The Migration Story
2019: AWS. Complex. Powerful. Exhausting.
2021: Vercel. Simple. Fast. Perfect for Next.js.
2023: Railway. Simple. Flexible. Cheaper.
Here's what we learned.
AWS
The Good
- Everything
- You can build anything
- Most powerful option
The Bad
- Complex
- Expensive
- Requires DevOps expertise
When to Use
Enterprise requirements. Custom infrastructure. Specific compliance needs.
Vercel
The Good
- Zero config
- Edge network
- Perfect Next.js integration
- Great DX
The Bad
- Next.js only (mostly)
- Can get expensive at scale
- Less control
When to Use
Next.js apps. JAMstack sites. Fast deployment.
Railway
The Good
- Simple deployment
- Persistent storage
- Good pricing
- Postgres built-in
The Bad
- Less mature
- Smaller ecosystem
- Some rough edges
When to Use
Node.js apps. Databases. Side projects.
Our Current Stack
Vercel for Frontend
Next.js apps deploy in seconds.
Global edge network. Automatic HTTPS.
Railway for Backend
Node.js APIs. Cron jobs. Databases.
Simple. Persistent. Affordable.
The Decision Framework
| App Type | Platform |
|---|---|
| Next.js | Vercel |
| Node.js API | Railway |
| Static site | Vercel |
| Complex infra | AWS |
The Honest Answer
Use the simplest option that works.
Vercel for Next.js. Railway for everything else.
AWS is powerful. It's also overkill for MVPs.
