Cheapest website hosting in 2026: free hosts and a $4 plan
The cheapest website hosting for a static site is $0 with no signup: drop an HTML file, a folder, or a ZIP up to 25 MB onto ship.page for a free HTTPS link in seconds. Free links stay live for 30 days (90 days with a free account), or pay $4 a month on Pro for links that never expire. For permanent $0 hosting with a custom domain, use Cloudflare Pages or GitHub Pages.
A file. A folder. A fresh start.
Your static site, one link away.
Uploading publishes your file. The link is public but unlisted, not password-protected, so leave out secrets and confidential content.
- Price for static hosting on six platforms
- $0
- Free link lifetime on ship.page with no account
- 30 days
- ship.page Pro for permanent links and passwords
- $4/mo
- Free ZIP upload limit on ship.page (100 MB unpacked)
- 25 MB
How to host a simple website for $0 in seconds
Prepare your HTML file, folder, or ZIP
Make sure your main page is named index.html. You can use a single .html file up to 10 MB, a folder with roughly 7 MB of files, or a .zip archive up to 25 MB (100 MB unpacked) with up to 100 files.
Drop it into the browser uploader
Open ship.page and drag in your file, folder, or ZIP, or paste raw HTML directly. You do not need an account or a credit card.
Share your live HTTPS link or QR code
Your site goes live in seconds on its own subdomain with a downloadable PNG QR code. The link stays online for 30 days as is, or 90 days if you claim it with a free Google or email sign-in.
Upgrade to $4/mo only if you need permanence
If you want the link to never expire, need password protection, or want to update the page at the same URL, switch to the $4 a month Pro plan and cancel anytime.
Your options
Cloudflare Pages
- Best for
- Permanent free sites that need a custom domain.
- Free
- Free plan includes 20,000 files per site, 25 MiB per file, 500 builds a month, and 100 custom domains per project.
- Catch
- Requires a Cloudflare account, and each file can be at most 25 MiB.
GitHub Pages
- Best for
- Open-source docs, developer portfolios, and personal sites already stored in Git.
- Free
- Free for public repositories on GitHub Free, with published sites up to 1 GB, 100 GB monthly soft bandwidth limit, and custom domains.
- Catch
- You need a GitHub account and a public repo, and it is not allowed as free hosting for a commercial, e-commerce, or SaaS business.
Netlify
- Best for
- Quick drag-and-drop deploys with Netlify Drop.
- Free
- The free plan gives you 300 credits, and Netlify Drop takes a folder, ZIP, or single HTML file with no account needed to start.
- Catch
- A production deploy costs 15 credits and bandwidth costs 20 credits per GB, and the paid Personal plan is $9 a month.
Neocities
- Best for
- Indie personal websites, hobby pages, and hand-coded HTML communities.
- Free
- Free plan gives you 1 GB storage and 200 GB bandwidth a month with no ads.
- Catch
- Free accounts have upload file type restrictions and no custom domains until you pay $5 a month for the Supporter plan (50 GB storage, 3,000 GB bandwidth).
Firebase Hosting
- Best for
- Small web apps that already use Google Cloud or Firebase services.
- Free
- The Spark plan gives you 10 GB storage and 360 MB a day of data transfer at no cost.
- Catch
- Data transfer beyond the daily free allowance costs $0.15 per GB.
ship.page
- Best for
- Instant sharing, private client previews, and temporary or password-protected static sites.
- Free
- Free with no signup for 30 days (90 days with a free account), taking HTML files up to 10 MB or ZIPs up to 25 MB with unmetered bandwidth.
- Catch
- No plan offers custom domains, free pages cannot be updated in place, and permanent links with password protection cost $4 a month.
Cheapest static website hosts in 2026 compared
| Host | Price | Main limit | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare Pages | $0 | 20,000 files, 25 MiB/file, 500 builds/mo | Needs a Cloudflare account |
| GitHub Pages | $0 | 1 GB site, 100 GB/mo bandwidth, 10 builds/hr | Public repo required; no commercial/SaaS sites |
| Netlify | $0 or $9/mo | 300 free credits (15/deploy, 20/GB) | Deploys and bandwidth both use credits |
| Neocities | $0 or $5/mo | 1 GB storage, 200 GB/mo bandwidth | File type limits on free; custom domain is $5/mo |
| Firebase Hosting | $0 + usage | 10 GB storage, 360 MB/day transfer | Overages cost $0.15/GB |
| ship.page | $0 or $4/mo | 25 MB ZIP (100 files) free; 100 MB on Pro | Free links last 30 or 90 days; no custom domains |
Why do $2.49 website builder deals end up costing more?
When you search for cheap web hosting, ads often promote monthly prices around two or three dollars. Builder promo prices like these renew higher when the deal ends.
For example, Hostinger Website Builder has no free plan, only a 14-day trial. Its cheapest Premium deal is $119.52 paid upfront for 48 months (about $2.49 a month) and renews at $10.99 a month.
If your website is made of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and images, you do not need a paid website builder. You can use free website hosting on a static host and pay $0 both today and at renewal.
Is there website hosting for 1 dollar or less?
For a static website (a site with fixed HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files rather than a database), the real price is $0 on several major platforms. If you need a custom domain on a $0 plan, check our Cloudflare Pages comparison or use GitHub Pages for non-commercial projects.
On ship.page, pricing starts at $0 and steps up to $4 a month for Pro (or $19 a month for Team with a vanity subdomain), billed monthly so you can cancel anytime with no yearly contract.
Neocities Supporter, at $5 a month, adds custom domains. If you want drag-and-drop publishing, see these Neocities alternatives.
What do you get with ship.page for $0 and $4 a month?
If you just want to put a website online without configuring Git or DNS, ship.page is built for speed. Every uploaded page is sent with a noindex header for privacy so search engines leave it out, and ship.page does not list uploads anywhere public.
- Free: no signup, and a link that lasts 30 days (90 days with a free account).
- Pro ($4 a month): pages never expire, re-uploads keep the same link, and you get password protection, 100 MB ZIPs, 10,000 files per upload and no "Hosted on ship.page" badge.
What can't static hosting run?
Static hosts keep costs at $0 or $4 a month because they serve files as they are instead of running a back-end server for every visitor. Follow our guide on how to host a website if you are exporting from an AI tool or static generator.
On ship.page, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, fonts, audio, video, WebAssembly, and JSON all work. Server code does not run: there is no PHP, Node.js, Python, database, or WordPress, and contact forms need a third-party form service.
Questions
What is the cheapest way to host a simple website?
The cheapest way to host a simple HTML, CSS, and JavaScript website is a free static host, which costs $0. If you do not want to create an account, you can drop an HTML file, folder, or ZIP into ship.page and get a live HTTPS link for 30 days. For permanent $0 hosting with a custom domain, use Cloudflare Pages or GitHub Pages.
Is GitHub Pages free for a business website?
No. GitHub Pages is free for public repositories on GitHub Free, but its rules state it is not allowed as free hosting for a commercial, e-commerce, or SaaS business. For a business site, compare the other hosts on this page.
How much does Hostinger Website Builder actually cost?
Hostinger Website Builder has no free plan, only a 14-day trial. Its cheapest Premium deal is $119.52 paid upfront for 48 months, which works out to about $2.49 a month, and then it renews at $10.99 a month.
Can I use a custom domain on ship.page?
No, no ship.page plan offers custom domains. Every upload gets its own HTTPS subdomain, and the $19 a month Team plan includes a vanity subdomain. If you need your own domain name, use Cloudflare Pages or GitHub Pages on their free plans, or the $5 a month Neocities Supporter plan.
How long do free websites stay online on ship.page?
An anonymous upload with no signup stays online for 30 days. If you sign in with Google or an email link for a free account and claim the upload, it stays online for 90 days. On the $4 a month Pro plan, pages never expire unless you pick a custom expiration time.
Keep reading
- Free website hosting
- Best free static hosting
- How to host a website
- ship.page vs Cloudflare Pages
- ship.page pricing
Put your website online for $0 right now
Drop an HTML file, folder, or ZIP to get a live HTTPS link and QR code in seconds with no signup.