Software Alternatives & Startups

Vercel VS PM2

Compare Vercel VS PM2 and see what are their differences

Vercel

Vercel is the platform for frontend developers, providing the speed and reliability innovators need to create at the moment of inspiration.

Rating
4.0 · 1 review
PM2

Advanced, production process manager for Node.js

Rating
0 reviews

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Vercel seems to be a lot more popular than PM2. While we know about 657 links to Vercel, we've tracked only 60 mentions of PM2.

social mentions
657 vs 60
Developer Tools popularity
97% vs 3%
alternatives listed
240+ vs 120

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Vercel
PM2
Website vercel.com pm2.keymetrics.io
Pricing —
Company Startup from the United States —
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Vercel 6 features
PM2 5 features
  • Easy Deployment
    Vercel offers a straightforward and user-friendly process for deploying static sites and serverless functions. It integrates seamlessly with platforms like GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket, allowing developers to deploy directly from their repositories.
  • Fast Performance
    Vercel optimizes delivery through its global CDN, which ensures fast load times for users all around the world. It provides edge caching and real-time purging that contribute to high-performance web applications.
  • Serverless Functions
    Vercel supports serverless functions, enabling developers to build and deploy backend functionality without needing to manage server infrastructure. This can save time and resources, particularly for smaller projects.
  • Integration with Next.js
    Vercel is the creator of Next.js, a popular React framework, and offers seamless integration with it, providing advanced features like static site generation, server-side rendering, and API routes.
  • Scalability
    Vercel can handle increased traffic automatically, scaling web applications to accommodate a growing number of users without additional configuration.
  • Preview Deployments
    Every pull request can generate a unique preview deployment, allowing teams to preview changes in a live environment before merging. This enhances collaboration and speeds up the development process.

Possible disadvantages

  • Cost
    While Vercel offers a free tier, the pricing can become expensive for larger projects or enterprises, particularly if they require more bandwidth, build minutes, or advanced features.
  • Serverless Limitations
    Serverless functions on Vercel have limits on execution time and computational power. This can be a constraint for compute-heavy tasks or long-running processes.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    Deploying heavily integrated projects with Vercel's proprietary features may make it difficult to migrate to another platform without significant rework.
  • Limited Backend Customization
    While Vercel supports serverless functions, it does not offer the same level of backend customization and control as traditional server hosting environments.
  • Learning Curve for Beginners
    Although easy deployment is a pro, beginners might find it complex to understand concepts like serverless architecture, environment variables, and project structure in the beginning.
  • Limited Language Support
    Vercel primarily supports JavaScript/TypeScript for serverless functions, potentially limiting the use for developers who prefer other programming languages for backend development.
  • Process Management
    PM2 provides efficient process management, allowing you to easily start, stop, and restart applications. It handles the daemonization of processes and ensures that all your services run continuously.
  • Monitoring & Logging
    PM2 offers robust monitoring and logging features, providing real-time metrics on CPU and memory usage, along with comprehensive logging to help debug issues and monitor application performance.
  • Cluster Mode
    PM2 supports cluster mode, enabling you to run multiple instances of your application to utilize multi-core systems effectively, thereby improving performance and handling more traffic.
  • Easy Deployment
    With PM2, deployment is simplified through built-in functionalities like management of environment variables and automatic startup scripts, making it easier to deploy applications across environments.
  • Platform Agnostic
    PM2 is platform-agnostic and can be used with diverse environments and languages, though it is optimized for Node.js applications, offering flexibility to manage various types of applications.

Possible disadvantages

  • Overhead
    While PM2 is lightweight, it can add some overhead, particularly in smaller or simpler applications where its full range of features may not be necessary.
  • Configuration Complexity
    For new users or simple applications, PM2's configuration options may seem complex, with a steep learning curve to understand and leverage all available features effectively.
  • Memory Usage
    PM2's memory usage can be higher compared to more minimal solutions, which might be a concern for resource-constrained environments or small-scale projects.
  • Limited to JavaScript by Default
    Although you can manage other types of applications, PM2 is primarily designed for Node.js, so managing non-JavaScript applications could require additional effort or wrappers.
  • Potential Issues with Large Projects
    In some cases, PM2 may face challenges scaling very large projects due to its process management design, requiring more thorough testing and configuration tuning.

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Vercel 6 videos + Add
PM2 3 videos + Add

Gorillaz - The Now Now ALBUM REVIEW

More videos

  • - Zeit Now - What is it?
  • - Now 100 Hits Forgotten 70's - The NOW Review
  • - Deploy Node.js Application to Zeit Now - FreeCodeCamp - Timestamp Microservice 04
  • - Serverless Fullstack made easy with Next.js, Prisma 2, and Zeit Now #3: Set up Zeit Now
  • - AT&T TV Now 2020 Review - Is it GOOD now??

The Spyderco Paramilitary 2 (PM2) Pocketknife: The Full Nick Shabazz Review

More videos

  • - Cut or Carry: Spyderco PM2 ParaMilitary 2 Review
  • - Spyderco Paramilitary 2 S110V Long-Term Review (Best value PM2?)

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Vercel
PM2
97% 97%
3% 3%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%
100% 100%
0% 0%

User comments

Share your experience with using Vercel and PM2. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

Vercel 4.0 · 1 review
PM2 no reviews yet
  • We leverage Vercel For Next JS hosting
    SaaSHub review
    · Sep 2025

    We have been using Vercel to host some of our internally developed apps that help our team run our operations on Vercel and have found it to be a very developer friendly platform. With our apps built in Next JS it is...

  • Top 10 Vercel v0 Open Source Alternatives | Medium
    medium.com · Sep 2024

    First things first, let’s talk about Vercel v0. You might be wondering, “What exactly is Vercel v0, and why should I care?” Well, my friend, Vercel v0 is a game-changing AI-powered development platform that’s been...

  • 5 Best Vercel Alternatives for Next.js & App Router
    il.ly · Mar 2024

    Vercel has become the go-to platform for hosting modern web applications built with frameworks like Next.js. However, as your application scales, Vercel's pricing model and lack of flexibility can become limiting.

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We have no reviews of PM2 yet. Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Vercel 657 mentions
PM2 60 mentions
  • How to Deploy a React + Vite App on GitHub Pages: A Beginner-Friendly Guide 🚀
    You can also deploy React + Vite projects through services such as Vercel, which can build and deploy your application directly from a connected GitHub repository. - Source: dev.to / 1 day ago
  • Bloated Clouds, Anyone?
    Put your Next.js app on Vercel (for most of us, their $20/mo tier is enough). - Source: dev.to / 24 days ago
  • The Blog Was the Shelf, the Lab Is the Workbench
    Vercel for hosting the Lab and its deployment workflow. - Source: dev.to / 28 days ago

View more

  • The hosting setup nobody talks about anymore
    At this point we have a few options to handle our Nuxt site. We could just copy the dist folder over, install node, and use something like pm2 to manage the node process. While this works, I find it a little brittle. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • JavaScript Awesome Package
    PM2 - PM2 is a daemon process manager that will help you manage and keep your application online 24/7. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • PM2 process management for Node.js - Mastering PM2 Process Management...
    Now you have the tools to keep your Node. Js apps running strong. Experiment with the ecosystem. config. Js file. Explore more advanced PM2 features on their official website. Remember, consistent uptime builds user trust. If you're... - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago

View more

Alternatives to Vercel and PM2

When comparing Vercel and PM2, you can also consider the following products.

  • Next.js

    A small framework for server-rendered universal JavaScript apps

    Compare Next.js to Vercel or PM2:

  • GitHub

    Originally founded as a project to simplify sharing code, GitHub has grown into an application used by over a million people to store over two million code repositories, making GitHub the largest code host in the world.

    Compare GitHub to Vercel or PM2:

  • Netlify

    Build, deploy and host your static site or app with a drag and drop interface and automatic delpoys from GitHub or Bitbucket

    Compare Netlify to Vercel or PM2:

  • ExpressJS

    Sinatra inspired web development framework for node.js -- insanely fast, flexible, and simple

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  • Heroku

    Agile deployment platform for Ruby, Node.js, Clojure, Java, Python, and Scala. Setup takes only minutes and deploys are instant through git. Leave tedious server maintenance to Heroku and focus on your code.

    Compare Heroku to Vercel or PM2:

  • Supervisor

    Supervisor is a client/server system that allows its users to monitor and control a number of...

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