diff --git a/MIGRATION.md b/MIGRATION.md
index 861e092d7dbb..814446198405 100644
--- a/MIGRATION.md
+++ b/MIGRATION.md
@@ -1156,6 +1156,8 @@ Note that v10.30.0 deprecated a top-level `reactComponentAnnotation` in favour o
 
 On Turbopack, component annotation requires Next.js 16+. The SDK now warns at build time if annotation is enabled on an older Next.js version, where it previously did nothing silently.
 
+**Default `environment` on Vercel no longer has a `vercel-` prefix:** On Vercel, the SDK now defaults `environment` to the value of `VERCEL_TARGET_ENV` (`production`, `preview`, or a custom environment name) instead of `vercel-production` / `vercel-preview`. Update alert rules, dashboards and saved searches that reference the old names, or keep them by setting `environment` explicitly.
+
 **Vercel AI no longer supported on Edge runtime:** We now rely on diagnostics channels for our Vercel AI instrumentation, which does not work on the Edge runtime. Because of this, monitoring of the `ai` package is no longer supported on Edge. Note that Edge is deprecated.
 
 ### Cloudflare: `nodejs_compat` compatibility flag is now required
@@ -1689,6 +1691,10 @@ moved under the `webpack` option in v10; use the replacement listed below instea
 
 The deprecated `sourceMapsUploadOptions` and other deprecated Vite/build plugin options were removed from `@sentry/astro`, `@sentry/nuxt` and `@sentry/sveltekit`. Use the top-level equivalents (e.g. `sourcemaps`, `release`, `authToken`, `org`, `project`, `telemetry`) instead.
 
+### Bundler plugins: Vercel deploys use the plain Vercel environment name
+
+Deploys that the bundler plugins create automatically on Vercel now use the value of `VERCEL_TARGET_ENV` (`production`, `preview`, or a custom environment name) as their environment instead of `vercel-production` / `vercel-preview`. This matches the new default runtime `environment` of `@sentry/nextjs`, and the `production` default of all other SDKs. If your events use a different environment, set `release.deploy.env` to the same value, or set `release.deploy` to `false` to opt out.
+
 ### Removed `unstable_` bundler plugin options
 
 The `unstable_sentry*PluginOptions` escape hatch was removed from every SDK. It existed because the Sentry
diff --git a/packages/bundler-plugins/src/core/options-mapping.ts b/packages/bundler-plugins/src/core/options-mapping.ts
index 42629509a737..90de13daa8c9 100644
--- a/packages/bundler-plugins/src/core/options-mapping.ts
+++ b/packages/bundler-plugins/src/core/options-mapping.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { getVercelEnv } from '@sentry/core';
 import type { Logger } from './logger';
 import type {
   Options as UserOptions,
@@ -162,9 +163,10 @@ export function normalizeUserOptions(userOptions: UserOptions): NormalizedOption
     }
   }
 
-  if (options.release.deploy === undefined && process.env['VERCEL'] && process.env['VERCEL_TARGET_ENV']) {
+  const vercelEnv = getVercelEnv();
+  if (options.release.deploy === undefined && process.env['VERCEL'] && vercelEnv) {
     options.release.deploy = {
-      env: `vercel-${process.env['VERCEL_TARGET_ENV']}`,
+      env: vercelEnv,
       url: process.env['VERCEL_URL'] ? `https://${process.env['VERCEL_URL']}` : undefined,
     };
   }
diff --git a/packages/bundler-plugins/test/core/option-mappings.test.ts b/packages/bundler-plugins/test/core/option-mappings.test.ts
index e1976d146c37..08998f525fc7 100644
--- a/packages/bundler-plugins/test/core/option-mappings.test.ts
+++ b/packages/bundler-plugins/test/core/option-mappings.test.ts
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ describe('normalizeUserOptions()', () => {
       const normalizedOptions = normalizeUserOptions(userOptions);
 
       expect(normalizedOptions.release.deploy).toEqual({
-        env: 'vercel-production',
+        env: 'production',
         url: 'https://my-app.vercel.app',
       });
     });
diff --git a/packages/core/src/index.ts b/packages/core/src/index.ts
index dc01c23fda8f..0eef1ba9f64c 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/index.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ export { filterCookies as _INTERNAL_filterCookies } from './utils/data-collectio
 export { filterQueryParams as _INTERNAL_filterQueryParams } from './utils/data-collection/filterQueryParams';
 export { filterCollectedUrl, filterCollectedUrlQuery } from './utils/data-collection/filterCollectedUrl';
 export { envToBool } from './utils/envToBool';
+export { getVercelEnv } from './utils/vercel';
 export { applyScopeDataToEvent, mergeScopeData, getCombinedScopeData } from './utils/scopeData';
 export { prepareEvent } from './utils/prepareEvent';
 export type { ExclusiveEventHintOrCaptureContext } from './utils/prepareEvent';
diff --git a/packages/core/src/utils/vercel.ts b/packages/core/src/utils/vercel.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ea4c64829fbb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/src/utils/vercel.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+/**
+ * Returns the Vercel environment the code is running in, determined by the `VERCEL_TARGET_ENV` environment variable
+ * with `VERCEL_ENV` as fallback. Returns `undefined` outside of Vercel.
+ *
+ * `VERCEL_TARGET_ENV` also carries the name of custom Vercel environments, whereas `VERCEL_ENV` only ever holds
+ * `production`, `preview` or `development`. SDKs use this as the default `environment` and the bundler plugins use it
+ * for the deploys they create, so the two stay in sync and deploys show up next to events.
+ */
+export function getVercelEnv(): string | undefined {
+  if (typeof process === 'undefined') {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+
+  return process.env.VERCEL_TARGET_ENV || process.env.VERCEL_ENV || undefined;
+}
diff --git a/packages/core/test/lib/utils/vercel.test.ts b/packages/core/test/lib/utils/vercel.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..0505e60dc7e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/test/lib/utils/vercel.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { getVercelEnv } from '../../../src/utils/vercel';
+
+describe('getVercelEnv', () => {
+  const originalEnv = process.env;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    process.env = { ...originalEnv };
+    delete process.env.VERCEL_ENV;
+    delete process.env.VERCEL_TARGET_ENV;
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    process.env = originalEnv;
+  });
+
+  it('returns undefined when no Vercel env vars are set', () => {
+    expect(getVercelEnv()).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('returns VERCEL_TARGET_ENV without a prefix', () => {
+    process.env.VERCEL_ENV = 'preview';
+    process.env.VERCEL_TARGET_ENV = 'staging';
+
+    expect(getVercelEnv()).toBe('staging');
+  });
+
+  it('falls back to VERCEL_ENV when VERCEL_TARGET_ENV is not set', () => {
+    process.env.VERCEL_ENV = 'production';
+
+    expect(getVercelEnv()).toBe('production');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/client/index.ts b/packages/nextjs/src/client/index.ts
index 5c5d3ffc2c85..abdba2d67d7d 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/src/client/index.ts
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/client/index.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import type { BrowserOptions } from '@sentry/react';
 import { getDefaultIntegrations as getReactDefaultIntegrations, init as reactInit } from '@sentry/react';
 import { DEBUG_BUILD } from '../common/debug-build';
 import { devErrorSymbolicationEventProcessor } from '../common/devErrorSymbolicationEventProcessor';
-import { getVercelEnv } from '../common/getVercelEnv';
+import { getClientVercelEnv } from '../common/getVercelEnv';
 import { isRedirectNavigationError } from '../common/nextNavigationErrorUtils';
 import { browserTracingIntegration } from './browserTracingIntegration';
 import { nextjsClientStackFrameNormalizationIntegration } from './clientNormalizationIntegration';
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ export function init(options: BrowserOptions): Client | undefined {
   }
 
   const opts = {
-    environment: options.environment || process.env.SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT || getVercelEnv(true) || process.env.NODE_ENV,
+    environment: options.environment || process.env.SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT || getClientVercelEnv() || process.env.NODE_ENV,
     defaultIntegrations: getDefaultIntegrations(options),
     release: process.env._sentryRelease || globalWithInjectedValues._sentryRelease,
     ...options,
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/common/getVercelEnv.ts b/packages/nextjs/src/common/getVercelEnv.ts
index 98755c91409d..cf977f0ee3cb 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/src/common/getVercelEnv.ts
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/common/getVercelEnv.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 /**
- * Returns an environment setting value determined by Vercel's `VERCEL_ENV` environment variable.
- *
- * @param isClient Flag to indicate whether to use the `NEXT_PUBLIC_` prefixed version of the environment variable.
+ * Browser counterpart of `getVercelEnv` from `@sentry/core`, reading the `NEXT_PUBLIC_` variants that Next.js exposes
+ * to the client. The variables must be referenced statically so Next.js can inline them at build time.
  */
-export function getVercelEnv(isClient: boolean): string | undefined {
-  const vercelEnvVar = isClient ? process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_VERCEL_ENV : process.env.VERCEL_ENV;
-  return vercelEnvVar ? `vercel-${vercelEnvVar}` : undefined;
+export function getClientVercelEnv(): string | undefined {
+  return process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_VERCEL_TARGET_ENV || process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_VERCEL_ENV || undefined;
 }
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/src/server/index.ts b/packages/nextjs/src/server/index.ts
index 33d417507b39..9765260239a4 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/src/server/index.ts
+++ b/packages/nextjs/src/server/index.ts
@@ -3,12 +3,19 @@
 /* eslint-disable import/export */
 import { HTTP_TARGET, URL_QUERY } from '@sentry/conventions/attributes';
 import type { EventProcessor } from '@sentry/core';
-import { applySdkMetadata, debug, getClient, getGlobalScope, getRootSpan, GLOBAL_OBJ } from '@sentry/core';
+import {
+  applySdkMetadata,
+  debug,
+  getClient,
+  getGlobalScope,
+  getRootSpan,
+  getVercelEnv,
+  GLOBAL_OBJ,
+} from '@sentry/core';
 import type { NodeClient, NodeOptions } from '@sentry/node';
 import { getDefaultIntegrations, httpIntegration, init as nodeInit } from '@sentry/node';
 import { DEBUG_BUILD } from '../common/debug-build';
 import { devErrorSymbolicationEventProcessor } from '../common/devErrorSymbolicationEventProcessor';
-import { getVercelEnv } from '../common/getVercelEnv';
 import { isPrerenderControlFlowError } from '../common/nextNavigationErrorUtils';
 import { TRANSACTION_ATTR_SHOULD_DROP_TRANSACTION } from '../common/span-attributes-with-logic-attached';
 import { isBuild } from '../common/utils/isBuild';
@@ -138,7 +145,7 @@ export function init(options: NodeOptions): NodeClient | undefined {
   const cloudflareConfig = getCloudflareRuntimeConfig();
 
   const opts: NodeOptions = {
-    environment: options.environment || process.env.SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT || getVercelEnv(false) || process.env.NODE_ENV,
+    environment: options.environment || process.env.SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT || getVercelEnv() || process.env.NODE_ENV,
     release: process.env._sentryRelease || globalWithInjectedValues._sentryRelease,
     defaultIntegrations: customDefaultIntegrations,
     // Next.js emits its own OpenTelemetry spans, so it defaults to registering the Sentry tracer
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/test/common/getVercelEnv.test.ts b/packages/nextjs/test/common/getVercelEnv.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7bc79c7d71d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/nextjs/test/common/getVercelEnv.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { getClientVercelEnv } from '../../src/common/getVercelEnv';
+
+describe('getClientVercelEnv', () => {
+  const originalEnv = process.env;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    process.env = { ...originalEnv };
+    delete process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_VERCEL_ENV;
+    delete process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_VERCEL_TARGET_ENV;
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    process.env = originalEnv;
+  });
+
+  it('returns undefined when no Vercel env vars are set', () => {
+    expect(getClientVercelEnv()).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('prefers NEXT_PUBLIC_VERCEL_TARGET_ENV over NEXT_PUBLIC_VERCEL_ENV', () => {
+    process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_VERCEL_ENV = 'preview';
+    process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_VERCEL_TARGET_ENV = 'staging';
+
+    expect(getClientVercelEnv()).toBe('staging');
+
+    delete process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_VERCEL_TARGET_ENV;
+    expect(getClientVercelEnv()).toBe('preview');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/vercel-edge/src/sdk.ts b/packages/vercel-edge/src/sdk.ts
index 5e6c2926ccbb..70503ad97164 100644
--- a/packages/vercel-edge/src/sdk.ts
+++ b/packages/vercel-edge/src/sdk.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import {
   functionToStringIntegration,
   getCurrentScope,
   getIntegrationsToSetup,
+  getVercelEnv,
   GLOBAL_OBJ,
   linkedErrorsIntegration,
   requestDataIntegration,
@@ -25,7 +26,6 @@ import { VercelEdgeClient } from './client';
 import { winterCGFetchIntegration } from './integrations/wintercg-fetch';
 import { makeEdgeTransport } from './transports';
 import type { VercelEdgeOptions } from './types';
-import { getVercelEnv } from './utils/vercel';
 
 declare const process: {
   env: Record<string, string>;
@@ -76,8 +76,7 @@ export function init(options: VercelEdgeOptions = {}): Client {
     }
   }
 
-  options.environment =
-    options.environment || process.env.SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT || getVercelEnv(false) || process.env.NODE_ENV;
+  options.environment = options.environment || process.env.SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT || getVercelEnv() || process.env.NODE_ENV;
 
   options.traceLifecycle = options.traceLifecycle ?? getTraceLifecycleFromEnv(process.env.SENTRY_TRACE_LIFECYCLE);
 
diff --git a/packages/vercel-edge/src/utils/vercel.ts b/packages/vercel-edge/src/utils/vercel.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index cb640aaff1c5..000000000000
--- a/packages/vercel-edge/src/utils/vercel.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-declare const process: {
-  env: Record<string, string>;
-};
-
-/**
- * Returns an environment setting value determined by Vercel's `VERCEL_ENV` environment variable.
- *
- * @param isClient Flag to indicate whether to use the `NEXT_PUBLIC_` prefixed version of the environment variable.
- */
-export function getVercelEnv(isClient: boolean): string | undefined {
-  const vercelEnvVar = isClient ? process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_VERCEL_ENV : process.env.VERCEL_ENV;
-  return vercelEnvVar ? `vercel-${vercelEnvVar}` : undefined;
-}