Great question! There’s some common confusion here, so let me clarify:
Edge Network Requests ≠ Edge Functions
- Edge Network Requests are simply HTTP requests served through Vercel’s CDN/edge network. Every time a user loads a page, fetches an image, CSS file, JS bundle, or any asset, that’s an edge network request. This is normal and expected to increase with traffic.
- Edge Functions are actual serverless functions that run JavaScript/TypeScript code at the edge (using the Edge Runtime). These are billed separately and only triggered when you explicitly use them (e.g.,
export const runtime = 'edge'in your code).
Your vercel.json config:
Your rewrites, redirects, and headers are handled by Vercel’s routing layer. They do not invoke Edge Functions. They’re processed at the CDN level with minimal overhead and are included in your plan.
Why your edge network requests increase:
Every page view = multiple requests (HTML + JS + CSS + images + fonts, etc.). If you have 100 users viewing a page that loads 20 assets, that’s 2,000+ edge network requests. This is standard for any CDN-based hosting.
The good news:
- Pro plan includes 1TB of bandwidth and 1M Edge Function invocations
- Free plan includes 100GB bandwidth and 500K Edge Function invocations
- Edge network requests through the CDN are very cost-efficient
Your current setup with rewrites/redirects/headers is fine and won’t cause unexpected bills. The metric you’re seeing is just normal CDN traffic, not billable Edge Function executions.
Hope that helps clarify things!