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Vercel
Vercel is a frontend cloud platform optimized for deploying Next.js, React, and other frontend frameworks. For backend logic, it offers serverless functions that run in response to HTTP requests with automatic scaling.
Serverless functions work well for simple API routes, but have cold starts, execution time limits, and no built-in support for databases, message queues, or background processing. For complex backends, you'll need external services.
Encore
Encore is a backend development platform that provisions infrastructure in your own AWS or GCP account. You define databases, Pub/Sub, cron jobs, and services as TypeScript or Go code. Encore handles deployment and infrastructure automatically.
This is useful when you need real backend capabilities: persistent connections, background jobs, event-driven architectures, or microservices. Your infrastructure runs in your own cloud account with full ownership and control.
Infrastructure Ownership
Vercel manages everything on their platform. Your functions run on Vercel's infrastructure, and for databases you connect to third-party providers like Neon or PlanetScale.
Encore provisions resources in your own AWS or GCP account. You can see your databases in the AWS Console, configure VPC peering, set up IAM policies, and use any native cloud service. Your data stays in accounts you control.
For teams that need compliance controls, data residency, or direct cloud access, infrastructure ownership matters.
Learn more about infrastructure ownership →Local Development
Vercel's vercel dev command runs your Next.js app locally with serverless function emulation. However, there's no integrated database or queue support, so you'll need to set up external services.
Encore runs encore run and automatically provisions local PostgreSQL, Pub/Sub emulation, and cron scheduling. A local dashboard shows distributed tracing across all your services.
For backend development, Encore's integrated local environment significantly reduces setup time and catches issues earlier.
Learn more about local development →Automatic Infrastructure
Vercel doesn't provide built-in databases or queues. You integrate third-party services like Neon, PlanetScale, or Upstash, managing connection strings and configurations yourself.
Encore provisions infrastructure from your code. Declare a database as a TypeScript object, and Encore creates RDS or Cloud SQL when you deploy. Same for Pub/Sub, cron jobs, and object storage, all in your own cloud account.
import { SQLDatabase } from "encore.dev/storage/sqldb";
const db = new SQLDatabase("users", {
migrations: "./migrations",
});
// Encore provisions RDS/Cloud SQL automaticallyDatabases, Pub/Sub, Cron Jobs, Object Storage, and more. See all primitives →
Built-in Observability
Vercel provides function logs and basic analytics. For distributed tracing across services, you'd integrate external tools like Datadog or Sentry yourself.
Encore includes distributed tracing, metrics, and structured logging out of the box. Every request is traced across services automatically. No instrumentation code needed.
This works locally too. Run your app and get full tracing in the local development dashboard.
See observability docs →AI-Assisted Development
With Vercel, backend infrastructure is scattered across third-party services, environment variables, and external configurations. AI agents like Cursor and Claude Code can't see how these pieces connect, leading to incomplete suggestions.
Encore defines infrastructure as TypeScript objects alongside your application code. AI agents see everything in one context: your APIs, databases, queues, and how they connect. This makes AI-generated code accurate, reviewable, and safe to deploy.
Built-in guardrails, auto-documentation, and observability ensure your systems stay maintainable, even when AI writes most of the code.
Learn about AI-assisted development →Customer stories
See how teams are shipping faster with Encore.
"Encore is our foundation for all new development. Since adopting it, we've seen a 2-3x increase in development speed."
"Encore is an unfair advantage. At Pave we've moved 2x faster than we did at Monzo."
"We've reduced time spent on DevOps by 95%, and we're now on track to save $60K annually."
Feature Comparison
See how Encore and Vercel differ for backend development.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Encore vs Vercel.
Encore is purpose-built for backend development with built-in databases, Pub/Sub, cron jobs, and distributed tracing. Vercel is primarily a frontend deployment platform with serverless functions for simple API routes. Encore provisions infrastructure in your own AWS or GCP account, while Vercel runs everything on their platform.
Vercel's serverless functions are designed for simple API routes and edge logic, not complex backend systems. Functions have cold starts, time limits (typically 10-60 seconds), and no built-in support for databases, queues, or background jobs. For microservices or data-intensive backends, you'll need a dedicated backend platform like Encore.
For Next.js frontends, Vercel is excellent. For your backend, consider Encore. Vercel's API routes work for simple endpoints, but Encore provides databases, Pub/Sub, cron jobs, distributed tracing, and deploys to your own cloud account. Many teams use Vercel for their Next.js frontend and Encore for their backend services.
Encore provides automatic local development with databases, Pub/Sub, and distributed tracing included with a single command. Vercel's local development focuses on the frontend with vercel dev, but backend capabilities are limited to serverless function emulation without real database or queue support.
Encore provides infrastructure ownership in your AWS or GCP account, built-in observability with distributed tracing, automatic IAM policies, type-safe APIs, and native cloud services like RDS and SQS. Vercel's backend features are add-ons to a frontend platform, not a dedicated backend solution.
Encore is designed specifically for microservices with automatic service discovery, type-safe inter-service calls, distributed tracing across services, and auto-generated architecture diagrams. Vercel's serverless functions are isolated and not designed for microservice architectures.