Vercel for frontends. Skyhook for everything else.
Vercel revolutionized frontend deployment. Skyhook brings that same experience to backend services, microservices, and full-stack applications - on Kubernetes in your own cloud account.
Skyhook handles your full stack - or works alongside Vercel
Skyhook deploys frontends and backends on the same platform - one dashboard, shared preview environments, unified rollout strategies. Or use Vercel for frontends and Skyhook for backend services if you prefer. Either way works.
How Skyhook compares
| Dimension | Skyhook | Vercel |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Full-stack applications - frontends, backend services, microservices, and any containerized workload. Deploy Next.js, React, or any framework alongside your APIs on Kubernetes. | Frontend applications and serverless functions. Optimized for Next.js, React, and static sites with edge deployment. |
| Backend services | First-class support for long-running backend services, workers, cron jobs, and microservice architectures. Run any container. | Serverless functions with execution time limits. Not designed for long-running backend services, workers, or stateful workloads. |
| Infrastructure | Skyhook provisions clusters for you or connects to existing ones. Full control over compute, networking, storage, and configuration. | Runs on Vercel's edge network and serverless infrastructure. No access to underlying compute or networking. |
| Container support | Any Docker container, any language, any framework. Helm charts, sidecars, init containers, and custom K8s resources. | Framework-specific deployment (Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit, etc.). No Docker container support. Fluid Compute optimizes serverless function execution but remains framework-based. |
| Deployment strategies | Canary deployments with traffic splitting, blue-green with instant cutover, progressive delivery with automatic rollback. | Preview deployments for every push. Rolling Releases (Pro/Enterprise) enable multi-stage traffic splitting with canary-style rollouts. No metric-based auto-rollback. |
| Scaling model | Kubernetes-native horizontal and vertical auto-scaling. Always-on or scale-to-zero per service. Pair with CloudFront, Cloud CDN, or Azure CDN for edge caching. | Serverless auto-scaling with scale-to-zero. Can have cold starts on infrequently accessed functions. |
| Multi-service architecture | Built for microservices. Service catalog, inter-service networking, shared preview environments across all services. | Monorepo support for multiple frontend apps. Not designed for microservice architectures with inter-service communication. |
| Pricing | Generous free tier (3 users, 3 services, 1 cluster) with no credit card required. You pay cloud provider directly for compute - pair with their free credits for a zero-cost start. | Free tier (hobby). Pro at $20/user/month. Enterprise custom. Plus usage charges for bandwidth, function invocations, and edge middleware. |
Feature-by-feature comparison
Why teams add Skyhook alongside Vercel
"Vercel for Kubernetes"
We built Skyhook to bring the deployment experience developers love about Vercel to the Kubernetes world. Git-push deploys, preview environments, instant rollbacks - but for backend services, microservices, and any containerized workload.
Built for backends and microservices
Vercel excels at frontends. Skyhook excels at everything else - long-running backend services, workers, cron jobs, microservice architectures with inter-service communication, and stateful workloads. Many teams use both.
No serverless limitations
Serverless has cold starts, execution time limits, and connection pooling challenges. Skyhook runs always-on containers on Kubernetes with no execution limits, persistent connections, and predictable performance for backend services.
Full infrastructure ownership
With Vercel, your code runs on their infrastructure in their account. With Skyhook, everything runs in your AWS, GCP, or Azure account. Full visibility, no compute markup, and complete control over data residency and compliance.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use Vercel and Skyhook together?
Absolutely - and many teams do. Use Vercel for your Next.js frontend and Skyhook for your backend APIs, workers, and microservices. Your Vercel frontend calls your Skyhook-deployed backend. Best of both worlds.
I deploy my Next.js app's API routes on Vercel. Why would I need Skyhook?
Vercel's API routes are serverless functions with execution time limits and cold starts. If you need long-running processes, WebSocket connections, background workers, or complex microservice architectures, those workloads belong on Skyhook.
Does Skyhook support frontend deployment?
Yes. Skyhook deploys any containerized application, including Next.js, React, Vue, and other frontends. You get preview environments, canary rollouts, and production readiness checks for your frontend too - all in one platform alongside your backend services.
How does Skyhook's preview environment work with Vercel's?
Skyhook creates full-stack preview environments for every PR, including all backend services. You can point your Vercel preview deployment at the corresponding Skyhook preview environment's API URL for true end-to-end testing.
Last updated: April 2026
Why Choose Skyhook?
Best Practices Out-of-the-Box
Start strong with monitoring, rollout strategies, ephemeral environments and secret management.
No Lock-in
Stay in control without being dependent on specific cloud providers or third-party tools. Unlike PaaS, you can easily migrate away.
Start and scale quickly
Get started in minutes, not days, with our fully configured environment. Grows with your needs, regardless of engineering group size.
Kubernetes based
Simplify Kubernetes for developers and make management easy for DevOps.
The Best tools
Skyhook has built-in support for the top tools in the Kubernetes ecosystem, such as ArgoCD, Kyverno, Grafana and many more.
Flexible
With Kubernetes under the hood, all the ecosystem and advanced functionality is readily available when you need it.
Ready to roll?
It's quick and easy to get started.
No credit card required.