The easiest way to deploy Next.js to production is to use the **[Vercel platform](https://vercel.com)** from the creators of Next.js. [Vercel](https://vercel.com) is a cloud platform for static sites, hybrid apps, and Serverless Functions.
If you haven’t already done so, push your Next.js app to a Git provider of your choice: [GitHub](https://github.com/), [GitLab](https://gitlab.com/), or [BitBucket](https://bitbucket.org/). Your repository can be private or public.
2. After signing up, you’ll arrive on the [“Import Project”](https://vercel.com/new) page. Under “From Git Repository”, choose the Git provider you use and set up an integration. (Instructions: [GitHub](https://vercel.com/docs/git/vercel-for-github) / [GitLab](https://vercel.com/docs/git/vercel-for-gitlab) / [BitBucket](https://vercel.com/docs/git/vercel-for-bitbucket)).
3. Once that’s set up, click “Import Project From …” and import your Next.js app. It auto-detects that your app is using Next.js and sets up the build configuration for you. No need to change anything — everything should work just fine!
> If you’re using a [custom server](/docs/advanced-features/custom-server.md), we strongly recommend migrating away from it (for example, by using [dynamic routing](/docs/routing/dynamic-routes.md)). If you cannot migrate, consider [other hosting options](#other-hosting-options).
Let’s talk about the workflow we recommend using. [Vercel](https://vercel.com) supports what we call the **DPS** workflow: **D**evelop, **P**review, and **S**hip:
- **Develop:** Write code in Next.js. Keep the development server running and take advantage of [React Fast Refresh](https://nextjs.org/blog/next-9-4#fast-refresh).
- **Preview:** Every time you push changes to a branch on GitHub / GitLab / BitBucket, Vercel automatically creates a new deployment with a unique URL. You can view them on GitHub when you open a pull request, or under “Preview Deployments” on your project page on Vercel. [Learn more about it here](https://vercel.com/features/deployment-previews).
- **Ship:** When you’re ready to ship, merge the pull request to your default branch (e.g. `main`). Vercel will automatically create a production deployment.
By using the DPS workflow, in addition to doing _code reviews_, you can do _deployment previews_. Each deployment creates a unique URL that can be shared or used for integration tests.
- Every page can either use [Static Generation](/docs/basic-features/pages.md#static-generation) or [Server-Side Rendering](/docs/basic-features/pages.md#server-side-rendering).
- Pages that use [Static Generation](/docs/basic-features/pages.md#static-generation) and assets (JS, CSS, images, fonts, etc) will automatically be served from [Vercel's Edge Network](https://vercel.com/docs/edge-network/overview), which is blazingly fast.
- Pages that use [Server-Side Rendering](/docs/basic-features/pages.md#server-side-rendering) and [API routes](/docs/api-routes/introduction.md) will automatically become isolated Serverless Functions. This allows page rendering and API requests to scale infinitely.
- **Custom Domains:** Once deployed on [Vercel](https://vercel.com), you can assign a custom domain to your Next.js app. Take a look at [our documentation here](https://vercel.com/docs/custom-domains).
- **Environment Variables:** You can also set environment variables on Vercel. Take a look at [our documentation here](https://vercel.com/docs/environment-variables). You can then [use those environment variables](/docs/api-reference/next.config.js/environment-variables.md) in your Next.js app.
When you deploy your Next.js application, you want to see the latest version without needing to reload.
Next.js will automatically load the latest version of your application in the background when routing. For client-side navigation, `next/link` will temporarily function as a normal `<a>` tag.
If a new page (with an old version) has already been prefetched by `next/link`, Next.js will use the old version. Then, after either a full page refresh or multiple client-side transitions, Next.js will show the latest version.
Next.js can be deployed to any hosting provider that supports Node.js. This is the approach you should take if you’re using a [custom server](/docs/advanced-features/custom-server.md).
`next build` builds the production application in the `.next` folder. After building, `next start` starts a Node.js server that supports [hybrid pages](/docs/basic-features/pages.md), serving both statically generated and server-side rendered pages.
Next.js can be deployed to any hosting provider that supports [Docker](https://www.docker.com/) containers. You can use this approach when deploying to container orchestrators such as [Kubernetes](https://kubernetes.io/) or [HashiCorp Nomad](https://www.nomadproject.io/), or when running inside a single node in any cloud provider.
Here is a multi-stage `Dockerfile` using `node:alpine` that you can use:
```Dockerfile
# Install dependencies only when needed
FROM node:alpine AS deps
# Check https://github.com/nodejs/docker-node/tree/b4117f9333da4138b03a546ec926ef50a31506c3#nodealpine to understand why libc6-compat might be needed.
If you’d like to do a static HTML export of your Next.js app, follow the directions on [our documentation](/docs/advanced-features/static-html-export.md).