Deploy targets and tradeoffs

You have a Docker image. Where does it run? Three main options. Vercel for zero-ops hosting on Next.js native infra. Your own VPS or a small cloud VM for cheap and simple deployments. A Kubernetes cluster for teams that already run other services there. Each has tradeoffs.

Vercel is the fastest path to production and the best at Next.js, but it can get expensive at scale and locks you into its platform primitives. A VPS is cheap and simple but you own the ops. Kubernetes scales to anything but is a lot of overhead for small apps. Most small teams start with Vercel and only move off when they hit a real cost or platform limit.