Code hosting, deployment and dev tools.
Developer tools & hosting: build, buy or switch?
2 tools compared on 3-year cost, cheaper options and risk. Prices checked October 2026.
| Tool | Verdict | From | Buy, 3 yrs | Build, 3 yrs | Cheapest option |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub | BUY | $4/seat/mo | $720 | $2,641 | GitLab (free) |
| Vercel | SWITCH | $20/seat/mo | $2,160 | $4,705 | Cloudflare Pages (free) |
3-year costs use each tool’s typical plan and team size and $30/hour for your time. Open a tool to change them.
GitHub
Developer tools & hosting
Buy it, or stay on Free. GitHub costs $4 a user, and hosting your own code server costs more in your time.
- Buy, 3 yrs
- $720
- Build, 3 yrs
- $2,641
Vercel
Developer tools & hosting
Switch to Cloudflare Pages or Netlify. Cloudflare has a free plan and Netlify Pro is $20 flat for the whole team, against $20 per developer on Vercel.
- Buy, 3 yrs
- $2,160
- Build, 3 yrs
- $4,705
Paying for more than one of these?
Stack Scan spots tools that do the same job and shows what you’d save by keeping one.
Verdict key: BUILD = Build it · BUY = Buy it · HYBRID = Hybrid · SWITCH = Switch. How we score.