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Netlify
Build, deploy, and host static sites with global CDN, serverless functions, form handling, and preview deployments.
Use Cases
Deploy a marketing site with A/B testing via branch previews
Build a serverless contact form handler for a JAMstack portfolio
Free Tier
300 credits/month (~30GB bandwidth), unlimited sites, SSL, CI/CD
How to Maximize the Free Tier
To stretch Netlify's 300 monthly credits, set build triggers to only deploy on merges to main — skip preview builds for every branch push. Use their built-in form handling instead of spinning up a serverless function for contact forms. Cache your assets aggressively in the CDN to reduce bandwidth consumption, and watch your credit usage in the Netlify dashboard mid-month to avoid surprise build failures.
Getting Started
Sign up → connect Git repo → Netlify auto-deploys on push → add forms/functions in your site config → set up custom domain in DNS settings.
Pros
- Deploy workflow: Git-based deploys with instant rollbacks and preview deployments for every branch
- Serverless extras: Built-in form handling and serverless functions — no separate backend needed
- Free tier: 300 credits/month cover bandwidth and build minutes for most small to medium sites
Cons
- Credit system: Build minutes and bandwidth share credits — heavy CI pipelines can exhaust them mid-month
- Cold starts: Serverless functions have noticeable cold starts on the free tier after inactivity
- No backend: No persistent storage or database — you'll need a separate service for stateful apps