Overview
Netlify builds a project from Git (or the CLI, an API, drag and drop, or an AI agent) and serves it from its global edge network. Every pull request gets a private deploy preview, and any deploy can be rolled back in one click. Around the static core it adds serverless and scheduled functions, Netlify Database (managed Postgres), Blob storage, image transformation, forms and an AI gateway.
Since 4 September 2025 new accounts use credit-based plans. One credit balance covers production deploys, compute, bandwidth, web requests and AI inference. The Free plan gets 300 credits a month with a hard stop; when they run out, your sites are paused until the next cycle. Personal ($9) gets 1,000 credits and can buy 500 more for $5. Pro starts at $20 for 3,000 credits with unlimited seats, and since July 2026 you can pick larger tiers up to 20,000 credits, with rollover from 5,000 upward.
The credit model makes deploy frequency a cost: each production deploy uses 15 credits, so a team that ships to production many times a day should do the arithmetic. Preview and branch deploys are free, which suits review-heavy workflows. Enterprise adds a 99.99% SLA, SSO/SCIM and log drains.
Pricing and plans
Free tier · no card
300 credits a month with a hard limit (roughly 15 GB of bandwidth if spent on nothing else, at 20 credits per GB). Unlimited deploy previews, custom domains with SSL, functions, database and Blob storage. Projects pause when credits run out; no extra credits can be bought.
At the limit Pauses When the 300 credits run out, every project on the team shows 'Site not available' until the next cycle.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 300 credits/month, hard limit |
| Personal | $9/mo | 1,000 credits, 1-day observability, priority email support; 500 extra credits for $5 |
| Pro | $20/mo | 3,000 credits, unlimited members, 3+ concurrent builds; tiers up to 20,000 credits ($126/mo) |
| Enterprise | Custom | 99.99% SLA, SSO and SCIM, log drains, 24/7 support |
What it does
- Deploy previews
- Unlimited private previews for every pull request on all plans, and they use no credits.
- Functions
- Serverless, scheduled and background functions, billed as compute at 10 credits per GB-hour.
- Netlify Database and Blobs
- Managed Postgres and file storage available on every plan, including Free.
- Forms
- HTML forms collected with a data-netlify attribute and spam protection; submissions are free on credit plans.
- Firewall and rate limiting
- Traffic rules by IP or country and basic rate limiting on all plans; a managed WAF is part of Advanced Web Security.
- AI Gateway and Agent Runners
- Call major AI models or run coding agents against a project, billed at 180 credits per USD of model usage.
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Free, unlimited deploy previews on every plan.
- Built-in forms, Blob storage and Postgres without a third-party account.
- Pro has unlimited team members instead of per-seat fees.
- Hard credit cap on Free means the free plan can never bill you.
Limitations
- When credits run out, every project on the team is paused and shows 'Site not available' unless auto recharge is enabled.
- Each production deploy costs 15 credits, so frequent deploys eat the allowance.
- The Free plan cannot buy extra credits or add team members.
- Switching from a legacy plan to a credit-based plan cannot be undone.
Who it suits
Good for
- Static and Jamstack sites with preview-based review
- Marketing sites that need forms without a backend
- Small teams that want unlimited seats on one plan
Look elsewhere if
- Long-running servers, WebSockets or container workloads
- Teams that deploy to production dozens of times a day on a small plan
Pricing history
-
Netlify adds Pro credit tiers with rollover
Announced 14 July 2026: Pro teams can choose 3,000 to 20,000 monthly credits ($20 to $126/mo) instead of a fixed 3,000; tiers of 5,000 and above roll unused credits over for one cycle. Source ↗
-
Netlify cuts Pro monthly credits from 5,000 to 3,000
Pro credits dropped from 5,000 to 3,000 a month from the next billing cycle, while extra-credit packs got cheaper (Pro: 1,500 for $10, was 1,000 for $20; Personal: 500 for $5, was 200). Date approximate: the changelog gives Pro sign-ups before 1 October a 2,000-credit bonus in their October cycle. Source ↗
-
Netlify moves new accounts to credit-based plans
Effective 4 Sept 2025 (announced the same day), new accounts get Free (300 credits/month, hard limit), Personal ($9, 1,000 credits) and Pro ($20, 5,000 credits, up from $19). Existing Free, Starter and Pro accounts became legacy plans with no forced change. Source ↗
Alternatives to Netlify
| Tool | From | Free option | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Render Managed PaaS | $7/mo | Free tier | |
| Cloudflare Workers (incl. Pages) Edge serverless platform | $5/mo | Free tier | |
| Vercel Frontend and serverless platform | $20/mo | Free tier | |
| Northflank Kubernetes-based PaaS | $2.70/mo | Free tier | |
| Google Cloud Run Serverless containers | Usage-based | Free tier | |
| Scalingo European managed PaaS | €7.20/mo |
Questions
Is Netlify still free?
Yes. The Free plan gives 300 credits a month with a hard limit; sites pause when the credits run out and resume at the next cycle.
How much does Netlify bandwidth cost?
Bandwidth uses 20 credits per GB, about $0.13/GB at the Pro credit-pack rate of $10 per 1,500 credits.
Do Netlify deploy previews use credits?
No. Deploy previews and branch deploys use 0 credits; production deploys use 15 each.
What happened to Netlify's Starter plan?
Accounts created before 4 September 2025 keep their Free, Starter or Pro legacy plan; new accounts use the credit-based Free, Personal and Pro plans.
Sources read for this page