Laravel Vapor Pricing 2026: Costs, AWS Bills, and Alternatives

Laravel Vapor pricing starts at $39 per month or $399 per year for unlimited projects, plus the cost of AWS infrastructure. A free Sandbox plan is also available. However, there's an important change in 2026: Vapor's official website now says it is no longer accepting new signups.

If you're a new customer, you can't sign up for Vapor. If you're already running applications on it, your subscription is only one part of the total cost. AWS infrastructure can make up a significant share of your monthly bill.

Consider Daniel, a solo developer who moved a small SaaS application to Vapor. He budgeted $39 per month for the platform. His first AWS invoice added another $48, including $32 for a NAT Gateway he hadn't knowingly created. His application was working as expected, but the infrastructure costs were higher than he anticipated.

Serverless infrastructure can scale automatically, but that doesn't mean it is always cheap. This guide explains Vapor's pricing, breaks down estimated AWS costs for two application sizes, compares Vapor with Forge, and explores the alternatives available in 2026.

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Key Takeaways

• Vapor costs $39/month or $399/year for unlimited projects and deployments. AWS infrastructure is billed separately by Amazon.

• Vapor is closed to new signups. Existing applications can continue running, while new projects need another hosting option.

• A NAT Gateway can add around $32/month before data processing charges, depending on the AWS region and configuration.

• A small application could cost around $87/month in the illustrative example below. A growing SaaS application could exceed $200/month.

• Laravel Cloud starts at $5/month plus usage, while Forge starts at $12/month plus server costs. Actual savings depend on your application's workload and infrastructure requirements.

Laravel Vapor Pricing Plans in 2026

Vapor separates the platform subscription from infrastructure costs. You pay Laravel for the deployment platform and Amazon Web Services (AWS) for the resources your application uses.

Every plan carries the same important condition on the official Vapor website: the price does not include AWS cloud costs. You connect your own AWS account, and Amazon bills you for the infrastructure you use.

Is Laravel Vapor still available?

For existing customers, Vapor remains usable. For new customers, signups are closed.

The official Vapor homepage states that it is no longer accepting new signups and directs users toward information about moving to Laravel Cloud.

According to reporting from September 2026, Laravel closed signups on September 23 and said it did not plan to shut down the platform for existing customers. Bug fixes continue, while new development is focused on Laravel Cloud.

This changes how you should approach Laravel Vapor pricing. For most new projects, the question is no longer whether to buy Vapor. It's whether an existing Vapor deployment is still worth its total cost.

What Does Laravel Vapor Really Cost? Understanding the AWS Bill

The $39 subscription is predictable. Your AWS bill depends on your application's traffic, compute requirements, database configuration, and networking.

Here are the main costs to understand.

Lambda compute

Your web requests, queue workers, and scheduled commands can run on AWS Lambda.

According to AWS Lambda pricing, the standard request charge is $0.20 per million requests, plus $0.0000166667 per GB-second of compute. The eligible free tier includes one million requests and 400,000 GB-seconds per month.

Small applications may stay within these allowances. Busier applications can incur additional charges.

API Gateway or load balancer

HTTP requests pass through a routing layer before reaching Lambda. Your choice of routing option affects the total bill.

Laravel's comparison of Vapor routing options explains the trade-offs.

• API Gateway v1: The article's reference rate is $3.50 per million requests.

• API Gateway v2: The reference rate is $1.00 per million requests, with different feature support.

• Application Load Balancer: Uses hourly and usage-based pricing, which may be more economical for some high-traffic workloads.

Many existing applications may still use API Gateway v1 because of their original configuration. Where supported, changing to API Gateway v2 may reduce routing costs significantly. Check the current pricing and feature limitations before making the change.

The NAT Gateway surprise

A NAT Gateway is an infrastructure cost that can catch developers off guard.

According to Vapor's network documentation, applications using private databases or cache clusters may require a NAT Gateway. Vapor can create the required networking resources during deployment.

NAT Gateways incur hourly charges, with data processing billed separately. The article's reference estimate is approximately $32 per month for the gateway itself.

Depending on your security and networking requirements, alternatives may include using a publicly accessible RDS database or Vapor's DynamoDB cache. These choices have different trade-offs, so evaluate them before changing your configuration.

Database, cache, and other AWS costs

RDS is often another significant expense.

The article uses an estimated monthly price of around $12 for a small MySQL db.t4g.micro instance in US East, before storage. Actual costs depend on the region, instance configuration, storage, and pricing model.

Other services can add to the total:

• ElastiCache for caching

• SQS for queues

• S3 for file storage

• CloudFront for content delivery

• CloudWatch for logs and monitoring

• Data transfer and other networking charges

Individually, these charges may appear small. Together, they can make a meaningful difference to your monthly infrastructure bill.

Laravel Vapor Cost Examples: Two Estimated Monthly Bills

The following examples illustrate how a Vapor subscription and AWS usage can combine. They use the assumptions and reference rates described above for the US East region.

These are estimates, not actual customer invoices. They exclude taxes, data transfer, S3, CloudFront, and CloudWatch, which may add further costs.

Example 1: Small SaaS or side project

Assumptions: 500,000 requests per month, Lambda usage within the free tier, API Gateway v1, and a private db.t4g.micro database.

In this example, the NAT Gateway costs almost as much as the Vapor subscription itself.

Using a publicly accessible database could reduce the estimated bill to around $55 per month, but you would need to assess the implications for network isolation and security.

Example 2: Growing SaaS application

Assumptions: 10 million requests per month, an average execution time of 250 milliseconds, 1,024 MB of Lambda memory, API Gateway v1, and a database budget of approximately $60 per month.

Switching to API Gateway v2 could reduce the estimated routing cost by around $25 per month under these assumptions. Existing Vapor users should check whether the alternative is compatible with their requirements before changing configurations.

Consider Priya, who runs a scheduling SaaS with a team of three. In August 2026, her team's monthly Vapor-related costs rose from $140 to $230 after a marketing campaign. The increase wasn't driven by Lambda alone. API Gateway v1 charges and a second NAT Gateway associated with a staging environment contributed to the higher bill.

After reviewing the configuration and removing unnecessary infrastructure, the team brought its costs back below $170 per month.

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Laravel Vapor vs. Forge: Which Is Cheaper?

Vapor and Forge solve different hosting problems.

Vapor manages serverless AWS resources. Forge helps you provision and manage servers that you rent from a cloud or VPS provider.

According to the Laravel Forge pricing page, Forge plans include features such as unlimited sites, unlimited deployments, and zero-downtime deployments. You still need to pay for the server itself.

For many small and medium-sized applications, Forge can be cheaper because a single server gives you a more predictable infrastructure bill. You avoid Vapor-specific per-request routing costs and the NAT Gateway charges associated with certain configurations.

However, a server still has to be sized and maintained appropriately. Traffic spikes, resource limits, backups, monitoring, and scaling can all affect your total cost.

Vapor may be a better fit for applications with highly unpredictable traffic, especially when maintaining enough server capacity for occasional peaks would be inefficient.

For more information on releasing applications without downtime, see our guide to Laravel zero-downtime deployment.

Laravel Vapor Alternatives in 2026

Since Vapor is no longer accepting new signups, new Laravel projects need another option. Three alternatives worth considering are Laravel Cloud, Laravel Forge, and Bref.

Laravel Cloud

Laravel Cloud is Laravel's managed application hosting platform and the main destination for users exploring a move away from Vapor.

The Laravel Cloud pricing page lists the following plans in the pricing information referenced by this article:

• Starter: $5/month plus usage, with $5 in monthly credit and a free first month.

• Growth: $20/month plus usage, with autoscaling up to 10 replicas.

• Business: $200/month plus usage.

• Enterprise: Custom pricing.

Cloud can scale applications to zero when idle, and its spending controls can help manage compute costs. Laravel's estimator has placed an MVP SaaS application at approximately $34 per month and an always-on production application at around $176 per month.

Laravel has also reported savings of up to 50% for some Vapor migrations. Treat that as a vendor-reported figure, not a guaranteed saving for every application.

For a detailed breakdown, read our Laravel Cloud pricing guide.

Laravel Forge

Forge is a good option when you want more control over your infrastructure and prefer a server-based hosting model.

The pricing referenced in this article lists Hobby at $12/month and Growth at $19/month. You then rent a server from a supported provider and pay its infrastructure costs separately.

Forge is worth considering for side projects, production applications with predictable traffic, and teams that want control over their server configuration.

Bref

Bref is an open-source framework for running PHP applications on AWS Lambda.

It allows you to use a serverless architecture without paying for a Vapor subscription. In exchange, you'll need to handle more of the configuration and infrastructure management yourself.

Bref may suit developers who want serverless deployment and are comfortable working directly with AWS.

Not sure which platform fits your needs? Our Laravel Cloud vs. Forge vs. Vapor comparison explains the trade-offs across different team sizes and traffic patterns.

Consider Marcus, an agency developer whose client wanted a new booking portal on Vapor, just like its existing applications. Because new signups were closed, he priced the project on Laravel Cloud Growth instead. The estimate came in below the client's existing Vapor costs, and the team could consolidate its hosting around a different platform.

Should You Stay on Vapor?

Staying on Vapor may make sense if:

• Your application experiences large, unpredictable traffic spikes.

• You rely on other AWS services in the same account.

• Your team is comfortable managing IAM, VPCs, and AWS billing.

• The risks and effort of migration outweigh the potential savings right now.

Moving to another platform may make sense if:

• NAT Gateway and API Gateway charges account for a large share of your bill.

• You want simpler billing and more direct spending controls.

• You'd prefer to spend less time managing AWS infrastructure.

• Your application's traffic is predictable enough for a server-based setup.

Whichever option you choose, compare performance and costs before and after a migration. Laravel Nightwatch can help you monitor requests and queues so you can make a more informed comparison.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Laravel Vapor cost per month?

The listed Vapor subscription costs $39 per month or $399 per year. A free Sandbox plan covers one project and 10 deployments. AWS infrastructure costs are separate and billed directly by Amazon.

Can I still sign up for Laravel Vapor?

The official Vapor website says it is no longer accepting new signups. Existing customers can continue using their applications, while Laravel directs new users toward Laravel Cloud.

Why is my Laravel Vapor AWS bill so high?

Potential causes include NAT Gateway charges, API Gateway v1 usage, database costs, data transfer, and unused staging resources.

A good first step is to open AWS Cost Explorer and review your costs by service. This helps you identify the largest charges before changing your infrastructure.

Is Laravel Cloud cheaper than Vapor?

Laravel Cloud may be cheaper for some applications, particularly when its pricing and scaling model better match your workload. Its listed Starter plan begins at $5 per month plus usage.

Laravel has reported savings of up to 50% for some migrated Vapor applications, but your actual savings will depend on your traffic, database, networking, and compute requirements.

Is Vapor or Forge cheaper?

Forge is often cheaper for applications that run comfortably on a single server or a small group of servers. You pay the Forge subscription plus your server costs.

Vapor may be more suitable when traffic varies significantly and automatic scaling is worth the additional infrastructure costs.

The Bottom Line on Laravel Vapor Pricing

Laravel Vapor's $39 monthly subscription is only part of the total cost. AWS charges for NAT Gateways, API Gateway, databases, compute, and networking determine what you ultimately pay.

Here's what to do next:

1. Already using Vapor? Review your AWS bill, check your API Gateway configuration, and remove infrastructure you no longer need.

2. Comparing hosting platforms? Estimate your costs on Laravel Cloud and Forge using your actual traffic and infrastructure requirements.

3. Starting a new Laravel project? Since Vapor is closed to new signups, compare Laravel Cloud, Forge, and other suitable hosting options before choosing a platform.

The right platform is the one that fits your application's needs and gives you a cost structure you can manage.

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