Yes, Vercel has a free Hobby plan for personal, non-commercial projects. It supports a custom domain, SSL, Git deployments, preview links, and Vercel Functions. The key question is whether the project's use and resource needs fit the plan.
Who can use Vercel Hobby?
Vercel's Hobby plan is for personal, non-commercial use. A portfolio or personal experiment can fit. A client site, paid product, or business site should be budgeted on Pro or another commercial plan.
The commercial-use rule is more decisive than any small technical cap. Hosting a client project on a personal free account creates an avoidable ownership and billing problem even if the traffic is tiny.
What is included for free?
Hobby includes custom domains, automatic SSL, Git-connected deploys, one concurrent build, 100 GB of Fast Data Transfer, 1,000,000 function invocations, 4 active CPU-hours, 360 GB-hours of provisioned memory, and 1,000 image optimisation source images. These are distinct allowances; staying below the invocation count does not guarantee you stay within compute limits.
Are Vercel Functions limited to 10 seconds?
Not on a current Fluid Compute project. Vercel's function-limit documentation lists a 300-second default and maximum for Hobby functions using supported runtimes with Fluid Compute. The often-repeated 10-second default belongs to older non-Fluid configurations. Check your project before planning around either number.
A slow function still needs diagnosis. Inspect its runtime, duration setting, active CPU, memory usage, and external calls. A longer timeout can prevent a premature 504, but it does not make an inefficient integration free.
What happens when usage reaches a limit?
Hobby has no ordinary overage billing. Vercel says most features must wait for their allowance to reset, typically after 30 days, if a limit is exceeded. Monitor transfer and function usage before a launch rather than treating the free plan as unlimited.
When should you choose Pro?
Choose Pro for commercial or client work, shared team access, or a workload that needs more capacity. For a personal project, stay on Hobby while its measured resource use fits. Put the hosting bill and account ownership in the client's name when possible.
Three quick examples
A personal portfolio with a contact link and a few monthly updates is a natural Hobby project. A public demo of an app can also fit if it is a personal experiment and its usage stays within the allowances.
A paid client brochure site should use a commercial plan even if it has almost no traffic. An application with frequent API calls needs measured CPU and memory use as well as an invocation count. The plan decision follows the project's purpose and its workload, not pageviews alone.
If you are choosing between hosts for a static marketing site, compare deployment workflow, ownership, and the cost of actual bandwidth. Netlify's current free plan uses monthly credits, and Cloudflare Pages has a different limits model. A free headline price does not make their limits interchangeable.
FAQ
Can I attach my own domain to Hobby?
Yes. Vercel supports custom domains and SSL on Hobby.
Can I run an e-commerce or client site on Hobby?
No. Hobby is for non-commercial personal use. Use a commercial plan for a business site.
Will Vercel bill my card if Hobby usage spikes?
Hobby is free and generally pauses affected usage at its limits instead of charging overages. Check the current plan terms for the specific resource.
For the full list of limits and the Fluid Compute distinction, read Vercel Hobby Plan Limits.