Serverless
A way to run backend code without managing servers, where the cloud provider handles all the infrastructure and you only pay for what you use.
What It Is
Serverless does not mean “no servers.” It means you do not manage them. In a serverless setup, you write a function (a small piece of code that does one thing), upload it to a cloud platform, and the platform handles everything else: starting the server when a request arrives, running your code, returning the response, and shutting the server down afterward. You never provision, configure, or maintain a server. The platform scales automatically, spinning up more instances if traffic spikes and scaling to zero when no one is making requests. Vercel, AWS Lambda, and Cloudflare Workers are popular serverless platforms.
Why It Matters
Serverless removes the biggest operational headache for builders: keeping servers running. Traditional hosting means paying for a server 24/7, even when nobody is visiting your site. Serverless means you pay only when your code actually runs. For operators building AI-powered tools with occasional or unpredictable traffic, this is ideal. You can have an API endpoint that calls Claude, processes data, or sends emails, and it costs nothing when it is not being used. Serverless is what makes small projects economically viable.
In Practice
On Vercel, any file you place in the right directory automatically becomes a serverless function with its own URL endpoint. You might create a function that receives a webhook from n8n, processes the data through an AI model, and returns the result. The function spins up only when called and costs fractions of a cent per execution. No server maintenance, no uptime monitoring, no scaling decisions.