GeekHub Learn
Module
Learn/AI and LLMs for Beginners/Ship and Scale/Lesson 10.1
Lesson 10.11 of 5 in this module2 min read Module 10: Deploying AI Apps

The 4 platforms beginners should know

Pick once, ship five projects. This lesson is the platform decision tree.

Different airports for different routes. You do not pick the same one for a domestic flight and a cargo shipment.

The 4-platform map:

App typeBest free platformWhy
Streamlit demoStreamlit Cloudone-click
Gradio demoHugging Face Spacesnative
Next.js (frontend + serverless)Vercelbest DX
FastAPI backendRailway or Fly.iopersistent server, env vars, simple

Beyond free tiers, when usage grows:

  • Streamlit Cloud paid (more memory, custom domain)
  • Hugging Face Spaces hardware tiers (GPU)
  • Vercel Pro (more functions, edge)
  • Railway Hobby (longer-running services)

Visualize it

A decision tree: "What kind of app?" -> Streamlit/Gradio/Next.js/FastAPI -> recommended platform.

Try it now

Sign up for all four. Add their CLIs (vercel, railway) to your machine.

Hands-on lab

Make a "hello" deploy on each platform. 30 minutes total. You will reuse these skills forever.

Try it now

When would you choose Hugging Face Spaces over Streamlit Cloud?

Common mistakes

  • Trying to deploy a Next.js app on Streamlit Cloud
  • Putting a heavy backend on Vercel (use Railway/Fly)
  • Skipping the CLI install (faster iteration once you have it)

Debugging tip

If you cannot decide, default to Streamlit Cloud for prototypes and Vercel + Railway for "real" apps.

Challenge

Make a "hello world" on all four platforms. Bookmark each dashboard.

Where this shows up

  • Portfolio demos
  • Internal team tools
  • Public AI utilities

From the field

Junior AI engineers should master deploying 4 stacks (Streamlit, Gradio, Next.js, FastAPI) on these 4 platforms. That single matrix is a moat.

Recap

Four platforms. Four app types. Memorize the matrix.

Quick recall

3 prompts · think before you flip

Prompt 1 of 3

Which platform for a FastAPI backend?

Quiz time

1 question · tap an answer to check it

  1. 1. A Streamlit chatbot first deploy should go to

Finished lesson 10.1?

Mark complete to update your module progress and unlock the streak.

Loading