Google App Engine vs Vercel Comparison

This article will compare the similarities and differences between Google App Engine and Vercel. It will explore the core features, pricing, and featured customers.

Every website today has different backend requirements. Some websites are dynamic, and some are static, so the requirements vary from website to website.

Yet, a common thing about the websites is that there is a need for a backend that can be conveniently fulfilled with a PaaS.

Google App Engine and Vercel make 2 great options for PaaS, and here, we will elaborate on which option is a better option for you.

What is Google App Engine?

App Engine is one of its cloud services that help develop web applications within the cloud data centers.

Here you get a complete package of services and a cloud suite of tools to meet all your digital needs. As it manages all the non-functional requirements, you can focus more on the functional requirements.

App Engine also takes care of scaling, server provisioning, and instances reducing the amount of work for you.

What Features Does Google App Engine Provide?

App Engine focuses on many features to ease the developer’s experience, and here are the top 4 of those features.

You Get Versioning Control

Versioning control from App Engine enables to host of several application versions with ease. So, you are not restricted to one version, and you can solve many problems related to:

• Testing
• Production
• Development
• Global usage

All of this while maintaining the best service quality for your users.

Serverless Approach Enhances Security

The apps hosted with App Engine work on a serverless ecosystem from Google. It allows you to use different cloud services, offering a complete suite of cloud tools. Along with an effortless experience, you also enjoy top-notch security maintained by Google.

You Get an in-depth Insight Into the Performance Metrics.

App Engine provides all the insights you need about your application’s health and performance. It uses the following set of tools for insights:

• Cloud monitoring
• Cloud logging
• Cloud debugging

So, here you get monitoring facilities for your app and detailed reports. Thus, the developers can easily fix any issues with the app.

No Need of It Management Personnel

One of the best features here is that App Engine brings fully managed PaaS for you. Here you only provide the code for your app, while the platform manages everything about your whole IT infrastructure. It manages and ensures it fulfills all the requirements while maintaining the best quality.

Pricing at Google App Engine

If offers a free tier and you are charged according to your requirements. You only have to pay for your application’s resources because Google follows the pay-as-you-go policy for App Engine.

The best part is that you do not need to scale resources as they scale automatically, but that can also increase your price.

There is a price estimator that you can use by selecting all the instances and their specifications to get an estimate of the price that you may need to pay.

What is Vercel?

Vercel is a cloud provider that allows developers deploy frontend applications easily.

It eases the experience with GitHub and GitLab integrations for easier collaboration and development. While it focuses more on static websites, it does not lack any features like automatic scaling or instant deployment.

It even brings managed backend services for you, so there is no need to manage your IT team to monitor the backend. The services here do not need any configuration, further enhancing the experience.

What Features Does Vercel Provide?

Vercel comes with a list of intuitive features, some of which are:

It Brings Single Click Deployment

The push-to-deploy feature from Vercel allows you to deploy with a single click. UI development here is seamless with its built-in CI/CD system. Vercel triggers the system for every change made for quick and seamless integration.

Reliable and Faster Editing

The live editing experience with Vercel is like no other. You can effortlessly edit your UI components in no time. It takes the edge from the localhost by caching the serverless functions. So, the overall experience is enhanced a lot.

Flexible Data Fetching

Vercel has a flexible fetching feature to ensure that your website fetches data seamlessly from any data source, Headless CMS, and APIs. Here developers get the freedom to select their desired data source for even better website development.

Vercel Keeps the Whole Team on 1 Platform

Collaboration is seamless with Vercel, as everyone is on the same platform. The whole team can collaborate well through integration with GitHub and Bitbucket, from developing to testing and updating. Thus, everyone is aware of all the changes, and all the project stakeholders iterate with every instance.

Pricing at Vercel

The pricing at Vercel has more details and clarity because Vercel offers different plans according to your needs. There are 3 pricing plans, and below are each of them.

1.     Hobby

You can begin using Vercel’s services using the Hobby plan. It is a free plan that brings the basic features like:

• Built-in HTTPS and SSL certificates
• Provides previews for each Git Push
• Build-in CI/CD
• Several deployment options

It is a good choice for hobby projects, and if you have higher requirements, you need to check out the Pro plan.

2.     Pro

The Pro plan starts at $20 per month for each user and is best for small teams. You can start with its free trial to see if it fits your needs or not. In terms of features, it brings the following features:

• Up to 1TB bandwidth
• Email support
• 1000GB execution, etc.

3.     Enterprise

If the Pro plan does not meet your requirements, you can contact the Vercel sales team for the custom Enterprise plan. It brings the following features:

• Scaled pricing for bandwidth
• SAML/SSO
• No queues
• Better hardware
• Insolated infrastructure
• Dedicated success manager
• SLAs

This plan can be customized to meet all your requirements.

Vercel vs Google App Engine Comparison

Conclusion

This article compared Vercel and App Engine according to their features and pricing structure.

App Engine is Google’s backend development platform. It supports multiple programming languages, works for mobile/web apps, offers fully managed and scalable hosting, and a free tier on the standard environment.

Vercel is a cloud platform that deploys and hosts frontend applications easily and effectively. It offers a fully managed frontend infrastructure, edge functions, analytics, and a generous free tier.