Facts read November 6, 2026
Netlify vs Render
Render is Cuely's default hosting pick when your description doesn't favor either one: runs persistent servers and background workers, not just functions. Pick Netlify if you care most about the lowest cost.
Side by side
| Fact | Netlify | Render |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Managed hosting for static sites and frontend frameworks with serverless functions. | Managed hosting for long-running web services, workers, cron jobs and Docker containers. |
| Free plan | Free: 300 credits per month (a production deploy is 15 credits, bandwidth 20 credits per GB), 1 concurrent build, 1 member; the site pauses when credits run out. | Hobby workspace: free web services (512 MB RAM, 750 instance hours/month, spin down after 15 minutes idle), 5 GB bandwidth, 500 build minutes per month. |
| Paid from | Personal: $9/month (1,000 credits). Pro: from $20/month (3,000 credits, unlimited members). | $7/month for the smallest paid web service (512 MB RAM). |
| At 1,000 users | $9/month | $7/month |
| Open source | No | No |
| Self-hostable | No | No |
| Best for | Static and Jamstack sites; Astro, SvelteKit and other non-Next frameworks; Teams that want no per-seat fees | Long-running servers and websockets; Background workers and cron jobs; Docker-based apps |
| Watch out | When monthly credits run out, the site pauses until the next billing cycle on the free plan. | Render's docs say not to use free instances for production; they spin down after 15 minutes idle. Free Postgres expires 30 days after creation. |
Where they differ
The published scores, from −3 to +3, that decide which one Cuely picks for each need.
| Need | Netlify | Render |
|---|---|---|
| background jobs or long-running servers | 0 No particular strength here. | +3 Always-on services, background workers and cron jobs are first-class. |
| realtime features | 0 No particular strength here. | +2 Persistent servers hold websocket connections. |
| keep costs as low as possible | +1 Paid plans start at $9/month. | 0 No particular strength here. |
| traffic comes in viral spikes | 0 No particular strength here. | −1 A fixed-size server doesn't absorb a sudden spike by itself; you size up or add instances ahead of time. |
Sources: Netlify pricing (read November 6, 2026), Render pricing (read November 6, 2026). No vendor pays for placement.