Vercel owns the runtime. You do not get a Docker host, a database on your VPS, or a say in which machine the work runs on. Nearzero is the control plane for that job — on servers you already pay for.
These are the jobs Vercel does not give you.
Node, Python, Go, PHP, Ruby, Postgres, Redis, and Compose stay on Linux you control. Not inside a Functions runtime.
Keep work on the control-plane host, or add another Linux box over SSH and place each service there.
Traefik and Let's Encrypt terminate HTTPS on the selected host. Optional CoreDNS writes the A record to that IP.
It can read deploys, logs, domains, and servers. Production writes stay off until an administrator turns that gate on.
Read the competitor column as what you give up — not as a feature list for them.
| Area | Nearzero | Vercel | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where workloads run | Linux servers you operate | Vercel-managed runtime and edge | You keep the box. They keep the box. |
| Docker, Compose, databases | Apps, images, Compose, Swarm, and data services | OCI images run as Vercel Functions | A Functions container is not a Docker host you administer. |
| Server placement | Local host or connected remote VPS | No host for you to choose | Nearzero places the service. Vercel abstracts the fleet away. |
| Domains and HTTPS | Traefik on the selected server, optional CoreDNS | Traffic ends on Vercel infrastructure | Your hostname should reach the machine that runs the app. |
| Agent | Operates your deploys, logs, and servers under policy | Works inside Vercel’s code and managed runtime | Nearzero’s Agent is for infrastructure you run, not their platform. |
| Who patches the server | You. That is the point of owning it. | Vercel. You do not get the host. | Control and operations stay together. |
Control stays on the host. Nearzero builds, deploys, and routes.
A Nearzero deploy is a container on a host you select, patch, back up, and pay for. It does not become a slice of someone else’s edge.
Postgres, Redis, volumes, and Compose stacks sit on the same operating model as the application. You do not split “the site” onto Vercel and “the database” somewhere else.
Add another Linux VPS over SSH. Point the domain at that host. Public traffic never has to bounce through the control plane.
Mutations need the requesting user’s RBAC, administrator-controlled per-action policy, and a separate production gate that starts disabled.
Short answers for why this control plane belongs on your servers.
No. Nearzero is for teams that need a Docker host, databases, and Compose on machines they operate. It does not replace Vercel’s global CDN.
No. You deploy into their runtime. Nearzero installs on a Linux VPS you already have, then deploys onto that host or others you add.
Yes. Applications, Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, Redis, libSQL, Docker Compose, and Swarm all run on the selected server.
No. It can read project state and logs. Production writes stay off until an administrator turns that gate on, and even then the user’s role and action policy still apply.
Yes. You patch, back up, and size the server. Nearzero builds, deploys, and routes. That is how you keep the infrastructure.
Thirty minutes against the hosts, DNS, and Compose you actually run.
Bring what you run today. We will say when Nearzero is the wrong install.
A working session, not a pitch deck.
Own the host first. Then put the control plane on it.
Dedicated Linux host, DNS, HTTPS, and the first deploy.
Vercel, Netlify, Coolify, and Dokploy — what they do not give you.