Overview
Vercel and Netlify are the two most popular deployment platforms for AI-generated frontend applications. Both provide CDN, serverless functions, automatic HTTPS, and CI/CD. Their security features are broadly similar, with differences in specific controls and pricing tiers.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Vercel | Netlify |
|---|---|---|
| HTTPS | Automatic | Automatic |
| Edge functions | Yes | Yes |
| WAF | Enterprise plan | Not built-in |
| DDoS protection | Yes | Yes |
| Preview protection | Deployment Protection | Password protection |
| Headers config | vercel.json / next.config | netlify.toml / _headers |
| Environment vars | Dashboard + CLI | Dashboard + CLI |
| SOC 2 | Yes | Yes |
Security Analysis
Vercel security features: Automatic HTTPS with HSTS. Deployment Protection for preview URLs. Edge Middleware for auth checks. Environment variable encryption. DDoS protection. SOC 2 Type II compliant. Web Application Firewall on Enterprise plans.
Netlify security features: Automatic HTTPS with HSTS. Password-protected previews. Serverless functions for secure backend logic. Environment variable encryption. DDoS protection. SOC 2 Type II compliant. Role-based access control for team deployments.
Both platforms: Provide solid infrastructure security. Application-level security (auth, input validation, access control) remains the developer’s responsibility. Neither platform prevents insecure AI-generated code from being deployed.
Verdict
Both platforms provide comparable infrastructure security. Vercel has a slight edge for Next.js applications with better Edge Middleware integration and Deployment Protection. Netlify offers more flexibility for non-Next.js frameworks. The platform choice should be based on framework support and workflow preference – application-level security is identical on both.