Free Hosting LimitsHow to choose free static hosting
Pick the host whose limits you will not reach and whose rules allow your site.
Read on 14 November 2026. Limits change: check the source before you decide.
Questions to ask
- Is the site allowed there? GitHub's page says Pages may not be used to run an online business, an e-commerce site or a commercial software as a service. If your site takes payments, choose a host whose terms allow it.
- How big is it? Count the megabytes and the files. GitHub limits the published site to 1 GB. Cloudflare's Free plan allows 20,000 files and 25 MiB per file.
- How much traffic? GitHub has a 100 GB a month soft limit. Netlify meters bandwidth in credits. Cloudflare's page gives no bandwidth figure.
- How often do you publish? Cloudflare's Free plan allows 500 builds a month. GitHub's builds limit is 10 an hour soft (not for custom Actions workflows). Netlify charges 15 credits per production deploy.
- Do you need functions or a database? These are beyond a plain static host and are billed differently.
A short guide
| Your site | A reasonable first choice |
|---|---|
| A blog or a small content site | Any of the three: the limits are far away |
| Thousands of generated pages | Watch Cloudflare's 20,000 files, or split across GitHub repositories |
| Large images or downloads | Compare bandwidth rules: GitHub 100 GB soft, Netlify 20 credits per GB |
| A shop or a paid web app | Not GitHub Pages: read each host's terms |
| Many deploys a day | Not Netlify Free at 15 credits each if the credit budget is small; check Cloudflare's 500 a month |
Before you move
- Use the check on the home page with your real numbers.
- Read the three pages named under Sources again, because limits change.
- Plan the DNS change: lower the TTL a day ahead (see the DNS section of this site).
- Keep the old host until the new one works over HTTPS.
Which is best?
There is none. It depends on what you publish and how much traffic you have.
Can I use two hosts?
Yes. Some people put the main site on one and large files on another.
Sources
- GitHub Docs: GitHub Pages limits
- Cloudflare Docs: Pages limits
- Netlify: Pricing
- all read on 14 November 2026
Read on 14 November 2026.
This is an independent guide. It is not connected with GitHub, Cloudflare, Netlify or any host named here. Limits and prices change: everything on this page was read on 14 November 2026 from the pages named under Sources. Check them again before you decide.