Compare / Netlify
The Netlify alternative with a backend attached
Netlify hosts the frontend beautifully and stops there: the API, the worker, and the database are somewhere else, on someone else’s bill. Lizard runs the frontend, the backend, and the database in one project, one command, and one invoice.
Why developers look for a Netlify alternative
It is a frontend platform
Static sites, edge functions, and serverless functions. A queue consumer, a WebSocket server, or a Django API is not something Netlify runs.
Credits replaced plans in April 2026
Since 14 April 2026 deploys, compute, bandwidth, and requests all draw on a monthly credit pool. Pro is $20 for 3,000 credits, tiering up to about $126 for 20,000.
Bandwidth is the expensive line
At published rates a GB of bandwidth is roughly 20 credits, about $0.13. Lizard charges $0.05 per GB flat.
No database of its own
Every data layer is a third-party integration, which means a second account, a second bill, and a network hop you do not control.
Lizard vs Netlify
Every figure read off Netlify’s published pricing and our own. Last verified: August 2026.
| Compared by | Lizard | Netlify |
|---|---|---|
| What it runs | Frontends, APIs, workers, WebSocket servers, scheduled jobs | Static sites, edge functions, serverless functions |
| Long-lived processes | Yes, with no time limit | No |
| Pricing model | Per second on measured CPU, memory, and disk | Monthly credit pool — deploys, compute, bandwidth and requests all draw on it |
| Entry price | Free with $5 of credit, then $5 a month | Free with 300 credits, Personal $9, Pro $20 for 3,000 credits |
| Bandwidth | $0.05 per GB | About 20 credits per GB, roughly $0.13 |
| Seats | Not billed | Not billed on Pro since April 2026 |
| Database | First-party Postgres, Redis, S3-compatible storage | Third-party integrations only |
| Shell into a running app | lizard ssh | Not applicable — there is no long-lived container |
When Netlify is the better choice
A marketing site, a documentation site, or a JAMstack frontend with no backend of its own. Netlify’s build pipeline, deploy previews, form handling, and edge network are mature and well-priced for exactly that, and dropping to a credit pool you never exhaust is cheaper than any per-second bill.
Moving from Netlify
No Dockerfile required — lizardpack detects the stack and writes one on the build node. If your repo already has a Dockerfile, it is used as it stands.
Frequently asked questions
It depends on what you are hosting. For a pure static site, Cloudflare Pages and Vercel are direct swaps. For a site that has grown a backend — an API, a worker, a database — you want a platform that runs processes, such as Lizard, Railway, or Render.
On 14 April 2026 Netlify moved to a credit model. Production deploys, compute, bandwidth, web requests, and AI inference all draw on a monthly credit pool: Free includes 300 credits, Personal is $9, and Pro is $20 for 3,000 credits with unlimited team members, tiering up to about $126 for 20,000 credits.
Only as serverless or edge functions, with their execution limits and no state between calls. A long-running API process, a queue consumer, or a WebSocket server has to live on another platform.
Yes. lizardpack detects a static site and serves it from its own container with TLS on the first deploy. If the site is genuinely static and always will be, a CDN-first host is the cheaper tool.
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