Deploy Your FastAPI App for Free on Vercel in Minutes

Want to deploy your Python FastAPI application quickly and for free? Let me show you how to get your API live on Vercel in just a few minutes. No complex DevOps knowledge required!

Source: https://www.simplilearn.com/ice9/free_resources_article_thumb/FastAPI_b.jpg

Table of Contents

• What You'll Need

• Step-by-Step Deployment Guide

  • 1. Set Up Your FastAPI Project

  • 2. Add Dependencies

  • 3. Configure Vercel

  • 4. Deploy to Vercel

• Troubleshooting Tip

• Why Vercel?

• Next Steps

Want to deploy your Python FastAPI application quickly and for free? Let me show you how to get your API live on Vercel in just a few minutes. No complex DevOps knowledge required!

What You'll Need

• A basic FastAPI application

• Node.js installed on your machine

• A free Vercel account

Step-by-Step Deployment Guide

1. Set Up Your FastAPI Project

First, create a minimal FastAPI application structure:

.
├── api 
│   └── main.py
├── requirements.txt
└── vercel.json

In your main.py, create a basic health check endpoint:

from fastapi import FastAPI

app = FastAPI()

@app.get("/")
async def health_check():
    return {"message": "Health check successful"}

2. Add Dependencies

Create a requirements.txt file with these essential packages:

fastapi
uvicorn

3. Configure Vercel

Create a vercel.json configuration file:

{
    "builds": [
        {
            "source": "api/main.py",
            "use": "@vercel/python"
        }
    ],
    "routes": [
        {
            "source": "/(.*)",
            "destination": "api/main.py"
        }
    ]
}

4. Deploy to Vercel

1. Install Vercel CLI:

npm i -g vercel

2. Login to Vercel through CLI:

vercel login

3. Deploy your app:

vercel .

During deployment, Vercel will ask you a few questions:

• Set up and deploy? → Yes

• Select scope (your account)

• Link to existing project? → No

• Project name → Choose or accept default

• Directory location → Enter (root directory)

Troubleshooting Tip

If you encounter deployment issues, try:

1. Go to your project settings in Vercel dashboard

2. Scroll to "Node.js Version"

3. Change it to 18.x

4. Redeploy using vercel .

Why Vercel?

• Zero Cost: The hobby tier is completely free

• Quick Deployment: Deploy with just a few clicks

• Auto-Scaling: Handles traffic spikes automatically

• Global CDN: Fast response times worldwide

• Easy Updates: Push changes with a simple CLI command

Next Steps

Once your API is live, you can:

• Add more endpoints

• Set up environment variables

• Configure custom domains

• Enable automatic deployments from GitHub

Remember, this is just the beginning. FastAPI on Vercel gives you a robust foundation to build powerful APIs without worrying about infrastructure management.

Happy coding! 🚀