Comparison
Tensel vs Vercel
Choose Vercel if you need preview deployments on every pull request, a global edge network, or Next.js features like ISR and image optimization today. On frontend depth, Vercel is ahead.
Choose Tensel if your code and your invoices have to stay in Europe: applications run in Paris under a French company and EU law, billing is in euros with e-invoices, and a five-person team pays one flat plan instead of five seats.
What both do
- Push to a branch and it deploys, with automatic HTTPS and custom domains.
- Frameworks are detected and built without configuration.
- Deploy from the CLI without git, straight from a folder.
- Rollback to a previous deployment in one action.
- Applications can scale to zero, and a free tier exists.
The differences
| Dimension | Tensel | Vercel |
|---|---|---|
| Operating jurisdiction | French company under EU law; hosted on Scaleway in Paris | US company, subject to US law including the CLOUD Act |
| Where your app runs | One region: Paris. Backups, logs and platform data included | Global edge network; function compute in selectable regions, US East by default |
| Subprocessors | Public register; every subprocessor is European, the one optional US integration (GitHub) is disclosed | Documented; the platform runs on US hyperscaler infrastructure (AWS) |
| Billing | Euros, EU VAT handled, Factur-X e-invoices | USD, per seat plus usage |
| Team pricing | Team plan: €49/month, unlimited members, never per seat | Pro: $20 per member per month, before usage |
| Spend control | Customer-set hard limit (2× plan by default); at 100% a 24-hour grace applies and its usage is absorbed, not billed | Spend Management: notifications and an optional pause on Pro |
| Backends | Any HTTP server in a container: Node frameworks detected, Go, Python, Rust, PHP, Java, Ruby via buildpacks, Dockerfile when present | Serverless and edge functions; the platform is built around frontend frameworks |
| Preview environments | No preview environments | A preview deployment on every pull request. Vercel is ahead here |
| Managed databases | No managed databases; bring your own via environment variables | Through marketplace partners (Neon, Upstash…) |
| Static sites | Detected automatically, served from a European CDN, never billed | Served from the global edge; bandwidth beyond the included quota is metered |
| Free tier | Free plan; a free organisation is never billed. There is no path from Free to an invoice | Hobby plan, for personal and non-commercial use |
| Rollback | One click, to the exact image of any earlier deployment | Instant rollback to a previous deployment |
| Agents | Eleven agent skills ship in the CLI package; skills hold no credentials; /llms.txt published | AI developer products (AI SDK, AI Gateway); no shipped agent skills for operating the platform |
Where Vercel is ahead
- Preview deployments on every pull request.
- A global edge network, and Next.js-specific machinery: ISR, image optimization, edge middleware. A Next.js app on Tensel runs as a standard server or a static export; those features do not carry over.
- Breadth of marketplace integrations and templates.
- Multi-region compute and a published SLA on Enterprise.
Where Tensel is ahead
- Jurisdiction and data location: a French company, one documented region in Paris, every subprocessor European.
- Team cost: €49 flat with unlimited members against $20 per seat.
- Billing you can defend to an accountant: euros, EU VAT, Factur-X e-invoices, and history kept at the prices of its time.
- A hard spend limit, and a grace period we absorb. The bill stops at the number you set.
- Backends beyond functions: a plain Express, Django or Go server runs unmodified in a container.
- Static sites are never billed, on any plan.
The price for a team of five
- Tensel Team
- €49/monthunlimited members, €49 of usage included
- Vercel Pro, five members
- $100/month$20 × 5 seats, before usage
Public prices as checked on 24 August 2026, excluding tax. Dollar amounts depend on the exchange rate and do not include usage.
Frequently asked questions
Can I move a Next.js app from Vercel?
Yes. Next.js is detected and built without configuration. It runs as a standard Node server in a container, or as a static export on the edge. ISR, image optimization and edge middleware are Vercel machinery and do not carry over. If your app depends on them, stay on Vercel.
Does Tensel have preview deployments?
No. Each environment tracks one branch, and you can create as many environments as your plan allows. A staging environment per long-lived branch works today; previews per pull request do not exist yet.
What actually changes for my data?
On Tensel your application, its builds, images, logs and the platform's own data are hosted in Paris by a French company under EU law, with every subprocessor European and documented. GitHub remains optional and disclosed. We do not claim immunity from any law; we document exactly who can touch what.
Comparison built on 24 August 2026 from Vercel's public documentation. Spotted something out of date? Write to contact@tensel.eu and we will correct it. Trademarks belong to their owners; Vercel is not a partner of or affiliated with Tensel.