OP asked "Does this reduce the operating costs of hosting OSM-based maps".
openstreetmap.org has a very complex setup for real-time updates, but in general, hosting OSM-based maps is much cheaper with vector tiles.
openstreetmap.org has a very complex setup for real-time updates, but in general, hosting OSM-based maps is much cheaper with vector tiles.
You can learn more about this in the blog of the developer who develops this tile server: https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/pnorman/diary/403600
p.s. current link to the demo page: https://pnorman.github.io/tilekiln-shortbread-demo