How to Deploy Next.js to Google Cloud Run (2026 Guide)

Google Cloud Run is one of the best platforms for deploying Next.js apps in 2026. It's serverless, auto-scaling, and you only pay for actual usage — making it extremely cost-efficient for SaaS products with variable traffic.

This guide covers the full production deployment pipeline: Docker → Container Registry → Cloud Run → GitHub Actions CI/CD.

Why Cloud Run for Next.js?

• Auto-scaling to zero — no cost when traffic is low
• Scale to thousands — handles traffic spikes automatically
• Simple pricing — pay per request, not per server
• Managed infrastructure — no Kubernetes, no server management
• Custom domains + HTTPS — built-in SSL

Prerequisites

• Google Cloud account with billing enabled
• gcloud CLI installed and authenticated
• Docker installed
• Next.js 16 app

Step 1: Configure Next.js for Standalone Output

Add output: "standalone" to your next.config.js:

const nextConfig = {
  output: "standalone",
};
module.exports = nextConfig;

This tells Next.js to bundle everything needed to run the app into .next/standalone — essential for Docker.

Step 2: Create a Multi-Stage Dockerfile

# Stage 1: Install dependencies
FROM node:20-alpine AS deps
WORKDIR /app
COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
RUN npm ci

# Stage 2: Build
FROM node:20-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=deps /app/node_modules ./node_modules
COPY . .
ENV NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1
RUN npm run build

# Stage 3: Production runner (minimal image)
FROM node:20-alpine AS runner
WORKDIR /app
ENV NODE_ENV=production

RUN addgroup --system --gid 1001 nodejs
RUN adduser --system --uid 1001 nextjs

COPY --from=builder /app/public ./public
COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/standalone ./
COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/static ./.next/static

USER nextjs
EXPOSE 3000
ENV PORT=3000
ENV HOSTNAME="0.0.0.0"

CMD ["node", "server.js"]

The multi-stage build keeps the final image small — typically under 200MB.

Step 3: Build and Test Locally

docker build -t svbtechlabs-website .
docker run -p 3000:3000 svbtechlabs-website

Open http://localhost:3000 — if it works locally, it'll work on Cloud Run.

Step 4: Push to Google Container Registry

# Authenticate Docker with GCR
gcloud auth configure-docker

# Tag and push
docker tag svbtechlabs-website gcr.io/YOUR_PROJECT_ID/svbtechlabs-website
docker push gcr.io/YOUR_PROJECT_ID/svbtechlabs-website

Step 5: Deploy to Cloud Run

gcloud run deploy svbtechlabs-website \
  --image gcr.io/YOUR_PROJECT_ID/svbtechlabs-website \
  --platform managed \
  --region asia-south1 \
  --allow-unauthenticated \
  --port 3000 \
  --memory 512Mi

Cloud Run will give you a URL like https://svbtechlabs-website-xyz.run.app.

Step 6: Automate with GitHub Actions

Create .github/workflows/deploy.yml:

name: Deploy to Cloud Run
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: google-github-actions/auth@v2
        with:
          workload_identity_provider: ${{ secrets.GCP_WORKLOAD_IDENTITY_PROVIDER }}
          service_account: ${{ secrets.GCP_SERVICE_ACCOUNT }}

      - run: gcloud auth configure-docker --quiet

      - run: |
          docker build -t gcr.io/${{ secrets.GCP_PROJECT_ID }}/svbtechlabs-website:${{ github.sha }} .
          docker push gcr.io/${{ secrets.GCP_PROJECT_ID }}/svbtechlabs-website:${{ github.sha }}

      - run: |
          gcloud run deploy svbtechlabs-website \
            --image gcr.io/${{ secrets.GCP_PROJECT_ID }}/svbtechlabs-website:${{ github.sha }} \
            --platform managed \
            --region asia-south1 \
            --allow-unauthenticated

Every push to main now automatically builds and deploys.

Custom Domain

gcloud run domain-mappings create \
  --service svbtechlabs-website \
  --domain svbtechlabs.com \
  --region asia-south1

Cost Estimate

For a typical early-stage SaaS website (10k–50k page views/month), Cloud Run costs roughly ₹200–₹800/month — significantly cheaper than a dedicated server or VM.

Conclusion

Next.js + Docker + Cloud Run is our production stack at SVB Tech Labs. It's the right balance of simplicity, scalability, and cost-efficiency — and the GitHub Actions pipeline means every merge to main ships automatically.

Want us to set up this stack for your project? SVB Tech Labs offers cloud deployment services.