Does Vercel satisfy UK GDPR requirements for NHS applications?

Vercel's UK GDPR position: Vercel is a US company with EU edge nodes and a GDPR DPA. For NHS applications with patient data (Article 9 special category): ClickMasters does not recommend Vercel as the primary hosting platform — patient data would be processed by a US-headquartered third party, and NHS assessors prefer data to remain within the NHS application's AWS account. For NHS marketing sites (no patient data): Vercel is acceptable with a signed GDPR DPA. ClickMasters uses OpenNext on AWS CloudFront for all NHS patient-facing applications and Vercel for non-regulated developer tools and documentation sites.

What is OpenNext and how does it deploy Next.js to AWS?

OpenNext is an open-source adapter that makes Next.js deployable to AWS without Vercel. OpenNext components: (1) Lambda@Edge (server-side rendering — Server Components and dynamic routes), (2) CloudFront distribution (CDN — serves static assets from S3 and dynamic routes from Lambda@Edge), (3) S3 (static assets — images, CSS, JS), (4) SQS + Lambda (ISR revalidation — incremental static regeneration without Vercel's infrastructure). SST (Serverless Stack) is the most mature OpenNext deployment framework for AWS. ClickMasters uses SST + OpenNext on all Next.js projects deployed to AWS — the same infrastructure approach as CloudFront for non-Next.js applications.

Vercel Vs Netlify Vs Aws Cloudfront Uk 2026

Vercel vs Netlify vs AWS CloudFront (OpenNext) — UK Frontend Hosting (2026)

Updated: January 20269 min read

🇬🇧 UK💷 GBP📊 Comparison🔒 UK GDPR⚖️ UK Law

Direct Answer

AWS CloudFront via OpenNext is the right choice for NHS, FCA, and GDS regulated UK applications — UK data residency confirmed, no third-party data processor required, and integrates with existing AWS account. Vercel is right for non-regulated UK applications where developer experience matters most and the team wants zero infrastructure management. Netlify is right for simpler sites where Vercel's Next.js-specific optimisations are not needed. Frontend hosting choice affects UK GDPR data residency, Cyber Essentials scope, and Core Web Vitals performance.

Factor	AWS CloudFront (OpenNext)	Vercel	Netlify
UK GDPR data residency	✅ eu-west-2 + eu-west-1 edge — confirmed UK/EU	Global CDN — EU edge available, US-processed	Global CDN — US-based processing
NHS / FCA regulated	✅ Best — same AWS account, no third party	Article 28 DPA required	Article 28 DPA required
Cyber Essentials scope	✅ Within existing AWS account — no new vendor	New vendor in scope	New vendor in scope
Next.js App Router support	✅ OpenNext (SST) — full App Router on Lambda	✅ Native — Vercel built Next.js	✅ Good — Netlify Next.js adapter
Zero infrastructure config	More config (SST deployment, CloudFront)	✅ Zero — git push to deploy	✅ Near zero
Cost (medium traffic)	✅ Cheapest at scale — Lambda + CloudFront pricing	Expensive at scale (Pro plan + usage)	Moderate
Preview deployments	Via SST PR environments	✅ Best — per-PR preview URLs native	✅ Good
ClickMasters default	✅ All NHS, FCA, GDS regulated	Non-regulated startup / SaaS MVP	Simple sites, non-regulated