Vercel Password Protection Now Costs $20 Per Project Per Month on Pro

What shipped

Vercel shipped two deployment-protection changes the same day: Vercel Authentication is now free on every plan (including protecting production domains), and Password Protection on Pro is now billed per project at $20/month. Both replace the old $150/month Advanced Deployment Protection add-on.

What changed

Before today, password-protecting anything beyond previews required the $150/month Advanced Deployment Protection add-on. That flat price is gone. In its place: Vercel Authentication (sign-in-gated, Vercel-account-only access) is free everywhere, while Password Protection — the share-a-password-with-anyone option — is a per-project metered charge you toggle under Security → Deployment Protection. Disable the toggle to stop future charges. Deployment Protection Exceptions, previously add-on territory, are free on all plans too.

The crossover math: at $20 per project per month, a Pro team password-protecting 8 or more projects now pays more than the old $150 flat add-on ($160/month at 8 projects). Teams protecting 7 or fewer projects save. The pricing isn't a hike or a cut — it's a reshuffle that taxes breadth and rewards the free path.

Why a builder cares

Vercel Authentication is free, but it only admits people with Vercel project access. Client previews, stakeholder demos, QA contractors without Vercel seats — that's what Password Protection is for, and it's now the metered product. If your team habitually enables it on every project as hygiene, that habit quietly compounds: 12 projects is $240/month where the old add-on was $150. The free tier move is real, but the default-secure workflow now has a per-project tax. Audit which projects actually need shared-password access before the invoices make the point for you.