Next.js hosting in the EU
In the dynamic world of web development, choosing the right hosting service is crucial. If you’re developing with Next.js, it’s important to select a host that allows dynamic content. In this blogpost we will look for hosters, that support all Next.js features including API routes. Furthermore, we want the hosters to store all data in the EU and the hosting company to be based in the EU.
At Form und Zeichen, we encounter various requirements for our software development projects. One prominent demand is to adhere strictly to the GDPR regulations. In fact, certain customers go a step further and exclusively seek collaborations with EU-based companies. To address this requirement, we have evaluated several contemporary hosting providers that align with our development pipeline.
Popular hosting providers for Next.js apps
Vercel
Scalingo
Scalingo is a France-based PaaS that supports several languages, including Node.js, on which Next.js is built upon. They are GDPR-compliant and ensure that customer data never leaves the EU. It is great to work with this provider as the setup is just as easy as with Vercel, and they provide Git-based deployments. Furthermore Scalingo is capable of hosting different databases.
Clever Cloud
Clever Cloud is another France-based PaaS provider that supports several languages, including Node.js for Next.js applications. They are GDPR compliant and have data centers in France and Germany.
Platform.sh
Based in France, Platform.sh is a GDPR compliant PaaS that supports Node.js. They offer a global network of data centers, including in the EU.
Sloppy.io
Based in Germany, Sloppy.io is a Docker Cloud Hosting platform that is fully GDPR compliant. While not a traditional PaaS, it could be used to host a Dockerized Next.js application. Because of the complicated development pipeline compared to the other PaaS providers, we give 2 stars.
Aiven
Aiven is a managed service provider based in Helsinki, Finland. They are GDPR compliant and have data centers across Europe. They primarily offer managed databases and messaging services, but their platform could be used to support a Next.js application with a back-end database.
Conclusion
We dedicated numerous hours to find a Next.js hosting provider that meets our specific requirements. While our client insisted on selecting only EU-based companies that store data within the EU, we had our own set of criteria to consider.
We sought a user-friendly platform-as-a-service (PaaS) provider with seamless Git integration for automatic code deployment on each push. Additionally, support for advanced build pipelines was essential to facilitate database migrations during the build process.
Ultimately, the two providers based in France emerged as the most suitable options for our project. Considering our setup and cost considerations, we opted for Scalingo as it offered a slightly more affordable solution. However, Clever Cloud is equally competitive, and we recommend considering both providers. As an alternative to Vercel, we consider Scalingo and Clever Cloud to be the best Next.js hosting providers.
