Vercel announced the general availability of Edge Functions, which are JavaScript, TypeScript or WebAssembly functions. According to the company, these functions are typically cheaper and faster than traditional Serverless Functions.

The new version of Edge Runtime is on average more performant and more cost-effective than Serverless Functions. Edge Functions are deployed globally across our Edge Network and can be automatically executed in the region closest to the user who triggers them. They also have no cold start, which means they don’t need extra startup time before executing your code.

How Edge features work
Edge Functions use Vercel’s Edge Runtime, which is built on the same high-performance V8 JavaScript and WebAssembly engine used by the Chrome browser.

Using the V8 engines allows Edge Functions to run in isolated runtime environments that don’t require a container or virtual machine. This limits the Edge Runtime in many ways, but also keeps it lightweight. Running an Edge Function process requires fewer resources than a Serverless Function, effectively eliminating cold boot time.

Delivering dynamic content with low latency is possible because all Edge Functions are duplicated and deployed across a global network of data centers in Vercel’s Edge Network. They can be triggered in whichever data center is closest to the user, or in a region near your databases. You can also deliver custom content to them based on their region at high speed.

Finally, Edge Functions are billed in units of 50 ms of CPU time per invocation, called performance units. Developers interested in trying Edge Function can have 500,000 units per month through the hobby plan. In comparison, professional and enterprise teams have 1 million monthly Edge Function runtime units included for free and can add additional usage.