The Best Serverless Platforms with Free Tiers in 2026

Curated by Musharof Chowdhury · Last reviewed October 16, 2026 · How we pick

Serverless means you deploy code or data and the platform handles servers, scaling and uptime, and you pay only for what you use. For small projects that often means paying nothing at all.

A typical modern stack combines serverless functions (Cloudflare Workers, Vercel or AWS Lambda) with a serverless database (Neon, Supabase or Upstash). Every platform below has a free tier.

Our shortlist

Cloudflare Workers
Best for fast functions at the edge
Runs code in Cloudflare's data centres worldwide with almost no cold starts, and a generous free daily request allowance.
Visit Cloudflare Workers
AWS Lambda
Best for integrating with the AWS ecosystem
The original serverless functions platform, triggered by almost any AWS service and with a monthly free allowance.
Read more Visit AWS Lambda
Vercel Functions
Best for backends for Next.js apps
API routes and server rendering deploy automatically with your front end; free for non-commercial projects.
Read more Visit Vercel Functions
Netlify Functions
Best for adding a backend to a static site
Drop a function file into your project and Netlify deploys it as an API endpoint alongside your site.
Read more Visit Netlify Functions
Google Cloud Run
Best for running containers serverlessly
Deploys any container and scales it to zero when idle, so you can run any language or framework without managing servers.
Visit Google Cloud Run
Supabase
Best for a complete serverless backend
Postgres, authentication, storage and edge functions in one platform; free projects pause after a period of inactivity.
Read more Visit Supabase
Neon
Best for serverless Postgres
Postgres that scales to zero when unused and supports instant database branches for each preview deployment.
Read more Visit Neon
Upstash
Best for serverless Redis and queues
Redis, message queues and rate limiting priced per request, which suits serverless functions well.
Visit Upstash
Deno Deploy
Best for TypeScript at the edge
Deploys TypeScript and JavaScript globally in seconds, with a free tier and a built-in key-value store.
Read more Visit Deno Deploy

Frequently asked questions

What is the best serverless platform?

Cloudflare Workers for fast, low-cost functions at the edge, AWS Lambda if you already use AWS, and Vercel or Netlify if your functions mainly support a front-end app. Pair them with Neon or Supabase for a database.

Is serverless free?

Most platforms have free tiers that cover small projects, and you pay per request or per unit of compute after that. Costs can rise quickly with heavy traffic, so set spending limits or usage alerts where the platform offers them.

What is a cold start?

A cold start is the delay when a serverless platform starts a new instance of your function after it has been idle. Edge platforms such as Cloudflare Workers have very short cold starts; container-based platforms can take noticeably longer.

What database should I use with serverless functions?

Use a database designed for many short-lived connections. Neon and Supabase provide serverless-friendly Postgres, and Upstash provides Redis over HTTP. Traditional databases can run out of connections when many functions run at once.

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All 49 listings in this category, submitted by the community.

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