How BTS compares to Vercel, Netlify, Railway, Fly.io, and Render
Plenty of platforms deploy your code. Only one gives every branch a full-stack environment — app, Postgres, Redis — with a database that survives every push.
| Feature | BTS | Vercel | Netlify | Railway | Fly.io | Render |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Preview URL per branch Railway, Fly.io, and Render need per-repo PR-environment setup or a paid tier. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | Partial |
Full-stack preview (app + Postgres + Redis + S3) Database and cache spun up for every branch, not just the frontend. | Yes | No | No | Partial | No | No |
Database persists across pushes Incremental deploys rebuild only the app. Seed each branch from a SQL script or pg_dump backup; test data survives every push. | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Deploy any Dockerfile (no framework lock-in) | Yes | Partial | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Hard resource quotas, no usage metering Fixed vCPU, vRAM, and build-minute ceilings — no per-request, per-GB, or per-build-minute metering. | Yes | No | No | Partial | Partial | No |
Self-hostable (open agent + control plane) | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Bring your own compute (run your own node) | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Typical cost for 10 preview envs / month Rough estimate for a small Node app + small Postgres, running 24/7. | ~$15 | ~$400+ | ~$350+ | ~$80 | ~$60 | ~$80 |
YesPartial — extra setup or a higher tierNo
Compiled from public documentation. Something wrong? Tell us and we will fix it.
Full-stack, not just frontend
Vercel and Netlify were designed for the Jamstack era — static assets plus edge functions. BTS runs your actual Dockerfile, your actual backend, your actual database.
Persistent databases per branch
The killer feature that nobody else ships. Your Postgres survives every push, so test data and user sessions persist between deploys. Reset when you want, not every time.
Built for preview workflows
Fixed vCPU, vRAM, and build-minute quotas with no usage metering. Outgrowing a tier? Resource add-ons raise the ceilings by +1 vCPU / +2 GB vRAM per unit.
Head-to-head deep dives
Detailed breakdowns of how BTS compares to each platform on real-world workflows.
BTS vs Vercel
Vercel nails the frontend. BTS gives you the full stack — backend containers, Postgres, Redis — on every branch, without the platform lock-in.
BTS vs Netlify
Netlify is a CDN-plus-functions play. BTS runs your real backend containers with a real database on every PR.
BTS vs Railway
Railway is great for production services. BTS is purpose-built for ephemeral branch previews with persistent-across-push databases.
BTS vs Fly.io
Fly gives you VMs around the world. BTS gives you instant, disposable branch environments with zero ops.
BTS vs Render
Render charges for every idle preview service. BTS governs capacity with fixed vCPU and vRAM ceilings and no meter at all — pause an environment to free capacity, not to dodge a bill.
BTS vs Heroku Review Apps
Heroku invented review apps. BTS is what they would look like if redesigned today — cheaper, faster, and with seeded databases.
See the difference on your own repo
Connect a GitHub repo, push a branch, and have a full-stack preview URL running in under a minute. Free to start.