Deploy web apps with Vercel

Vercel is a cloud platform designed specifically for deploying web applications. It connects to your GitHub repository and automatically builds and deploys your project every time you push code — similar to GitHub Pages, but with far more capabilities.

Here's what makes Vercel different from GitHub Pages:

Think of it this way: GitHub Pages is great for serving HTML files. Vercel is built for deploying real applications — from a simple landing page to a full-stack web app with APIs and databases.

The easiest way to get started is to sign up with your GitHub account. This lets Vercel see your repositories and deploy them automatically.

1. Go to vercel.com/signup
2. Click "Sign Up" in the top-right corner.
3. Select "Continue with GitHub" and authorize the Vercel app.
4. You'll be taken to your Vercel dashboard — this is where you'll manage all your projects.

🏢 Create an organization (optional)

Vercel uses organizations (called "teams" on paid plans) to group projects together. On the free Hobby plan, your personal account works like an organization.

If you want to create a separate organization for a team or company:

1. Click your avatar in the top-left corner of the dashboard.
2. Click "Create Team" and enter a name.
3. Choose the free Hobby plan to get started.

Let's deploy a repository that already exists on your GitHub account. If you completed the GitHub Setup codelab, you already have a repository ready to go.

1. From your Vercel dashboard, click "Add New…" → "Project".
2. You'll see a list of your GitHub repositories. Select the one you want to deploy.
3. Vercel will auto-detect the framework (if any) and configure the build settings for you.
4. Click "Deploy" and wait about 30–60 seconds.

That's it — your project is live! Vercel automatically:

• ✓Clones your repository
• ✓Installs dependencies (npm install, pip install, etc.)
• ✓Runs the build command
• ✓Deploys the output to a global edge network

Every project you deploy on Vercel gets a free URL on the .vercel.app domain. The URL is based on your project name:

Default format:

If the project name is already taken, Vercel will add a random suffix. You can change the project name in your project settings to get a cleaner URL.

🔗 Types of URLs

If you own a domain name (e.g. mariadev.com), you can connect it to your Vercel project instead of using the .vercel.app URL.

1. Go to your project on the Vercel dashboard.
2. Click "Settings" → "Domains".
3. Enter your custom domain and click "Add".
4. Vercel will show you the DNS records you need to add at your domain registrar (e.g. Namecheap, Cloudflare, Google Domains).

After DNS propagation (usually a few minutes, sometimes up to 48 hours), your site will be available at your custom domain. Vercel automatically provisions a free SSL certificate — no extra steps needed.

Vercel is designed for frontend frameworks and full-stack applications, but it can deploy almost anything that serves HTTP. Here's what works great:

⚡ Serverless functions

Vercel runs your backend code as serverless functions. Instead of a server running 24/7, your code only runs when a request comes in — and Vercel handles all the scaling automatically.

You can write serverless functions in:

• •Node.js / TypeScript
• •Python
• •Go
• •Ruby