When comparing ZEIT Now vs NearlyFreeSpeech, the Slant community recommends NearlyFreeSpeech for most people. In the question“What are the best website hosting providers?” NearlyFreeSpeech is ranked 5th while ZEIT Now is ranked 13th. The most important reason people chose NearlyFreeSpeech is:
NearlyFreeSpeech charges per resources and services used, as such it is very scalable and makes static site hosting very cheap for users who decide to go with this hosting option since static sites require very little resources.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Deployments via a simple command line command
Installing their CLI and calling "now" inside your project's root will automatically build your project, whether it may be a Node.js or a Docker app , or maybe a static website, it works on the platform.
Pro Custom domain support
ZEIT Now supports custom domains, if that doesn't ring your bell, they also allow you to buy a domain directly from ZEIT, and even from the CLI.
Pro From the developers of Hyper Terminal and Next.js
The renowned developers of the Hyper Terminal and Framework for React applications develops and maintains this platform.
Pro Good support
You can talk to the staff anytime via their slack real-time, or mail them. They provide good assistance and will help you on any questions or issues on the platform.
Pro In-depth documentation
The documentation is very in-depth and can help you understand on how to make your application work on the platform.
Pro Very scalable
NearlyFreeSpeech charges per resources and services used, as such it is very scalable and makes static site hosting very cheap for users who decide to go with this hosting option since static sites require very little resources.
Pro Relatively easy to use
NearlyFreeSpeech provides SFTP access and a more traditional shared hosting environment compared to other services. This makes it easy for users who are not very advanced but still want to create a static site.
Pro Very privacy oriented
They will never discuss your situation with anyone to the extent that the law allows. They won't even state why a website is down. If you are not the account holder, don't expect any details from them.
Pro Very informative FAQ
The FAQ will address pretty much everything you might want to know before joining, and then some.
Cons
Con Docker builds can only execute at the CMD Layer
ZEIT Now executes everything using docker run, so whatever was defined in the CMD Layer, is what will ZEIT will only execute.
Con Node.js apps has no access to the instance's filesystem
Once the Node.js build has completed, the only accessible directory is /tmp, which makes any file operation impossible outside the /tmp directory.
Con Free plan makes your code public
Unless you upgrade to a paid plan, the source code can be easily viewed by others.
Con Only for those who know what they are doing
They do absolutely no "hand holding" unless you purchase a support package and even then it's barebones.
Con The FAQ is so long that you can spend over an hour reading it
That's the FAQ if you are thinking about becoming a member. There's a much more detailed FAQ for members.
Con Not free
Although it can be very cheap to host a simple static site on NearlyFreeSpeech for about $3/$4 a year, it still is not free.