What is Netlify used for?

Netlify is a web hosting and deployment platform for building and shipping sites and apps, with deploy previews, serverless functions and an edge network. It is a good fit for marketing sites and landing pages, front-end web apps with preview deploys, and prototypes and internal tools.

Yes. Netlify has a free plan, and paid plans start at $9 per month.

Is Netlify open source?

No. Netlify is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Netlify include Coolify, Dokploy and Openship.

What are some alternatives to Netlify?

Netlify competes with Vercel, Cloudflare Pages and AWS Amplify. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Netlify alternatives.

Netlify: features, pricing and alternatives

About Netlify

Netlify is a commercial platform for building, deploying and hosting websites and web applications. The vendor says users can create with AI tools or code and deploy instantly on production infrastructure, going from AI tools or Git to global delivery in seconds.

Key capabilities include agent runners, deploy previews for reviewing changes, an AI gateway, serverless functions, a database, observability, security controls and an edge network. Use cases highlighted include marketing sites, ecommerce stores, web apps, internal tools, prototypes and coding agents, along with enterprise, partner and customer information. A Discord community is promoted.

Netlify is hosted, proprietary software with a pricing page and sign-up, and it is not self-hosted. It suits front-end developers, agencies and teams that want Git-driven deployments with preview environments and minimal infrastructure work.

Key features

Git-based builds and deployments
Deploy previews for each change
Serverless functions for backend logic
Edge network for global delivery
Built-in database option
AI gateway and agent runners
Observability and security tools

Good fit for

→Marketing sites and landing pages
→Front-end web apps with preview deploys
→Prototypes and internal tools

Tags: hosting; jamstack; deployment; serverless; cdn; deploy-previews

Netlify: questions and answers

What is Netlify used for?: Netlify is a web hosting and deployment platform for building and shipping sites and apps, with deploy previews, serverless functions and an edge network. It is a good fit for marketing sites and landing pages, front-end web apps with preview deploys, and prototypes and internal tools.
Is Netlify free?: Yes. Netlify has a free plan, and paid plans start at $9 per month.
Is Netlify open source?: No. Netlify is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Netlify include Coolify, Dokploy and Openship.
What are some alternatives to Netlify?: Netlify competes with Vercel, Cloudflare Pages and AWS Amplify. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Netlify alternatives.