A static site can be an inexpensive way to publish a portfolio, documentation, landing page, or small business site. The hard part is not finding a free subdomain; it is finding a host whose current free plan supports your own domain, HTTPS, your build workflow, and the way you plan to use the site.
You can build a site with HTML and CSS, or use a static site generator such as Eleventy or Hugo. A pre-built website template is another starting point. Most hosts deploy the generated files from a Git repository, but their build minutes, bandwidth, domain rules, and commercial-use terms differ.
A free hosting plan does not include buying your domain name, and it rarely means unlimited usage. Before choosing, check whether the plan permits your type of project, whether the custom domain gets managed HTTPS, what happens when a build or transfer quota is reached, and whether forms or server-side features cost extra. Keep your source repository and build configuration portable so you can move hosts if a limit or policy changes.
10 Static Website Hosts With Custom Domains
The options below have a no-cost way to publish static files, but they are not interchangeable. In particular, GitHub Pages and Vercel Hobby restrict commercial use, while some other providers meter builds or outbound traffic. Verify the linked plan and usage documentation before you point a production domain at a free tier.
1. GitHub Pages
GitHub Pages is a straightforward choice for project documentation, an open-source project site, or a personal portfolio built from a GitHub repository. GitHub Free includes Pages for public repositories, and you can attach a custom domain and HTTPS. The domain registration itself is separate.
GitHub Pages can build Jekyll sites, or you can build another generator with GitHub Actions and publish its output. Keep the generated site within GitHub's recommended repository size and bandwidth/build limits. Pages is not permitted for an online business, e-commerce site, commercial SaaS, or sensitive transactions such as passwords and card details, so use a different host for those jobs. See the current usage limits and policy and custom-domain setup.
Plan check: GitHub documents a recommended 1 GB source-repository size, a soft 100 GB monthly bandwidth limit, and a soft limit of 10 builds per hour. Its current plan details explain repository eligibility; do not treat Pages as a commercial hosting plan.
2. GitLab Pages
GitLab Pages fits a site whose source and CI pipeline already live on GitLab. A Pages job publishes your build output, and custom domains with TLS are supported. Check the visibility and access-control settings separately if the site must not be public.
You can build with GitLab CI (continuous integration) or a runner you manage. On GitLab.com, the Free tier currently includes 400 compute minutes per namespace per month; pipeline jobs share that quota, so larger builds can use it quickly. See the current Pages guide and compute-minute rules. For a general explanation, see continuous integration.
Plan check: The hosting service and the CI minutes are separate considerations. Review GitLab's current quotas before choosing a build-heavy generator, and account for any runner or paid-plan costs.
3. Netlify
Netlify combines Git-based deploys, previews, redirects, and a custom domain with managed HTTPS. It can be convenient for a small business site, but features beyond static file delivery may use additional plan resources.
Read the Netlify terms before using it for a business or client project. Add a domain through the custom-domain guide and review the current pricing and credit meters.
Plan check: Netlify's free tier has hard monthly usage limits measured in credits. If an account reaches its limits, its sites can be paused until the next billing cycle. Track build, bandwidth, and optional-feature usage instead of assuming the free tier will absorb a traffic spike.
4. Cloudflare Pages
Cloudflare Pages connects to a Git repository and serves static output over Cloudflare's network. You can use a pages.dev address or attach your own domain. For a custom domain, add it to the Pages project through Cloudflare's dashboard; a manually created DNS record alone is not enough. Pages Functions have separate Workers limits, so treat server-side requests differently from static assets.
Plan check: The Free plan currently allows 500 builds per month, one concurrent build, a 20-minute build timeout, and up to 100 Pages projects per account. A single static asset can be up to 25 MiB. Check the live Pages limits and custom-domain requirements before deploying.
5. Render
Render builds a static site from a connected Git repository and provides managed TLS for custom domains. It is a useful option when you want a simple build-and-deploy workflow without maintaining a server.
Plan check: Static sites count against the workspace's included outbound bandwidth and build-pipeline minutes. Those included amounts and any overage charges depend on the current workspace plan. Review Render pricing and the static-site documentation; custom-domain TLS is managed for you.
6. DigitalOcean App Platform
App Platform can deploy static components from a Git repository and supports custom domains. The free tier is aimed at personal sites and small projects; it is not an unlimited hosting plan.
Plan check: DigitalOcean currently includes up to three apps that contain only static-site components; each additional static-only app costs $3 per month. Each app includes 1 GiB of outbound transfer, with additional transfer billed at $0.02 per GiB. Check App Platform pricing, domain setup, and the product overview for current limits and certificate requirements.
7. Vercel
Vercel offers Git-based previews, custom domains, and managed HTTPS for front-end projects. Its Hobby plan is explicitly for personal, non-commercial use. A freelancer's client site or a small business should not rely on Hobby; compare the paid Pro plan and its usage limits instead.
For an eligible personal project, Vercel can build and deploy a range of front-end frameworks. Functions, image processing, and other dynamic features have their own limits; avoid assuming that a static site's allowance covers its server-side components.
Plan check: Hobby is free but has plan-specific usage caps and cannot be used commercially. Read the current Vercel plan comparison, Hobby plan details, and fair-use guidance before deploying.
8. Firebase Hosting
Firebase Hosting is a good fit for static sites that already use Firebase services. It supports custom domains and provisions HTTPS certificates. Static hosting has a no-cost allowance, but storage and transfer quotas are finite.
Plan check: Firebase currently includes 10 GB of stored Hosting content and 10 GB of data transfer per month at no cost. On the Spark plan, reaching those limits can stop new deploys or disable a site until the quota resets; Blaze bills for usage beyond the no-cost allowance, so set budget alerts if you upgrade. Review the current Hosting quotas and pricing, custom-domain setup, and Firebase pricing.
9. Google App Engine
App Engine can serve a static site from an app.yaml configuration and map it to a custom domain. It is an application platform rather than a simple static-hosting dashboard, so setup and billing are more involved than for the options above.
Follow Google's current guide to hosting a static website and mapping a custom domain. App Engine has daily free quotas, not unlimited free usage; check the current pricing and quota table, and set billing alerts before using it for a live site.
Plan check: Free quotas vary by runtime and resource, and charges can apply when usage exceeds them. App Engine is most useful if you need its application runtime; for a static-only site, a provider designed around static output is usually simpler.
10. Surge
Surge is a command-line option for publishing a static build without configuring a Git integration. It supports custom domains; once DNS points to Surge, its managed certificate is provisioned and renewed automatically.
Use the DNS instructions printed by Surge for the domain you publish; a conflicting DNS record can make the site unavailable. The custom-domain guide explains the current setup and certificate behavior.
Plan check: Surge is free for static publishing, with paid options for additional features. Check the current pricing; your domain registration is separate from the hosting plan.
Other hosting options
Traditional web hosting can also serve static files, but compare the renewal price, HTTPS, backups, and deployment workflow rather than assuming that a low introductory price is a long-term free option.
Amazon S3 can host website files, but its website endpoint does not provide HTTPS. Serving a custom domain securely typically means adding CloudFront, which introduces metered costs and more configuration. Start with AWS's current S3 website-hosting guide and CloudFront static-site walkthrough rather than treating S3 as an unlimited free host.
Choosing a host
- For project documentation or a personal portfolio, GitHub Pages is simple, but its policy excludes commercial sites and transactions.
- If your site is for a business or client, rule out plans whose terms are personal-use-only, then compare Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, Render, DigitalOcean, and Firebase against the build and transfer limits you expect.
- If you already use GitLab CI, GitLab Pages can avoid adding another deployment service; estimate pipeline minutes for your build.
- Before launch, confirm custom-domain HTTPS, form or function costs, the response when quotas are reached, and whether the plan allows your intended use.
Static files are portable, but provider-specific redirects, functions, environment variables, and build settings are not. Keep those settings documented and avoid placing secrets in files shipped to the browser.
Templates for building static sites
These collections can help you get a static site started:
- Material Design HTML5 Templates
- HTML & CSS Resume Templates
- Coming Soon & Under construction Page Templates
- Best Bootstrap Templates
- One Page Website Templates
A free plan is a useful starting point, not a guarantee of permanent zero-cost production hosting. Check each provider’s current terms and usage dashboard before relying on it for a site that needs predictable availability.