pricing into these two models:

• x86 Price: This CSP costs you monthly $0.0000166667/GB-second for its initial 6 billion requests. By the same token, it bills you $0.0000000021/ms for 128MB.

• Arm Price: Arm Price charges you $0.0000133334/GB-second for the primary 7.5 billion monthly requests. Its cost for 128MB is $0.0000000017/ms. 

3. Cloudflare Workers

If you are looking for an ultrafast hosting provider with Cloudflare backing, you must consider Cloudflare Workers.

This Function as a Service (FaaS) emphasizes improved performance along with reduced latency when deploying codes in a serverless environment.

Its globally distributed servers allow the dev teams to execute a code in milliseconds. Yes, Cloudflare Worker takes less than 5 minutes from registration to deployment.

In addition, you don’t face issues like cold start because this CSP depends on the Chrome V8 engine instead of other runtimes.    

Features

• Built-in Templates – Cloudflare Workers has a native library of templates. So, you can employ one template according to your adopted language. The prominent languages that Cloudflare Workers supports are Rust, C, JavaScript and C++.

• Secure – This serverless provider is highly secure because it uses defined security filters and principles. Its authentication system and authorization approach also help protect the apps.

• Auto Scaling – If you run a small app that has a chance to grow in the future, you don’t have to worry about Cloudflare Workers. This platform enables you to spread the traffic over its global servers.

• Edge Storage – Native edge storage is another dominant trait. It lets you backlog your static data using Workers KV. Also, you can edit and approach these data codes anytime with HTMLrewriter.   

Pricing

Cloudflare Workers is a reasonably priced serverless hosting vendor. Its Free plan deploys 100 scripts and 100k requests/day.

Similarly, the monthly price of the Paid program commences at $5, with extra edge storage and the lowest latency. 

4. Google Cloud Functions

Endorsed by GCP, Google Cloud Functions streamlines developer experience with entirely administered operational infrastructure.

This Function as a Service (FaaS) solution authorizes you to deploy and drive the code in the absence of containers and servers.

Using this open-source FaaS, developers have to script the codes and host them instantly with zero configuration. It also seamlessly integrates with third-party infrastructure providers.

Features

• Language Support – Google Cloud Functions offers valuable support for numerous runtime languages, including Java, .NET Core, Ruby, PHP, Node.js, Go and Python.

• Accelerated Development – Building and deploying serverless applications is agile. Google Cloud products like Cloud Run, Cloud Functions and Serverless install apps 95% quicker than rivals.

• Cloud Trace – You can effortlessly debug and monitor applications through Cloud Trace. This is basically a GCP product that displays all issues and performance insights for your apps. 

• Event Responsive – It enables the dev teams to execute programming scripts in reaction to any event. However, you don’t have to handle backend services here. 

Pricing

The Free Tier allows 5GB data transfer, 2 million invocations, 400k GB-second, and 200k GHz-second compute duration.

Google Cloud Functions costs $0.40 beyond the limit of 2 million invocations. You can also request a quote for this. 

5. Netlify Functions

Netlify Functions is another reliable serverless offering on our list. Backed by Netlify, this service enables you to deploy backend scripts as API endpoints for crafting extensible and dynamic applications on the fly. 

You must write the functions in languages like Go, JS or TypeScript and put them in the function’s folder.

Then, Netlify will deploy, trigger and run the functions automatically. Netlify Functions is also known for speeding up the iteration process and workflows. 

Features

• Netlify CLI – You can leverage Netlify CLI to drive a local server. This regional development server makes setting up your site and managing plugins easy. Netlify CLI is also helpful for approving authorization. 

• All-in-one Solution – Netlify Functions is a full-fledged service that handles server-side functionalities and client-side code deployments.  

• Preview & Rollback – This CSP lets you preview your work before making a website or application live. Similarly, it takes moments to return to your project’s previous stages.

• Log Drains – This is an advanced offering that is only applicable to enterprise-grade plans. This feature lets you ship functions data and app traffic to your selected log administration solution. 

Pricing

Level 0 is Netlify Functions’ free tier plan, which comes with 10,000 persistent pages, 100 hours of monthly run time, and 125k monthly requests. The starting cost of its Level 1 program is $25/site per month. 

6. Vercel Functions 

Vercel Functions is a popular cloud vendor that allows you to run the code on its wholly managed infrastructure.

This platform streamlines the serverless journey and enables you to communicate seamlessly with databases, APIs, and other resources. 

Besides, Vercel Functions arranges the templates, tools, and runtime environments essential for your framework. The two significant offerings are Edge runtime and Node.js runtime.  

Features

• Authentication – Dev teams can smoothly integrate the user authentication functionality with their applications. This feature is helpful in verifying and registering the users.

• Robust Execution – Lightspeed runtimes are another advantage of using Vercel Functions. Yes, this vendor relies on an open-source Chrome V8 engine.

• Data Streaming & Processing – Its real-time data streaming trait supports instant messaging, AI and digital transactions. Similarly, it can deal with complicated and large datasets without any front-end delay.  

Pricing

Vercel Functions is included in all plans of this CSP. Hobby is the freemium offering of Vercel, which has 100GB of data transfer, Edge Middleware, and Vercel functions. Withal, the Pro program monthly bills you $20/member.

7. Knative

Knative is an open-source hosting provider that is considered best for crafting event-driven applications. Knative is ideal if you have minimal knowledge regarding dockerfiles, containers, and Kubernetes. 

It allows you to run, create and deploy functions utilizing its ‘func’ command-line interface.

In addition, Knative spontaneously establishes a container image whenever you drive a function. This image is also modified automatically with further modifications to the code. 

Features

• Function Templates – Knative provides various function templates with HTTP and CloudEvent referencing patterns. You can easily find Node.js, Python, Rust, Spring Boot and Go project templates.

• Eventing – This feature authorizes you to utilize an event-oriented architecture for your applications through a group of APIs. These APIs generate components for different events.

• Traffic Management – Knative has this trait to handle traffic routing to various app versions. It allows the dev teams to administer the approaching traffic and direct it to multiple service versions.

Pricing

Knative is a free serverless platform. It costs nothing, mainly if you set up container images for regions available on similar continents. 

8. Deno

Deno is another popular serverless solution with 2 million community modules, 250k active users and 93.6k+ repository stars on GitHub. This open-source JS runtime seamlessly works for Windows, Linux and macOS. 

It relies on a request-response format to generate a serverless function. Deno offers further advantages, such as high availability, reduced latency, and capability with Node.js and npm modules.

Features

• Deno Deploy – Deno provides an authoritative runtime for TypeScript and JS applications to deploy applications locally with zero configuration. You can integrate your Git-hosted code with Deno and deploy it within moments.

• High-Performance Networking – Deno confers inclusive HTTP2, HTTPs, WebSocket, and automated response support. Its runtime APIs play a significant role in this regard.

• Easy Integrations – Connecting your Deno project with different databases and third-party tools is effortless. Some of Deno’s backed APIs and DBs are PostgreSQL, Stripe, Azure, OpenAI and MySQL.

• Fast & Scalable – Deno uses isolated V8 runtime to deploy the code quickly. This functionality works quicker than VMs and AWS Lambda. By the same token, it is robust to scale applications utilizing Deno.

Pricing

Deno offers a Free plan for small or prototype projects. It covers 12 global regions, 100GB bandwidth, 1 million requests, 300k KV write, and 450k KV read units monthly. On the other hand, its Pro plan costs $20/month for 10 teammates. 

9. Azure Functions

Endorsed by Microsoft, Azure Functions is a credible serverless offering that lets you execute and run event-driven codes without handling infrastructure.

You can script these functions in multiple languages, including Python, C#, Java, JS, F#, and TypeScript.

Moreover, you just have to use Azure Portal to generate, examine, and deploy the Azure Functions. Connecting this offering with APIs, databases, and other third-party tools is convenient.

Features

• Real-time Processing – Azure Functions can process data for different chat apps and IoT devices in the meantime. Later, it backlogs this data in the Cosmos database.

• Runtime Versions – This is a suitable solution for .NET projects because it supports different .NET versions, such as .NET Framework 4.6, .NET Core 2.x and .NET Core 3.x.

• Flexible Deployments – You can highly flexiblely deploy your code on Azure Functions by integrating it with GitHub. Yes, you can quickly deploy Git-based scripts using this serverless vendor.

Pricing

Azure Functions has a free tier for specific resources. However, switching to a paid program also grants a pay-as-you-go pricing model. Hereof, it costs you $0.173 vCPU/hour and $0.0123 GB/hour.

10. IBM Cloud Functions

IBM Cloud Functions is a FaaS or Function as a Service provider that lets you execute the code without provisioning servers.

This cost-efficient solution is ideal for building serverless backends, event streaming, mobile backends and processing data.

In this regard, it follows an event-triggered scenario. Yes, particular actions are conducted in response to distinct API calls. This vendor also has advantages in easy integration with Git platforms and automated scaling. 

Features

• Runtimes – It authorizes you to establish functions with your desired scripting technologies. You can also utilize any compiled language to proceed with Docker containers.

• Scheduled Tasks – Developers can schedule their executions with IBM Cloud Functions. Hereof, dev teams should pursue cron-like syntax to define the actions.

• Event Providers – This platform permits dev teams and businesses to set up different functionalities, such as Mobile Push, Event Streams, and Cloudant.

Pricing

IBM Cloud Functions has an economical and transparent pricing structure. It is free to use for 5000k monthly executions and 128MB memory.

However, with 256MB memory, 500ms execution time and 5000k executions, it costs you $4/month.

Conclusion

All in all, it can be daunting to employ a serverless hosting provider among many available options. So, this detailed article discusses top-notch serverless vendors’ key features and pricing structures. So, pick an option wisely.