10 Best Serverless Platforms

The switch to serverless computing can help startups save thousands of dollars on cloud costs. A recent case study reported how a startup was spending $5,000 per month on a Kubernetes cluster to manage their microservices. By moving to a serverless architecture, the startup cut their cloud bill to $400-$600 per month.

The best serverless platforms should help save costs. But they should also be able to back the businesses’ success. The serverless environment in which you run your web app should be affordable, scale up quickly, and have no downtime when what you’re offering becomes a big hit.

If you’re a full-stack developer, a solopreneur, or a small business looking to rapidly prototype and deploy serverless applications, or simply trying to reduce costs, knowing which serverless provider to choose could make the difference.

What is a serverless platform?

Serverless platforms are a cloud service model in which developers outsource servers, scaling and maintenance to a provider so that they only focus on code. The term “serverless” means that the complexities of server management are kept away from the user—but there are still servers running in the background.

Serverless platforms offer automatic scaling, where resources are adjusted based on the app’s demand. This means that during high activity, more computing power is used, and during low activity, less is used. Automatic scaling also means you only pay for the resources used, which translates to reduced operational overhead. For this reason, the serverless approach is especially useful for apps that handle variable workloads. Some serverless solutions are typesafe, which means that the programming errors are prevented either at compile time or runtime.

List of 10 best serverless platforms

Here’s a list of the 10 best serverless computing providers available today. These platforms are suitable for full-stack developers managing IT projects at companies or hosting an MVP for a side project. Each platform offers distinct features and integrations so that you can find the solution that allows you to start fast or migrate fast.

1. Genezio

Genezio is a full-stack cloud platform that helps developers build and deploy full-stack applications. It offers a secure and scalable backend infrastructure, and supports different languages, including TypeScript and Go. Genezio is framework-agnostic (it does not depend on any framework at all), so it can integrate with popular frameworks like Express.js, Fastify, and Next.js.

One of Genezio’s key features is its auto-generated SDK , which makes connecting your frontend and backend as simple as possible. The platform also includes built-in services such as authentication, database management, and scheduled tasks.

You can start for free with Genezio. The Hobby plan can cover individual projects or small teams. For production environments and teams up to 10, the Pro plan is just $15 per month. Larger organizations with more complex requirements can sign up for the Enterprise plan.

With Genezio, developers can focus on their applications without worrying about server management. The platform automatically scales and handles infrastructure, and this makes it a highly reliable choice for both quick setups and long-term projects.

2. AWS Fargate

AWS Fargate is a serverless platform by Amazon. When discussing platforms where developers can deploy their SaaS, it’s not brought up as often as AWS Lambda, which is used as a benchmark for other cloud-based services. As it integrates well with other AWS resources, Fargate is a solid choice for developers already using AWS services.

Developers are charged for the number of requests and the duration of functions. On the surface, this sounds like a win-win deal. But those who use it still usually claim that Fargate is very expensive . Fargate has a calculator, but it’s still hard to understand how the invoice will unravel for a SaaS app that becomes a sudden hit. Since it’s expensive, plenty of users ask if it’s simply not a better idea to just use Lambda and try to run something similar to serverless over there.

3. Google Cloud Functions

Google Cloud Functions offers a general serverless platform within the Google Cloud ecosystem. It supports a number of languages, such as Node.js, Python, Go, Java, .NET Core, Ruby, and PHP. The platform is designed for event-driven workloads and automatically scales based on demand. Pricing depends on the number of requests and resource consumption, with the first two million requests free and additional requests costing $0.40 per million.

The platform integrates with other Google Cloud services, such as Cloud Pub/Sub , Cloud Storage, and Firebase. It includes features like distributed tracing and debugging with Cloud Trace , and offers built-in HTTP endpoint management for easy API creation.

Google Cloud Functions has some limitations, suck as a function timeout of 540 seconds, a maximum memory of 8,192 MB, and a limit of 1,000 functions per region. The deployment size is limited to 100 MB compressed. A developer once compared it to a regular Cloud offering and said that, “Cloud Functions is ten times cheaper, but your customers wait ten times more.”

But it can do stateless execution very well, which makes it a reliable and trusted provider in the serverless community.

4. Microsoft Azure Functions

Microsoft Azure Functions is a serverless platform for building and deploying event-driven applications. It is part of the broader Azure ecosystem, which includes over 100 tools for software development, testing, deployment, and management.

Azure Functions has several pricing options. The Consumption plan charges based on executions and memory usage. The Premium plan offers reserved resources and faster performance (which means fewer cold start issues). The Dedicated plan provides continuous function execution without shutdowns, suitable for consistent workloads.

Azure Functions works with a lot of programming languages, including C#, JavaScript, F#, Java, PowerShell, Python, and TypeScript. The platform is tightly integrated with Azure’s DevOps tools, and this facilitates continuous testing, deployment, and integration.

5. Vercel Functions

Vercel Functions is a serverless platform with a strong focus on web development. Integrated within the Vercel platform, these functions provide developers with two options: Serverless Functions and Edge Functions. Serverless Functions run on AWS Lambda and support multiple languages, including Node.js, Go, Python, and Ruby. Edge Functions use Vercel’s V8 runtime for a quicker performance, and are suitable for tasks that demand extremely fast execution on the edge.

Pricing is offered with Vercel’s standard plans: Hobby (free for non-commercial use), Pro ($20 a month), and Enterprise (custom pricing). The platform supports unlimited function calls with specific limits on execution time and memory based on each plan. Developers can use Next.js easily… because a Next.js team came up with Vercel in the first place.

6. Netlify Functions

Netlify Functions is a serverless platform that speeds up web application development on the Netlify ecosystem. Built on AWS Lambda, it integrates serverless functions into projects and helps with server-side code management.

Developers can write functions in JavaScript, TypeScript, and Go. They can deploy, preview, and roll back functions that support HTTP requests and background events alongside applications. The platform allows comparisons of changes in both frontend code and serverless functions by virtue of A/B testing . It integrates well with the Jamstack architecture, popular for building static websites, and can interact with various APIs and databases.

Pricing is usage-based, with rates depending on the number of invocations and execution time. The free Level 0 offers basic functionality, while Levels 1 (starts at $25 per site, monthly) and 2 offer expanded limits and additional features. Level 2 is included with higher-tier Netlify plans.

7. AWS Amplify Hosting

It’s not exactly a serverless platform, but it can do the part. AWS Amplify is a frontend hosting designed to simplify the building, hosting, and deployment of applications on AWS. One of its features, Amplify Hosting , is a good trade-off for web development and staging environments. Amplify Hosting uses Git to host full-stack serverless web applications that can be deployed continuously. It comes with a simple auth and CI&CD pipelines and PR previews. AWS Amplify with its hosting feature, then, might come close to a serverless solution, but the argument against it is that it’d be easier to just rely on a serverless or FaaS provider.

8. Cloudflare Workers

Cloudflare Workers uses edge computing to make serverless computing faster and less latency. Developers who know JavaScript will find Cloudflare Workers easy to use. It also supports WebAssembly-compatible languages like Rust, C, and Python.

Cloudflare Workers is particularly known for its quick execution times. Using the Chrome V8 engine, it avoids typical cold start issues, with start times often under five milliseconds. Yet, the V8 runtime has its limitations, as it restricts access to the Node.js standard library, which can potentially impact certain functionalities.

The platform also offers features like Workers KV for key-value storage and Durable Objects for maintaining state across requests. The pricing model is straightforward: The free tier includes 100,000 requests per day, while the paid tiers start at $5 per month, with costs scaling based on usage.

9. Alibaba Function Compute

Alibaba Function Compute is a multipurpose serverless platform that supports a range of languages like Node.js, Python, Java, and PHP. Like other offerings from big cloud vendors, it uses an event-driven model, which allows developers to create responsive applications triggered by various events. As expected, the service integrates with other Alibaba Cloud resources, like ApsaraDB and Message Service . Like other serverless offerings, Function Compute automatically scales resources to match workload demands and offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model.

Alibaba’s status as a big cloud player can’t be overstated. It’s one of the biggest cloud vendors in the world, sometimes mentioned as one of the biggest four. Yet, Alibaba’s strong presence in China makes it sometimes a bit challenging to find community support and tutorials in English.

10. Fastly’s Compute@Edge

Compute@Edge offers an edge computing platform to deploy serverless applications. It supports multiple languages, including JavaScript, Rust, and Go. The platform’s global edge network promises low-latency responses and fast start times.

Fastly Compute’s pay-per-use pricing takes into account compute requests, memory allocation, and CPU time, with additional charges for data transfer and storage. The platform supports Terraform and Fastly CLI .

Go serverless with Genezio

The best serverless platform needs to be reliable and affordable. If you’re ready to explore serverless, Genezio is your best choice. Full-stack developers need a high-quality and low-cost solution to deploy to the cloud quickly, and Genezio delivers just that. Created by tech enthusiasts for tech enthusiasts, Genezio offers a complete serverless platform that simplifies development and scales effortlessly when the market demands.

Genezio is easy, affordable, and quick. With one-click serverless deployment and automated SDK setup, Genezio sidesteps the usual complexities of serverless development. The platform adjusts resources automatically based on demand. This means your app scales exactly when needed, without wasting resources — or billing you — during downtime.

Genezio supports multiple staging environments and easy production deployments, and this makes it a useful tool for teams of all sizes to build and deploy serverless applications rapidly. Focus on improving your product or making smart business decisions without worrying about infrastructure. Start experimenting with the advantages of serverless architecture with Genezio. Visit our website, sign up for a free account, and get started.