How to Bypass Vercel's Free-Tier Deployment Limits Using GitHub Actions

Have you ever felt the frustration of hitting deployment limits on Vercel's free tier? You're not alone! Many developers face this hurdle, especially when working in collaborative teams. But fear not—there's a practical solution that can help you regain control over your deployments. Let's dive in!

Introduction

Vercel's free tier is fantastic for small projects, but it comes with a catch: only the account owner can deploy directly to production. This limitation can really slow down your team's workflow, forcing everyone to rely on a single person for deployments. Talk about a bottleneck!

Understanding the Problem

Imagine this: your team is ready to push a critical update, but the designated deployer is busy or unavailable. Suddenly, your project is stuck, and deadlines loom. This scenario is all too common, and it can lead to frustration and missed opportunities.

Exploring the Solution: GitHub Actions

Enter GitHub Actions—a flexible and secure alternative for deploying to Vercel. With GitHub Actions, you can trigger deployments directly from your repository, allowing your team to collaborate more effectively without the overhead of waiting for one person to handle everything.

Implementation Overview

Here's how to implement manual deployments using GitHub Actions. Trust me, it's easier than it sounds!

1. Create Your GitHub Action Workflow

Start by creating a new file in your repository under .github/workflows/deploy.yml. This is where the magic happens. Here's a basic template to get you started:

name: Deploy to Vercel

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      git-ref:
        description: 'Branch or tag to deploy (e.g., main, v1.0.0)'
        required: true
        default: 'main'
        type: string
      environment:
        description: 'Environment to deploy to'
        required: true
        type: choice
        options:
          - production
        default: 'production'

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: ${{ inputs.environment }}
    
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          ref: ${{ inputs.git-ref }}
      
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'
          
      - name: Install Dependencies
        run: npm ci
        
      - name: Install Vercel CLI
        run: npm install --global vercel@latest
        
      - name: Deploy to Vercel
        env:
          VERCEL_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }}
          VERCEL_PROJECT_ID: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_PROJECT_ID }}
          VERCEL_ORG_ID: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_ORG_ID }}
        run: |
          if [ "${{ inputs.environment }}" = "production" ]; then
            vercel deploy --prod --token=$VERCEL_TOKEN
          else
            vercel deploy --token=$VERCEL_TOKEN
          fi 

2. Set Up Your Secrets

Before you can deploy, you'll need to set up some secrets in your GitHub repository. Here's what you need:

3. Trigger Your Deployment

Now that everything is set up, you can trigger your deployment manually from the GitHub Actions tab in your repository. Just select the workflow you created and hit "Run workflow." Voilà! Your deployment is on its way.

Quick Demo

Want to see this in action? Here's a quick demo of triggering deployments using GitHub Actions:

This demo shows you how to:

• Navigate to your GitHub Actions workflow
• Trigger a manual deployment
• Select your branch and environment
• Monitor the deployment progress

Benefits

By using GitHub Actions, you unlock several benefits:

• Improved Team Collaboration: Everyone can deploy without waiting for the account owner
• Flexibility: Deploy branches or tags as needed
• Secure Management: Keep your deployment secrets safe with GitHub
• Scalability: Easily adapt your workflow as your project grows

Conclusion

Integrating GitHub Actions with Vercel is a straightforward solution to overcome the deployment restrictions of Vercel's free tier. This approach not only enhances your team's productivity but also streamlines your deployment processes. So, what are you waiting for? Give it a try and take control of your deployments today!