Vercel Platforms Starter Kit alternative

Comparing Approximated vs Vercel Platforms Starter Kit for custom domains

In the NextJS ecosystem it's natural to consider Vercel for handling custom domains, but you may be worried about vendor lock-in and the cost of implementation.

If you'd like something with simple pricing that's easy to integrate with any stack, then Approximated might be a better fit for you. Here are a few important differences between Approximated and the Vercel Platforms Starter Kit for custom domains.

Easily integrate in a few hours
Vercel is a sophisticated platform with a lot of features and a learning curve that matches. With Approximated, you only need to know a few API endpoints and we handle the rest. A typical integration with Approximated is finished the same day or week.
Dedicated proxy clusters
On Vercel everyone is sharing the same global network/system, which has some consequences. On Approximated your proxy clusters and IPv4 addresses are dedicated to you alone, preventing routing collisions and other issues.
Simple pricing for any scale
You don't need to calculate dozens of costs to understand what your bill will be with Approximated. You just pay $0.20/month per custom domain, with a free allotment of bandwidth and a flat $0.05/GB after that. Find out your pricing instantly with our pricing calculator.
Volume discounts for everyone
While Vercel typically has pricing hikes built in at certain scales, Approximated actually gets cheaper as you scale up by automatically applying volume discounts. For every 1,000 domains you'll get 5% off with Approximated, up to 50% off. That's for everyone - no enterprise plan required.
Self hosting available
While NextJS is self-hostable, Vercel's domains API is built around working within their infrastructure and does not offer a self hosted version. Approximated has an enterprise level, self-hosted version that can be deployed to your own servers.
Reduce vendor lock-in
Vercel works its best when you run everything through it, which can make changing vendors difficult and leave you at the mercy of business changes. Approximated will work well with almost any tech stack, cloud provider, or DIY solution you combine it with.
Better bandwidth pricing
Vercel bandwidth has three things to consider:
  • Fast Data Transfer
    1TB/month included, $0.15/GB extra
  • Fast Origin Transfer
    100GB/month included, $0.06/GB extra
  • Number of Edge Requests
    10 million included, $2 per 1 million extra
Approximated gives you 400GB/month for free, with a flat rate of $0.05/GB after that. You won't be charged for bandwidth to your cluster or for the number of requests.
No extra edge costs
Vercel has a long list of metered costs that may be required for your custom domains: You won't need to worry about additional or unexpected costs with Approximated.

Predictably priced at
20 cents per custom domain

With a minimum of $20/month for less than 100 domains

Automatic discounts as you grow

Get 5% off of your domain costs for every 1000 domains, up to 50%

400 GB of bandwidth included

400 GB of monthly bandwidth. Extra bandwidth billed at $0.05/GB.

Try it out with a free 7 day trial

Estimate your costs
See how your pricing and discounts will scale as you grow

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