Free hosting in plain language

A file on your laptop is not shipped. Someone else must open it without you in the room. These three hosts will give you a public URL for a static page at no charge if you stay in the free tier.

You do not need a custom domain. A *.github.io, *.vercel.app, or *.netlify.app link is a real ship.

GitHub Pages

Use when the project is already a GitHub repo of HTML, CSS, and a little JavaScript.

1. Repo → Settings → Pages.
2. Source: the main branch, folder / (or /docs if you put the site there).
3. Wait a minute. Open the username.github.io/repo URL on your phone.

Good for a market list. Bad for a secret form that should never be public.

Vercel

Use when you want “push to GitHub, get a URL” with almost no settings — including later, if you try Next.js.

1. Sign up with GitHub at vercel.com.
2. Add new project → pick the repo.
3. If the repo is plain HTML, the defaults are enough. Deploy.

This Academy itself ships on Vercel. Your first page does not need to.

Netlify

Use when you like a drag-and-drop for a folder, or the same git-connected flow as Vercel.

1. app.netlify.com → add site.
2. Either connect GitHub or drop the folder that contains index.html.
3. Open the URL they give you.

Which one?

Turn on two-factor authentication on the host. Create the account with an email you control.