If you’re reading this, you’re already on the new version of my blog. This week I finally moved the site from GitHub Pages to Vercel. Same content, same URLs — but now with a much smoother workflow.
Why leave GitHub Pages?
GitHub Pages is great for static hosting — it’s free, reliable, and deeply integrated with your repos. But after a year of using it, I started hitting a few limitations:
- Builds are locked to Jekyll – yes, you can use custom actions, but it’s not as seamless as a platform built for modern frontend.
- No built‑in preview deployments – every change goes straight to production unless you set up complex workflows.
- SSL certificates work, but they’re not automatic for custom domains (I had to renew mine manually last month – annoying).
- No serverless functions – I don’t need them now, but maybe later I’ll want a tiny API or a contact form.
So I started looking for alternatives, and Vercel kept coming up in every conversation.
Why Vercel won
Vercel is essentially “GitHub Pages on steroids”. Here’s what sold me:
- Instant Git integration – connected my repo, and it auto‑detected the static files. One click and the site was live.
- Preview for every PR – now when I write a draft post, I get a unique URL to share before merging. Huge for proofreading.
- Automatic SSL + CDN – certificates are managed for you, and the edge network is fast everywhere.
- Analytics (optional) – privacy‑friendly, no cookie banner needed.
- It’s free for personal projects – exactly like GitHub Pages, but with more features.
The migration took less than 15 minutes — and that includes setting up my custom domain again.
What about the domain?
I kept the same yrashka.dev (or .github.io redirect? you can adjust this line).
Vercel makes it trivial to add a custom domain, and the DNS change propagated in about 10 minutes.
No downtime, no broken links.
Is there any downside?
Honestly, not really. If you’re hosting a simple static site, both platforms are excellent. GitHub Pages is simpler (just push and it’s live), but Vercel gives you so much more flexibility for almost zero extra complexity.
The only “downside” I can think of: you lose the .github.io subdomain branding, but that’s a small price for preview deployments and serverless readiness.
What’s next?
Now that the infrastructure is more modern, I plan to:
- Add a tiny “like” button using a Vercel Edge Function
- Experiment with MDX (embedding interactive components in posts)
- Keep writing, obviously 😄
If you’re on the fence about switching, I’d say go for it — you can always move back. But I doubt you’ll want to.