table of contents
TL;DR for the choice-paralyzed
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neocities is the most popular choice for small web hobbyists that are looking for community, especially for those just starting out.
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if raw code isn't for you, hotglue and mmm.page are both easy-to-use site builders that don't sacrifice layout flexibility.
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if you want to do server-side scripting with node.js, glitch is great for dipping your toes in the water.
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if you want to use PHP, teacake, leprd, and marigold town are all reputable hobbyist-oriented PHP hosts.
low code
many of these feature an easy-to-use visual editor - perfect for every skill level!
static sites only
hotglue
- host location
- netherlands
- pricing
- 100% free
- storage limit
- no limit defined
- monthly bandwidth
- no limit defined
- notes
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sites are discoverable via feed.
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includes a forum for community discussion and troubleshooting.
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mmm.page
- host location
- north america
- pricing
- free and paid (5-30 USD per month)
- storage limit
- free
- 5 pages
- paid
- starts from 25 pages
- monthly bandwidth
- free
- 1,000 visitors per month
- paid
- up to 100,000 visitors per month
- notes
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does not support exporting websites as files nor social discovery (yet).
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custom HTML is only supported on the paid plan.
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carrd 🎀
- host location
- united states
- pricing
- free and paid (9-49 USD per year)
- total sites
- free
- 3 sites
- paid
- up to 25 sites
- storage limit
- free
- 100 elements per site, with 2 MB per image and 4 MB per video
- paid
- unlimited elements, with 16 MB per image and 32 MB per video
- monthly bandwidth
- no limit defined
- notes
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geared towards single-page sites.
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site editor is mobile-friendly!
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projects can only be exported on the highest paid tier.
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embed forms and widgets require a paid plan.
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webstudio
- host location
- north america
- pricing
- free and paid (20 USD per month)
- storage limit
- free
- 2 GB
- paid
- 20 GB
- monthly bandwidth
- free
- 10,000 page views
- paid
- 100,000 page views
- notes
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open source!
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supports management via CLI and deployment to vercel.
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static & dynamic sites
tilda
- host location
- united states
- pricing
- free and paid (15-25 USD per month)
- total sites
- free
- 1 site
- paid
- 5 sites
- storage limit
- free
- 50 pages & 50 MB per site
- paid
- 500 pages & 1 GB per site
- monthly bandwidth
- no limit defined
- notes
- free users are virtually limited to static pages.
- custom HTML and domains are only supported on the paid plan.
- sites can be exported or integrated with wordpress with the highest paid tier.
webflow
- host location
- united states
- pricing
- free and paid (14-39 USD per month)
- storage limit
- free
- 2 pages & 50 content items
- paid
- 150 pages & 0-10,000 content items
- monthly bandwidth
- free
- 1 GB & 1,000 visitors
- paid
- 50-400 GB & 250,000-300,000 visitors
- notes
- custom domains are only available on a paid plan.
more code
work with raw code from the get-go.
static sites only
only supports HTML, CSS, and javascript.
ichi
- host location
- united kingdom
- pricing
- 100% free
- total sites
- 1 per account
- storage limit
- 10 MB
- monthly bandwidth
- no limit defined
- notes
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no email required for account creation - on the downside, this also means that lost passwords aren't recoverable.
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all sites are discoverable via global feed, but there aren't any social interaction features.
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supports site management via direct upload and SFTP.
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no custom domain options.
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neocities
- host location
- united states
- pricing
- free and paid (5 USD per month)
- total sites
- free
- 1 site
- paid
- unlimited sites
- storage limit
- free
- 1 GB
- paid
- 50 GB
- monthly bandwidth
- free
- 200 GB
- paid
- 3 TB
- notes
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while i can vouch for the vibrant community, the spam filter is known to be overly sensitive - i've been the subject of temporary suspension, myself.
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custom domains are only available on the paid plan.
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social profiles are optional.
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supports site management via direct upload, command line, and API.
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github pages
- host location
- united states
- pricing
- 100% free for non-enterprise
- storage limit
- 1 GB
- monthly bandwidth
- 100 GB
- notes
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site files are hosted in a public git repository.
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supports adding custom domains at no extra cost.
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more details on github hosting limits here.
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traditional static & dynamic sites
"what do you mean by 'traditional?'"
these options are "traditional" in the sense that you manage your site within a dedicated user folder on a regular file system, and you may even be able to tweak your server configuration settings to an extent - for example, to rewrite URLs without file extensions, or extend plain HTML with server-side includes. many will also offer email hosting if you have your own domain.
teacake 👑
- host location
- united states
- pricing
- free and paid (2-3 USD per month)
- storage limit
- free
- 500 MB
- paid
- up to 5 GB
- monthly bandwidth
- free
- 5 GB
- paid
- up to 30 GB
- dynamic programming
- PHP
- database
- mySQL
- web server
- apache
- notes
- GUI admin panel for site management is only available with a paid plan.
leprd 👑
- host location
- north america
- pricing
- 100% free
- storage limit
- up to 5 GB
- monthly bandwidth
- up to 50 GB
- dynamic programming
- PHP
- database
- mySQL (mariaDB)
- web server
- apache
- notes
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while their offerings exceed those of teacake, available slots tend to be more limited.
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GUI admin panel is available on all plans.
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marigold town
- host location
- united states
- pricing
- 100% free
- storage limit
- 2 GB
- monthly bandwidth
- 150 GB
- dynamic programming
- PHP, node.js (on request), and java
- database
- mySQL and SQLite
- web server
- apache
- notes
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themed as a cozy town square!
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signup is also limited to a few accounts at a time.
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infinity free
- host location
- united states
- pricing
- 100% free
- storage limit
- 5 GB
- monthly bandwidth
- no limit defined
- dynamic programming
- PHP
- database
- mySQL (mariaDB)
- web server
- apache
- notes
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a well-established hosting service for starter sites.
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provides help via community forums, but does not offer 1-on-1 support.
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uberspace 💲
- host location
- germany
- pricing
- 5-15 EUR per month
- storage limit
- 10-100 GB
- dynamic programming
- PHP, python, ruby, .NET core, and node.js
- database
- mySQL
- web server
- apache
- notes
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runs on renewable energy!
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requires a willingness to get comfortable with the command line.
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nearly free speech 💲
- host location
- united states
- pricing
- starts from 0.01 USD per month
- storage limit
- 1 USD/GB per month
- dynamic programming
- 25+ languages
- database
- mySQL (mariaDB)
- web server
- apache
- notes
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also requires some command line know-how.
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does not offer webmail hosting.
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serverless dynamic & static sites
"what makes these hosts different from 'traditional' hosts?"
to clarify, "serverless" just means that the underlying web infrastructure is managed by someone else. how you manage your site will vary from host to host - some will let you upload files directly, others require using a git service.
these hosts are generally faster and more reliable than conventional server setups, at the cost of less user control over the backend. for the most basic hobby sites, i would say the trade off is not that important - especially if you're only running a static site.
if you're super new to web development, i would recommend the first two options in this section. however, if you want to use PHP specifically and don't care for node.js, i strongly suggest a traditional web host instead.
w3schools spaces
- host location
- united states
- pricing
- free and paid (5-30 USD per month)
- storage limit
- free
- 20 MB
- paid
- up to 15 GB
- monthly bandwidth
- free
- 500 requests & 25 MB served
- paid
- up to 10 million requests & 400 GB served
- dynamic programming
- free
- not available
- paid
- node.js, PHP, python, java, C#, and rust
- database
- unavailable
- notes
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learn as you go with one of the web's most popular tutorial sites!
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static pages are completely free, but backend support starts at 10 USD per month.
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glitch 👑
- host location
- united states
- pricing
- free and paid (8 USD per month)
- storage limit
- no limit defined
- monthly bandwidth
- no limit defined
- dynamic programming
- node.js
- database
- SQlite
- notes
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beginner-friendly community with lots of remixable templates!
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site repositories are public by default, but can be made private by upgrading to a paid plan.
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netlify
- host location
- operations
- united states
- content delivery
- globally distributed
- pricing
- free and paid (19 USD per month)
- total sites
- 500 sites
- storage limit
- none defined
- monthly bandwidth
- free
- 100 GB
- paid
- 1 TB
- dynamic programming
- various javascript frameworks
- database
- multiple options
- notes
- supports uploading static sites as files without git.
vercel
- host location
- operations
- united states
- content delivery
- globally distributed
- pricing
- free and paid (20 USD per month)
- total sites
- free
- 50 sites
- paid
- unlimited sites
- storage limit
- depends on your git provider
- monthly bandwidth
- free
- 100 GB
- paid
- 1 TB
- dynamic programming
- 35+ javascript, python, and PHP frameworks
- database
- multiple options, including vercel KV and postgres
- notes
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only supports site management via CLI and third-party git services.
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beware that you might be blocked upon signup if you use an account that's not associated with a gmail address (source: personal experience, also corroborated by others). this can quickly be resolved by emailing support.
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render
- host location
- operations
- united states
- content delivery
-
- static sites
- globally distributed
- dynamic sites
- USA, germany, and singapore
- pricing
- free and paid (19-29 USD per month)
- total sites
- no limit defined
- storage limit
- static sites
- depends on your git provider
- dynamic sites
- 0.25 USD/GB per month (if a persistent disk is required)
- monthly bandwidth
- starts from 100 GB
- dynamic programming
- node.js, python, ruby, go, rust, and elixir (native)
- database
- postgresSQL and redis (native)
- notes
- git or docker is required for deployment; more languages are supported via the latter.