# Serverless > An index and topic collection covering serverless compute, function-as-a-service (FaaS) runtimes, and edge function platforms. Serverless platforms abstract away server management, scale on demand, and bill per invocation, letting developers ship event-driven functions, scheduled jobs, durable wo... This is the **Serverless** topic area of [API Evangelist](https://apievangelist.com) — a network of focused knowledge bases drawn from 16 years of independent API research by Kin Lane. Browse all areas at https://apievangelist.com/areas/. ## Services & Tools - [Apache OpenWhisk](https://providers.apis.io/providers/apache-openwhisk/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/apache-openwhisk) - [Auth0](https://providers.apis.io/providers/auth0/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/auth0) - [AWS App Runner](https://providers.apis.io/providers/aws-app-runner/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/aws-app-runner) - [AWS Lambda](https://providers.apis.io/providers/aws-lambda/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/aws-lambda) - [AWS Step Functions](https://providers.apis.io/providers/aws-step-functions/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/aws-step-functions) - [Azure Functions](https://providers.apis.io/providers/azure-functions/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/azure-functions) - [Cloudflare](https://providers.apis.io/providers/cloudflare/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/cloudflare) - [Convex](https://providers.apis.io/providers/convex/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/convex) - [Defer](https://providers.apis.io/providers/defer/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/defer) - [Deno](https://providers.apis.io/providers/deno/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/deno) - [Fastly](https://providers.apis.io/providers/fastly/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/fastly) - [Fermyon](https://providers.apis.io/providers/fermyon/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/fermyon) - [Google Cloud Functions](https://providers.apis.io/providers/google-cloud-functions/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/google-cloud-functions) - [Google Cloud Run](https://providers.apis.io/providers/google-cloud-run/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/google-cloud-run) - [Google Firebase](https://providers.apis.io/providers/google-firebase/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/google-firebase) - [Inngest](https://providers.apis.io/providers/inngest/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/inngest) - [Knative](https://providers.apis.io/providers/knative/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/knative) - [Koyeb](https://providers.apis.io/providers/koyeb/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/koyeb) - [Microsoft Azure Functions](https://providers.apis.io/providers/microsoft-azure-functions/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/microsoft-azure-functions) - [Modal](https://providers.apis.io/providers/modal/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/modal) - [Netlify](https://providers.apis.io/providers/netlify/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/netlify) - [Quirrel](https://providers.apis.io/providers/quirrel/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/quirrel) - [Scaleway](https://providers.apis.io/providers/scaleway/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/scaleway) - [Serverless Patterns](https://providers.apis.io/providers/serverless-patterns/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/serverless-patterns) - [Serverless Workflow](https://providers.apis.io/providers/serverless-workflow/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/serverless-workflow) - [Spin](https://providers.apis.io/providers/spin/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/spin) - [Supabase](https://providers.apis.io/providers/supabase/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/supabase) - [Trigger.dev](https://providers.apis.io/providers/trigger-dev/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/trigger-dev) - [Twilio](https://providers.apis.io/providers/twilio/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/twilio) - [Vercel](https://providers.apis.io/providers/vercel/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/vercel) - [wasmCloud](https://providers.apis.io/providers/wasmcloud/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/wasmcloud) - [WasmEdge](https://providers.apis.io/providers/wasmedge/) (repo: https://github.com/api-evangelist/wasmedge) ## Common Features - **Function-as-a-Service Runtimes**: Serverless platforms execute short-lived, stateless functions in managed runtimes that automatically scale from zero to many instances based on incoming requests or events. - **Event-Driven Invocation**: Functions are triggered by HTTP requests, queue messages, object storage events, scheduled cron jobs, database changes, and pub/sub topics without dedicated listeners. - **Edge Function Distribution**: Edge runtimes like Cloudflare Workers, Vercel Edge Functions, and Fastly Compute@Edge execute code in points of presence physically close to end users, reducing latency. - **Cold Start and Snapshot Optimization**: Platforms reduce cold start latency through V8 isolates, Firecracker microVMs, AWS Lambda SnapStart, and WebAssembly-based instant startup runtimes. - **Durable Workflows and Orchestration**: Services like AWS Step Functions, Inngest, and Trigger.dev provide durable execution, retries, sleeps, and long-running workflows on top of serverless functions. - **Pay-per-Invocation Billing**: Costs scale linearly with usage, billed per invocation and gigabyte-second of compute time, with generous free tiers that absorb most low-traffic workloads. - **WebAssembly Serverless**: Platforms like Fermyon Spin, wasmCloud, and Fastly Compute@Edge run WebAssembly modules with sub-millisecond startup, strong sandboxing, and polyglot language support. - **Function URLs and HTTP Endpoints**: Direct HTTPS endpoints for functions (Lambda Function URLs, Cloud Run, Workers routes) eliminate the need for a separate API gateway for simple HTTP services. ## Use Cases - **API Backends and Microservices**: Serverless functions back HTTP APIs and microservices, scaling to zero during idle periods and absorbing traffic spikes without capacity planning. - **Webhook Receivers and Integrations**: Functions process incoming webhooks from SaaS platforms (Stripe, GitHub, Slack), validate signatures, transform payloads, and fan out to downstream systems. - **Scheduled and Cron Jobs**: Platforms like Vercel Cron, Cloudflare Cron Triggers, and EventBridge schedule functions to run on a cadence for batch jobs, cleanups, and periodic syncs. - **Image and Media Processing**: Functions resize, transcode, or watermark uploaded media in response to object storage events, often paired with edge caching for delivery. - **Real-Time Edge Personalization**: Edge functions rewrite responses, inject A/B test variants, geolocate visitors, and personalize HTML at the CDN edge with single-digit-millisecond overhead. - **AI Inference and Agent Tools**: Serverless GPU platforms like Modal and Cloud Run run AI model inference on demand; functions also serve as tool endpoints for LLM agents. - **Durable Long-Running Workflows**: Step Functions, Inngest, and Trigger.dev orchestrate multi-step business processes with retries, human-in-the-loop steps, and durable timers across hours or days. ## Related Areas - [Browsers](https://browsers.apievangelist.com): An index and topic collection covering programmable browsers, headless browser engines, and browser-automation APIs. ... - [API Proxies](https://api-proxies.apievangelist.com): An index and topic collection covering reverse-proxy and edge-proxy software used in front of APIs, including HTTP re... - [Virtualization](https://virtualization.apievangelist.com): An index and topic collection covering virtualization across two intertwined domains: machine virtualization (hypervi... - [Microservices](https://microservices.apievangelist.com): An index of microservices architecture frameworks, service discovery, resilience, messaging, workflow orchestration, ... - [Support](https://support.apievangelist.com): An index and topic collection covering customer support, help desk, ticketing, knowledge base, and live chat APIs. Cu... - [Service Mesh](https://service-mesh.apievangelist.com): Service mesh is a dedicated infrastructure layer for handling service-to-service communication in microservices archi... ## More - [Latest Serverless stories](/stories/) - [All API Evangelist topic areas](https://apievangelist.com/areas/) - [API Evangelist network index (llms.txt)](https://apievangelist.com/llms.txt)