Beam vs Vercel (2026): Pricing, Features & Verdict
Vercel is our pick, scoring 6.8/10 against 6.6/10 for Beam on our AI Software criteria. Its biggest advantage: higher Integration score (8/10 vs 5/10). For 10 users, Beam costs about $89/mo, against $200/mo for Vercel; only Vercel has a free plan.
Last updated: November 2026
Beam
6.6/10
Beam is a serverless cloud for AI teams and coding agents, offering sandboxes, persistent VMs, serverless GPU endpoints, task queues and on-demand GPU machines with per-second billing.
Vercel
6.8/10
Frontend cloud platform from the makers of Next.js that builds and deploys web apps from Git to a global CDN with serverless functions.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.6/10 | 6.8/10 |
| Integration | 5/10 | 8/10 |
| Analytics | 4/10 | 7/10 |
| Customization | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Ease of Use | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Support | 5/10 | 5/10 |
| Cost | 7/10 | 4/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $20/mo Developer | $20/user/mo Pro |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $89/mo Team | $200/mo Pro |
| Features | ||
| API and CLI | ||
| Serverless Functions | ||
| Git Deployments | ||
| Cloud Compute | Not listed | |
| Managed WordPress | Not listed | |
| Multiple Regions | Not listed | |
| DDoS Protection | Not listed | |
| Object Storage | Not listed | |
| Dedicated Servers | Not listed | |
| VPS Hosting | Not listed | |
| Content Delivery Network | Not listed | |
| Shared Hosting | Not listed | |
| Free SSL Certificates | Not listed | |
Beam vs Vercel cost by team size
Vercel costs less at 1 user; Beam costs less from 5 users.
| Team size | Beam | Vercel |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $20/moDeveloper | FreeHobby |
| 5 users | $89/moTeam | $100/moPro |
| 10 users | $89/moTeam | $200/moPro |
| 25 users | $89/moTeam | $500/moPro |
| 50 users | $89/moTeam | $1,000/moPro |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Who Beam and Vercel suit
Vercel fits enterprise better than Beam.
| Audience | Beam | Vercel |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | 5/10Beam offers SOC 2 Type II, a Growth tier, clusters and bring-your-own-cloud, but the vendor is very small and publishes few details on regions. | 7/10Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM, audit logs, isolated builds, and ISO 27001, SOC 2 and HIPAA support. |
| SaaS Companies | 7/10Autoscaling GPU endpoints and sandboxes for agent code let SaaS products ship AI features without running GPU servers. | 8/10It offers serverless compute, a firewall and observability for production web apps. |
| Developers | 9/10Everything runs from a Python or TypeScript SDK and a CLI, with decorators that turn functions into endpoints and task queues. | 9/10The workflow is built around Git, preview deployments, a CLI and an API for frontend developers. |
| Startups | 8/10The $20 Developer plan includes matching credit, and scale-to-zero billing keeps costs low for small AI teams. | 8/10Reviewers recommend it for Next.js startups with normal traffic, though the jump from Pro to Enterprise is steep. |
| Agencies | Not rated | 7/10Per-project preview URLs and viewer seats help with client review, but each developer seat costs extra. |
| Freelancers | Not rated | 6/10The free Hobby plan is non-commercial only, so client work needs Pro. |
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Beam
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: $89/mo vs $200/mo
- Higher Cost score (7/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Customization score (8/10 vs 6/10)
Why choose Vercel
- Has a free plan (Beam does not)
- Higher Integration score (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Analytics score (7/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (7/10 vs 5/10)
Pros & Cons
Beam
Pros
- Billing is per second, or per millisecond for sandboxes, with no egress fees and no compute charge while VMs are stopped. Storage was not yet billed at the time of research.
- Beta9, the core runtime, is open source under AGPL-3.0, so teams can self-host it or add their own hardware using the same CLI across cloud, on-prem and hybrid setups.
- Agent-focused sandboxes start in about half a second and can be paused, snapshotted, forked and given a GPU. Paused VMs resume with RAM and processes intact.
- GetDeploying's comparison found Beam's H100, H200, B200, L40S, RTX PRO 6000 and A6000 machine prices cheaper than Runpod's.
- Beam publishes a SOC 2 Type II report, and GetDeploying lists GDPR coverage through a DPA and HIPAA availability on the enterprise tier.
Cons
- Beam lists 10 GPU models, compared with 34 on Runpod in GetDeploying's comparison, and Runpod is cheaper on A100 and RTX 4090.
- In GetDeploying's comparison, a medium always-on VM (4 vCPU, 8 GB) cost about $289 a month on Beam versus about $86 on Runpod.
- Beam does not publish a list of data center regions, so buyers with residency needs must ask sales.
- The entry Developer plan is capped at 1 seat and 5 concurrent GPUs, and live chat support starts only on the $89 Team plan.
- Independent user reviews are scarce, and the vendor is very small (YC lists a team of 5), which may concern buyers who need long-term support guarantees.
Vercel
Pros
- Every pull request automatically gets its own preview URL, which reviewers rate as the most polished preview workflow available.
- New Next.js features work on Vercel from launch day, because Vercel maintains the framework.
- Automatic DDoS mitigation and a basic firewall are included on every plan, including the free one.
- The compliance list is strong: ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type 2, PCI DSS, TISAX Level 2, and HIPAA on Enterprise.
- Pro includes unlimited viewer seats, so non-developers can review work without paying for a seat.
Cons
- There is no hard spending cap, only alerts, so traffic spikes or bot crawls can produce large overage bills.
- Each developer costs $20 per month on Pro, which makes larger teams expensive.
- Next.js features such as ISR, image optimization and middleware create lock-in that makes migrating away costly.
- It is not a full backend: databases come from marketplace partners rather than Vercel itself.
- The jump from Pro to Enterprise is steep, and user reports complain of slow support on billing issues.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Vercel scores higher on our AI Software criteria: 6.8/10 against 6.6/10 for Beam. The largest gap is in Analytics: 4/10 for Beam and 7/10 for Vercel.
Beam costs less for 10 users: about $89/mo on its Team plan, against about $200/mo on its Pro plan for Vercel, billed monthly.
Vercel has a free plan; Beam does not list one.
Vercel is the better fit for enterprise: we rate it 7/10 for them, against 5/10 for Beam.
