How To Avoid Big Serverless Bills

Summary

This video offers valuable insights into optimizing serverless deployments and managing costs on platforms like Vercel. The speaker discusses best practices for static content, image optimization, and analytics, emphasizing the importance of keeping complexity low to avoid unnecessary compute costs. With advice on managing serverless bills and reducing overages, the video highlights practical tools like PostHog for analytics and Vercel's spend management features. Viewers are encouraged to optimize their applications to maintain low costs while leveraging serverless technologies effectively.

Takeaways

• 😀 Static pages (like blogs or terms of service) should be pre-rendered to avoid unnecessary compute resources and high server costs.
• 😀 Dynamic pages, which require server-side computation on every request, will incur more costs and should be minimized for better performance.
• 😀 Vercel provides clear feedback on whether pages are static or dynamic during the build process, helping you optimize your project.
• 😀 For websites with fewer than 5,000 images, Vercel's image optimization service is highly recommended, though it becomes costly beyond that threshold.
• 😀 If your image count exceeds 5,000, consider using alternative image optimization services that are cheaper, even though they may have a steeper learning curve.
• 😀 The new image engineering solution being developed promises a faster, cheaper, and more efficient alternative for large image volumes.
• 😀 Vercel’s analytics is more suited for tracking page views (web analytics) than for tracking user actions or journeys (product analytics).
• 😀 For product analytics, tools like PostHog are recommended, especially since their pricing model is more affordable for tracking large numbers of events.
• 😀 Vercel allows users to set a spend management limit to avoid unexpected bills, offering more control over your budget, especially for larger-scale projects.
• 😀 It’s crucial to understand that serverless costs are driven by the compute required, so optimizing for static content and minimizing unnecessary dynamic content can keep costs low.
• 😀 Following best practices in serverless architecture, like pre-rendering pages and optimizing image delivery, can help maintain low bills and high performance even with large traffic spikes.

Q & A

What is the importance of caching data and serving static pages?

Caching data and serving static pages are crucial for optimizing performance. Static pages don’t require the server to dynamically generate HTML for each user, which saves compute resources and reduces the likelihood of high server bills.

Why is it important to avoid dynamic pages for static content like terms of service or blogs?

Static content like terms of service or blogs doesn’t change often, so generating it dynamically for each user is inefficient. Instead, serving pre-generated static pages ensures faster load times and reduces unnecessary server usage.

How does Vercel’s image optimization service help, and when should it be reconsidered?

Vercel’s image optimization service is beneficial for projects with fewer than 5,000 images. It automates image resizing and delivery in optimal formats. However, for projects with more than 5,000 images, the cost may become prohibitive, and alternative image hosting solutions should be considered.

What are the key differences between product analytics and web analytics?

Product analytics tracks individual user actions, helping to understand the user journey. Web analytics, on the other hand, tracks page views and site traffic, offering insights into which pages are most popular or receiving the most visits.

Why is PostHog recommended for product analytics, and how does it differ from Vercel’s analytics?

PostHog is recommended for product analytics due to its ability to track user interactions in a more granular way. Vercel’s analytics, on the other hand, focuses on web analytics (site traffic and page views) and is not ideal for detailed user behavior tracking.

What are the implications of using Vercel’s analytics for large-scale event tracking?

Vercel’s analytics can become expensive for large-scale event tracking due to its pricing model, where events are charged at $0.005 per event after the first million. For businesses tracking large volumes of events, it’s more cost-effective to use other analytics services like PostHog.

How can you manage costs and avoid unexpected high bills on Vercel?

Vercel offers a spend management feature that allows users to set limits on their monthly spend and receive notifications when they approach those limits. This helps ensure that you’re not caught off guard by high bills due to excessive usage.

What is the recommended approach to avoid high bills when using serverless platforms like Vercel or Netlify?

The recommended approach is to optimize your app architecture to minimize complexity. This includes caching data, serving static pages where possible, and using cost-effective image and analytics solutions. Simple, efficient design leads to lower operational costs.

What is the speaker’s opinion on Vercel’s pricing for analytics?

The speaker believes that Vercel’s analytics pricing is too high for most users, especially for large-scale event tracking. They suggest exploring alternatives like PostHog, which offer better pricing for event-based tracking.

What does the speaker suggest for businesses that need a cost-effective solution for event tracking?

For businesses needing a cost-effective event tracking solution, the speaker recommends tools like PostHog. They also mention that once Vercel's new image engineering solution is ready, it could provide a more affordable option for handling large-scale image optimization needs.