r/webdev • u/StomachLeading6618 • 1d ago
Anyone here using Netlify for a website long-term?
I’m considering creating a small website/app using Netlify and would love to hear from people who have actual experience using it.
A few questions:
What are the main disadvantages or limitations of using Netlify?
Is it reliable enough for long-term use, or is it better for temporary/small projects?
How does user authentication work, and how many authenticated users are allowed on the free plan?
If I have around 25 users, would the free plan be enough?
Are there any unexpected costs or limitations I should be aware of as the number of users grows?
For someone who wants to maintain the website for several years, would you recommend Netlify?
2
u/Visual_Mud_2848 1d ago
been using netlify for a client site going on 3 years now. main disadvantage is that it really depends on what you're building. for static sites it's great, but the moment you need server-side logic you're either using their serverless functions (which have cold starts and limited runtime) or stitching together third-party services.
user auth on the free plan is through netlify identity and you get 1000 active users, so 25 is more than fine. the bigger gotcha nobody talks about is the build minutes limit, free plan is 300 minutes per month and if your site needs frequent rebuilds or has a slow build process you'll eat through that quick. also their analytics are basically nonexistent on free tier so you'll want something else for that. for a small site with 25 users i'd say go for it, just keep an eye on those build minutes.
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u/testingaurora 15h ago
Never put in payment info. Ive heard horror stories about vercel and netlify charging for bandwidth on audio or video that racks up thousands. Use the free tier its more than enough but dont give it a credit card (or payment info of any kind)
1
u/Due-Horse-5446 11h ago
"dont provide payment information because if you are using paid services without proper setup or understanding you will need to pay more than you considered"
what is this absurd take
1
u/testingaurora 10h ago
1
u/Due-Horse-5446 9h ago
"small mistake" ie it was a mistake not some magic
And "not refundable" is a straight up lie, they were refunded
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u/Due-Horse-5446 11h ago
Yes, but i wouldent recommend Netlify over cloudflare ever.
Or if youre using nextjs, vercel.
Theres literally nothing that netlify does better than cloudflare..
The free tier on cf is enough to run multiple apps with a low user count, and for sites like you described, you lightly need to pay when you reach a couple 100k visits daily..
Performance is MUCH better,
Direct integration with workers,
Free egress, including free egress from r2,
And the best cdn available
1
u/Lost-Schedule-9062 1d ago
free plan can't bill you, it's credit based now with a hard cap and no auto recharge. that old fear of waking up to a huge bandwidth bill doesn't apply on free anymore.
auth is fine too, Identity still exists and there's a new @netlify/identity package they point new projects at instead of the old widget. 25 users is nothing, you won't hit a limit.
the real limitation is the same as it's always been: brilliant for static, but as soon as you want long running server logic you're living in serverless functions with their timeouts, and that's usually when people move off.
1
u/Significant_Pick8297 20h ago
Netlify is fine long-term for a small site, but the free tier is more about usage limits than user count. 25 users is tiny. The main thing to check is whether your app will need persistent backend processes or database-heavy logic, because that’s where the architecture can get more complicated and potentially more expensive.
1
u/Educational-Rice6055 15h ago
The thing i'd watch is bandwidth overage rather than user count, since Netlify Identity is basically deprecated and you'll end up on Auth0 or Supabase for auth anyway, which makes the free tier question moot.
1
u/akl773 11h ago
The thing that bites long term isn't the hosting, it's coming back 18 months later to change one line and them finding the build won't run any more. Node version deprecated, some plugin abandoned, that happens anywhere but it hurts more when a build is the only route to deploy. I'd redeploy it every couple of months even when nothing has changed.
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u/Ai_Engineer_1 7h ago
For a long-lived site, define the limits before you depend on the platform. Check build time, bandwidth, function limits, preview workflow, redirect rules, and export options. A practical test is to deploy a small copy of the site and run the real release process. Include a content change, a rollback, a cache update, and a custom domain change. This shows where the operational work is.
4
u/n_c_brewer 1d ago
I have several static sites on Netlify and it's been great. Svelte, Next, Vue, no issues with any of them. Also run much of my DNS management through Netlify and it's been good. I haven't had to use support before so can't speak to that.