Start building in weeks
A best-practice architecture and starter kit, pre-wired with pipelines, connectivity and security, ready at handover.
ZEdge · managed Vercel and WAF
Your front end on Vercel, run for you under one SLA.
ZEdge is front end as a service for Sitecore and Next.js. You keep the Vercel contract. Zyanta runs the pipelines, WAF and bot protection, caching, monitoring and cost tuning, so your team ships features instead of fixing the platform.
Next.jsSitecore AIWAF · bot · DDoSZero-downtime releases
Release · production
Zero-downtime deploy
- Front end built Done
- Sitecore content in sync Done
- WAF rules verified Done
- Live across regions Now
0 minDowntime during this release
Illustrative screen
Why a managed layer
A hosting platform keeps itself up. Nobody is watching whether your site is.
The platform SLA covers the platform. Your releases, your Sitecore connection, your cache strategy, your firewall rules and your monthly consumption are still yours to run, around the clock.
Ship any day, without downtime
Orchestrated releases across front end, back end and XM Cloud, backed by SLAs.
One channel for everything
From front end to back end, Sitecore AI to XP: one team owns the problem.
Managed WAF and security
Firewall rules that are tuned every week, by people who know how Sitecore behaves.
OWASP ruleset management
Managed rulesets and custom rules, tuned to cut false positives on Sitecore routes without opening gaps.
Bot and rate-limit control
Bot management and rate-limit rules that protect origin capacity and keep metered firewall requests in check.
DDoS readiness
Edge protection configured, monitored and rehearsed, with a named escalation path.
24×7 incident response
Alerts designed and answered by the Zyanta team, with P1 response and root-cause analysis.
Platform governance
Seats, roles and SSO, domains, environment and secret hygiene, and project standards.
Compliance reporting
ISO 27001-aligned operations evidence, monthly service reports, DR runbooks and an annual drill.
Compare the alternatives
Nineteen things a Sitecore front end needs. ZEdge includes all of them.
Pick a topic. Each row shows what you get with ZEdge, with a hosting platform run by your own team, and with a platform you build yourself.
Capability
ZEdgeManaged by Zyanta
Vercel or NetlifyRun by your team
Build it yourselfOn your own cloud
Next.js support
Included
Full support for Next.js solutions.
Included
Included.
You build it
Months of investment and trial and error.
Static and single-page apps
Included
Discrete single-page apps and static site storage, globally replicated.
Included
Included.
You build it
Extra cost to build.
API hosting
Included
Secure API hosting behind the firewall for your business and integration logic.
Partial
No discrete API layer; compute functions only.
You build it
Extra cost to build.
Sitecore AI connectivity
Included
Pre-built connectivity to Sitecore AI, with full key management.
Partial
Partial connectivity.
You build it
Extensive investment and trial and error.
DevOps pipelines
Included
Zero-downtime CI/CD tuned for Sitecore, productised and maintained, with hooks for your SAST and DAST.
Partial
Basic GitOps for the head only.
You build it
Months of DevOps investment.
Site preview
Included
Secured front-end previews bound to non-production Sitecore AI, so testers validate UI against real content.
Partial
Available; IP allow-listing costs extra.
Not possible
Not possible.
Front-end and back-end release orchestration
Included
One orchestrated release across rendering host, Sitecore AI and APIs, with no downtime.
Partial
Head only; no orchestration with XM Cloud deploys.
You build it
Extensive DevOps investment.
End-to-end starter kit
Included
Next.js starter with pipelines, connectivity and security pre-configured, ready on day one.
Partial
A Next.js starter only, without XM Cloud.
You build it
Your team glues samples together.
SLA across the whole ecosystem
Included
Availability SLAs from code deployment to end-user experience, with proactive site availability and managed cost to prevent overages.
Partial
Hosting platform availability only; nobody watches your site.
You build it
Two to four teams with difficult hand-offs.
On-demand ISR for Sitecore
Included
Pre-built for Sitecore, with near real-time publishing across the globe.
Partial
Capability exists; your developers build each implementation.
You build it
Built from the ground up.
Tuned Sitecore caching
Included
Finely tuned for Sitecore, including ongoing maintenance and optimisation.
Partial
Your developers configure and iterate.
You build it
Your developers configure and iterate.
WAF, bot and DDoS, with incident response
Included
Fully managed by Zyanta: rule coverage and incident response tuned to how Sitecore behaves.
Partial
Head only, and not managed by the vendor.
You build it
Your infrastructure team provisions it, at extra cost.
Compliance
Included
Across application, infrastructure, security and operations layers, under ISO 27001-certified delivery.
Partial
Head only, and not managed by the vendor.
You build it
Align to cloud best practice and certify yourself.
Monitoring
Included
Fully managed alerts, responded to by the Zyanta team.
Partial
Head only, and not managed by the vendor.
You build it
Additional tooling required.
Specialist SRE team
Included
Senior developers and infrastructure engineers with Sitecore and rendering-host skills.
Partial
Limited dedicated Sitecore knowledge.
You build it
General capability, no Sitecore knowledge.
Time to value
Included
Fast, because the implementation is productised and automated by one team.
Partial
Significant time getting the architecture right beyond a proof of concept.
You build it
Starting from zero.
Team structure
Included
One team for infrastructure, DevOps, security, application and Sitecore support liaison.
Partial
At least two vendors and one team.
You build it
At least three vendors and two teams.
Path from legacy Sitecore to SaaS
Included
One contract covering legacy Sitecore and headless SaaS side by side, for an iterative cutover.
Partial
Head only; cutover is hard to manage iteratively.
You build it
Multiple client teams across separate infrastructure.
Your own cloud tenant
Included
Available in your Azure tenant, keeping control of infrastructure, networking, policies and data residency.
Not available
Not available.
Custom build
A custom one-off platform you maintain yourself.
Zyanta's assessmentfor Sitecore headless sites, 2026. Platform features change; we confirm the current position in your review.
Cost
On Vercel Enterprise, unused commitment is lost and overage is billed on top.
Vercel meters Enterprise usage in Managed Infrastructure Units. Every page view is an edge request, every publish fans out ISR writes, and the firewall meters each inspected request. Tuning that consumption and right-sizing the commitment is a monthly discipline, and it is part of ZEdge.
ZEdge Essentials
~69%
lower total monthly cost in our model
- Platform administration and governance
- Business-hours monitoring and alerting
- Monthly usage and consumption report
- Quarterly review with a senior architect
ZEdge Professional · most popular
~37%
lower total monthly cost in our model
- Everything in Essentials
- Pipelines and release orchestration
- 24×7 monitoring and incident response
- WAF, bot and DDoS security management
- Performance and consumption engineering
ZEdge Enterprise
~22%
lower total monthly cost in our model
- Everything in Professional
- Sitecore and DXP integration support
- Compliance and reporting pack
- Named SRE lead and P1 SLA
- Annual DR drill and roadmap input
ModelledVercel Enterprise at benchmark pricing plus ZEdge, against an all-in managed front-end platform, August 2026. Your figure depends on your usage and contract.
Two ways to run it
On your Vercel contract, or inside your own Azure tenant.
ZEdge on Vercel. You own the Vercel relationship and contract directly. Zyanta runs it. No lock-in to Zyanta, and no re-platforming if you leave.
ZEdge in your Azure tenant. For organisations whose compliance rules require infrastructure, networking, policies and data residency to stay in their own tenant, with a SaaS-like managed experience.
Your choicedecided in the architecture review
Questions
What people ask about ZEdge.
What is ZEdge?
ZEdge is Zyanta's managed front-end service for Sitecore and Next.js sites. Zyanta runs the platform for you: zero-downtime pipelines, WAF, bot and DDoS protection, caching, monitoring, incident response and cost tuning, under one SLA and one team.
Does ZEdge run on Vercel?
Yes. With ZEdge managed Vercel you keep your own Vercel Enterprise contract and Zyanta runs it. There is no lock-in to Zyanta and no re-platforming if you leave. For organisations that must keep infrastructure in their own tenant, ZEdge is also available in your Azure tenant.
What does managed WAF include?
WAF, bot and DDoS rule tuning, OWASP ruleset management, rate-limit rules, and security incident response tuned to how Sitecore behaves. Rules are reviewed continuously rather than set once, and incidents are handled by the same team that runs your pipelines.
Why does a Vercel Enterprise site need active management?
Vercel Enterprise meters consumption in Managed Infrastructure Units. You commit to a monthly volume, unused commitment does not roll over, and overage is billed on top. Every page view is an edge request, every publish fans out ISR writes, and the firewall meters each inspected request, so untuned caching or a chatty revalidation strategy raises consumption with no visible benefit.
How is ZEdge different from using Vercel or Netlify on our own?
The hosting platform gives you availability of the platform itself. ZEdge adds what a Sitecore site still needs: orchestrated releases across front end, Sitecore and APIs, pre-built on-demand ISR and caching for Sitecore, managed security and monitoring, a specialist SRE team, and SLAs that cover your site, not only the platform.
How much does ZEdge cost?
Pricing depends on the tier and on your Vercel usage, so we quote after a short review. In Zyanta's own model at August 2026 benchmark prices, Vercel Enterprise plus ZEdge came out roughly 22 to 69 percent lower than an all-in managed front-end platform, depending on tier. That is a modelled comparison, not a guarantee.
Spend less time fixing
A front end that just works, so your team can get back to building.
Tell us your stack and your traffic. A senior architect will come back with a view on fit, tier and consumption.