type: runbook
status: active
timestamp: 2026-06-22
tags: [runbook, hosting, free-tier, static-sites, cloudflare-pages, github-pages, netlify, vercel]
status: active
timestamp: 2026-06-22
tags: [runbook, hosting, free-tier, static-sites, cloudflare-pages, github-pages, netlify, vercel]
Free hosting — static sites (CF Pages, GH Pages, Netlify, Vercel, Surge, Render, Neocities, Bunny, Fleek)
Static site free tiers: CF Pages primary, GH Pages mirror
Static site hosting — free tiers (2026-06-22)
Family primary: Cloudflare Pages (every site + app). Family mirror: GitHub Pages (same git push, public repos only).
The table
| # | Provider | Projects/Sites | Bandwidth/mo | Builds/mo | Custom domain (free) | HTTPS auto | Card at signup | Card to use free | KYC | Commercial OK | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cloudflare Pages ⭐ | Unlimited sites, soft 100 repos/account (raise on request) | Unlimited | 500/mo account-wide, 1 concurrent, 20-min timeout | 100 per project | Yes | NO | NO | NO | YES | KEEP (primary) |
| 2 | GitHub Pages ⭐ | Unlimited (1 per repo, public repos free) | 100 GB/mo (soft) | 10/hour (soft); 1 GB repo size soft | Yes | Yes | NO | NO | NO | YES (no commerce backend) | KEEP (mirror) |
| 3 | Netlify Free | Unlimited sites | Credit-pooled (~15 GB / 300 credits/mo), hard cap, no overages | 300 build min/mo (legacy) → credit pool | Yes | Yes | NO | NO | NO | YES | EVALUATE — credit model unpredictable across 50+ apps |
| 4 | Vercel Hobby | 200 projects hard cap | 100 GB Fast Data Transfer | 45-min cap, 100 deploys/day, 1 concurrent | 50 per project | Yes | NO | NO | NO | NO (commercial, AdSense, donations, affiliate-primary banned) | DROP — commercial-use ban |
| 5 | Render Static | 25 services total cap | 5 GB/mo (cut from 100 GB on 2026-04-23) | 500 pipeline min/mo | 2 included; $0.25/mo per extra | Yes | NO | NO | NO | YES | DROP for static — fan-out limit + 5 GB cap |
| 6 | Surge.sh | Unlimited | Unmetered for static | Unlimited (CLI) | Yes (CNAME) | Yes (sub) / paid (root) | NO | NO | NO | YES | KEEP (niche) — CLI-only, no Git CI |
| 7 | Neocities (free) | 1 site / account | 200 GB/mo | n/a (manual upload / API) | NO (Supporter $5/mo required) | Yes on *.neocities.org only | NO | NO | NO | TOS forbids commerce on free | DROP — 1 site, no custom domain free |
| 8 | Bunny.net | PAYG, no free static tier | $5 promo credit on signup | n/a | Yes (paid) | Yes | NO | YES for sustained use | NO | YES | DROP as free — KEEP as cheap paid CDN |
| 9 | Fleek (IPFS) | Free tier present | $5/mo included credit (PAYG above) | Included in credit | Yes | Yes | Likely NO | NO (within $5) | NO | YES | EVALUATE — IPFS niche, $5 credit ceiling |
Why CF Pages is the family primary
- Unlimited bandwidth — every other provider in this table has a per-month cap. For a 50+ site fleet, Pages is the only one where one viral post doesn’t cost money.
- No card at signup — the only requirement is a Cloudflare account (email + password).
- Custom domains + HTTPS free — 100 domains per project, automatic Let’s Encrypt.
- Soft 100-project cap is raisable — once we cross it (we’re at ~30 currently), one support ticket lifts it.
- Build cap is the real ceiling — 500 builds/mo across the account. With 30+ active sites doing daily-ish deploys, we’re already at ~60% utilization. Mitigation: only deploy on
mainbranch push, skip dependency-only PRs.
Why GitHub Pages is the mirror (not primary)
- No build minute cap that bites at our scale — Pages builds via GitHub Actions and the actions quota is 2,000 min/mo on the free tier, which we share with CI.
- Soft 100 GB/mo bandwidth + 100 GB repo soft cap — fine for mirror duty, would not survive primary traffic.
- No commerce backend — TOS says no e-commerce backends on Pages. Static product pages with a Stripe/Razorpay link are fine; running checkout flows is not.
Quirks per provider
- Cloudflare Pages soft 100-project cap. Already raised on request for several customers in 2025. Open a ticket via dash → Support.
- GitHub Pages “soft” limits. 100 GB/mo bandwidth + 10 builds/hour are documented but not hard-enforced; GitHub will email-warn before throttling.
- Netlify Sept 2025 credit model. Old plan had 100 GB bandwidth + 300 build min; new plan has a single credit pool with hard caps and zero overage charges. Predictable but unpredictably distributed across a fleet.
- Vercel Hobby’s commercial ban is enforced as of 2025+ — includes AdSense, donation links, affiliate-as-primary-purpose. Personal portfolios still fine.
- Render’s 2026-04-23 cut. Static-site bandwidth went from 100 GB to 5 GB and total services capped at 25. Effectively unusable for fan-out.
- Surge.sh has no Git CI integration — pure CLI deploy (
surge ./dist mysite.surge.sh). Useful as a one-off mirror when CF + GH are both down. - Neocities free tier forbids commerce in its TOS. Supporter ($5/mo) lifts custom-domain restriction; we don’t do recurring fees.
- Bunny.net is genuinely cheap (~$0.005/GB) but it’s PAYG, not free. Promo $5 credit on signup; no minimum deposit. If we ever need a “second CDN for failover” beyond CF + GH, Bunny is the answer.
- Fleek $5/mo credit caps usage. Real value is IPFS pinning for web3 / archive use cases; not a fit for plain HTML sites.
Recommendation for the family
- Primary host (every site + app): Cloudflare Pages.
- Mirror (every site): GitHub Pages, identical content from the same git push.
- Backup-of-mirrors (emergency only): Surge.sh CLI deploy from CI runner if both CF + GH fail.
- Niche: Fleek for any IPFS-anchored archive site if we ever need one.
Sources
- Cloudflare Pages limits — projects, build cap, custom domain count
- Cloudflare Pages pricing — unlimited bandwidth claim
- GitHub Pages limits — 100 GB/mo soft, 1 GB repo, 10 builds/hr
- Netlify pricing + credit-based plans docs — Sep 2025 model
- Vercel Hobby + Fair use — commercial-use prohibition
- Render new workspace plans — Apr 2026 cut to 5 GB
- Surge.sh pricing + custom domains
- Neocities limits — 200 GB/mo, 1 site
- Bunny.net pricing — PAYG model
- Fleek pricing — $5 credit