# ZEdge: managed Vercel and WAF for Sitecore and Next.js

ZEdge is the managed front-end service of Zyanta Digital Solutions LLP. Canonical page: https://www.zyanta.com/cloud/zedge/

You keep your Vercel Enterprise contract. Zyanta runs it: zero-downtime pipelines, WAF, bot and DDoS protection, Sitecore caching and on-demand ISR, monitoring, incident response and cost tuning, under one SLA. ZEdge is also available in your own Azure tenant.

## Managed WAF and security

- OWASP ruleset management and custom rule tuning
- Bot management and rate-limit rules
- DDoS readiness
- 24x7 alert response, P1 response and root-cause analysis
- Platform governance: seats, roles, SSO, secrets
- ISO 27001-aligned evidence and monthly reports

## Comparison

| Capability | ZEdge (managed by Zyanta) | Vercel or Netlify, run by your team | Build it yourself |
|---|---|---|---|
| Next.js support | Full support for Next.js solutions. | Included. | Months of investment and trial and error. |
| Static and single-page apps | Discrete single-page apps and static site storage, globally replicated. | Included. | Extra cost to build. |
| API hosting | Secure API hosting behind the firewall for your business and integration logic. | No discrete API layer; compute functions only. | Extra cost to build. |
| Sitecore AI connectivity | Pre-built connectivity to Sitecore AI, with full key management. | Partial connectivity. | Extensive investment and trial and error. |
| DevOps pipelines | Zero-downtime CI/CD tuned for Sitecore, productised and maintained, with hooks for your SAST and DAST. | Basic GitOps for the head only. | Months of DevOps investment. |
| Site preview | Secured front-end previews bound to non-production Sitecore AI, so testers validate UI against real content. | Available; IP allow-listing costs extra. | Not possible. |
| Front-end and back-end release orchestration | One orchestrated release across rendering host, Sitecore AI and APIs, with no downtime. | Head only; no orchestration with XM Cloud deploys. | Extensive DevOps investment. |
| End-to-end starter kit | Next.js starter with pipelines, connectivity and security pre-configured, ready on day one. | A Next.js starter only, without XM Cloud. | Your team glues samples together. |
| SLA across the whole ecosystem | Availability SLAs from code deployment to end-user experience, with proactive site availability and managed cost to prevent overages. | Hosting platform availability only; nobody watches your site. | Two to four teams with difficult hand-offs. |
| On-demand ISR for Sitecore | Pre-built for Sitecore, with near real-time publishing across the globe. | Capability exists; your developers build each implementation. | Built from the ground up. |
| Tuned Sitecore caching | Finely tuned for Sitecore, including ongoing maintenance and optimisation. | Your developers configure and iterate. | Your developers configure and iterate. |
| WAF, bot and DDoS, with incident response | Fully managed by Zyanta: rule coverage and incident response tuned to how Sitecore behaves. | Head only, and not managed by the vendor. | Your infrastructure team provisions it, at extra cost. |
| Compliance | Across application, infrastructure, security and operations layers, under ISO 27001-certified delivery. | Head only, and not managed by the vendor. | Align to cloud best practice and certify yourself. |
| Monitoring | Fully managed alerts, responded to by the Zyanta team. | Head only, and not managed by the vendor. | Additional tooling required. |
| Specialist SRE team | Senior developers and infrastructure engineers with Sitecore and rendering-host skills. | Limited dedicated Sitecore knowledge. | General capability, no Sitecore knowledge. |
| Time to value | Fast, because the implementation is productised and automated by one team. | Significant time getting the architecture right beyond a proof of concept. | Starting from zero. |
| Team structure | One team for infrastructure, DevOps, security, application and Sitecore support liaison. | At least two vendors and one team. | At least three vendors and two teams. |
| Path from legacy Sitecore to SaaS | One contract covering legacy Sitecore and headless SaaS side by side, for an iterative cutover. | Head only; cutover is hard to manage iteratively. | Multiple client teams across separate infrastructure. |
| Your own cloud tenant | Available in your Azure tenant, keeping control of infrastructure, networking, policies and data residency. | Not available. | A custom one-off platform you maintain yourself. |

This is Zyanta's assessment for Sitecore headless sites in 2026.

## Cost

Vercel Enterprise meters usage in Managed Infrastructure Units; unused monthly commitment does not roll over and overage is billed on top. In Zyanta's model at August 2026 benchmark prices, Vercel Enterprise plus ZEdge was about 69% (Essentials), 37% (Professional) and 22% (Enterprise) lower than an all-in managed front-end platform. Modelled, not a quote.

## Questions and answers

### 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.

Contact: https://www.zyanta.com/cloud/zedge/#contact