Best free hosting platforms you probably haven't tried in 2026

Free hosting has changed a lot since the early days of shared servers and FTP uploads. Today, developers expect a free tier to come with global delivery, push-to-deploy workflows, HTTPS by default, and enough headroom to ship something real before the upgrade prompt appears.

The platforms that dominate the conversation, like Vercel, Netlify, Firebase, Render, and Railway, do all of this well. We've compared them in detail in our guide to the best free hosting platforms in 2026. But they are not the only options, and in many cases they are not the right ones either.

A long list of free hosting platforms quietly serves different corners of the indie web. Some have been running for over a decade. Some launched more recently and are already winning over developers who are tired of free tiers that disappear the moment a project gains traction. Most of them do not get the same attention as the mainstream picks, which is exactly why they deserve a closer look.

In this guide, we'll walk through 15 free hosting platforms beyond the usual Vercel and Netlify recommendations. We'll cover what each one is built for, what the free tier actually includes, and where it falls short. By the end, you'll have a clearer picture of which platform fits your next project, whether that's a static site, an edge function, a container workload, or a self-hosted setup.

A quick note before we start. Free tiers shift constantly. Limits get tightened. "Always free" plans get quietly renamed to "hobby." Everything below was accurate at the time of writing, but if you're reading this months from now, check the current pricing before committing.

Why look past the mainstream free hosting platforms

The most common picks, like Vercel, Netlify, Firebase, Render, Railway, and Cloudflare Pages, cover many use cases well. If you're deploying a Next.js app or a static Jamstack site, they're hard to beat.

But "common case" is the operative phrase. The platforms below earn a look when:

• You want edge compute on the same network as your static site without juggling providers.
• Your app needs a real backend process, not a 10-second serverless function.
• You're tired of free tiers that ghost you the moment traffic spikes.
• You want infrastructure freedom without the AWS console nightmare.

If any of those sounds like your last side project, keep reading.

1. Appwrite Sites

Appwrite Sites handles static and SSR frontends with Git push deploys, custom domains, automatic SSL, and a global CDN. What sets it apart is what comes with it. Auth, databases, storage, serverless functions, messaging, and realtime live in the same project, so you ship the whole app from one platform instead of stitching three or four free tiers together.

Free tier: 5 GB bandwidth, 2 GB storage, 750K function executions, 75K monthly active users, 1 Database, 1 Bucket, 2 Functions per project, 15-minute build timeouts. Limit of 2 projects, paused after 1 week of inactivity.

Best for: Full-stack apps where you don't want to glue a frontend host, an auth provider, a database service, and a functions runtime together. Anyone tired of cold starts on free containers.

Watch out for: If your project really is one static HTML file with no backend, this is more than you need. Use GitHub Pages and come back when you grow into the rest.

2. Cloudflare Pages

Cloudflare's answer to Vercel, running on the same edge network that already serves a chunk of the internet.

Pages handles static sites with Git push deploys. Pair it with Cloudflare Workers and you get serverless functions, KV storage, D1 SQL, and R2 object storage on the same platform. It is one of the closest free-tier setups to a full edge stack.

Free tier: 500 builds per month, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited requests on Pages itself. Pair with the Workers free plan (100,000 requests per day, 10ms CPU time per request) for serverless logic.

Best for: Edge-first apps. Static sites that need light backend logic. Anyone looking for more predictable bandwidth and edge hosting limits.

Watch out for: Workers have CPU and request limits on the free plan. Long-running compute does not fit well. If your handler does anything heavy, you'll feel it.

3. GitHub Pages

The original "deploy from a Git repo" platform. Still in use a decade later because it still works.

GitHub Pages hosts static sites straight from a branch. Push your code, your site is live. Jekyll support is baked in. Custom domains with HTTPS work without configuration drama.

Free tier: 1 GB storage, 100 GB bandwidth per month, soft limit of 10 builds per hour.

Best for: Documentation sites, portfolios, project landing pages, open-source READMEs that grew into proper sites.

Watch out for: No server-side anything. If your project needs an API or auth, you're pairing this with another service.

4. Deno Deploy

The deployment platform built by the team behind Deno, optimized for TypeScript and edge functions.

Code runs in V8 isolates at the edge across 35 plus regions. Cold starts are measured in milliseconds. Standard web APIs work out of the box, which means you write fetch handlers instead of cloud-specific function signatures.

Free tier: 1 million requests per month, 20 GB egress, 15 CPU hours, 350 GB-h memory time, 50 custom domains per org, 20 apps, 60 deployments per hour.

Best for: TypeScript-heavy APIs, lightweight web services, anyone who wants to avoid Node and its node_modules folder.

Watch out for: No traditional file system. No long-lived connections. It's serverless, properly, which means certain patterns just don't fit.

5. Koyeb

A serverless platform that runs containers, not functions. The free tier is one of the more generous ones left in 2026.

Koyeb handles deploys from Git or container registries. It autoscales globally, handles HTTPS, and gives you a real VPC if your app needs one. The interface is closer to Heroku than to AWS, which is the point.

Free tier: One free web service with 512 MB RAM, 0.1 vCPU, 2 GB SSD, plus one free PostgreSQL database with limited active time and storage.

Best for: Small full-stack apps that need a real backend. Side projects you want to share without setting up Docker on a VPS.

Watch out for: Cold starts when your app wakes from sleep. Fine for demos, less fine for anything with users expecting instant response.

6. Northflank

A modern PaaS focused on container workloads and microservice architectures.

Northflank handles builds, deploys, databases, and CI in one console. It's the kind of platform you reach for when Render feels too simple but Kubernetes feels too much. Beyond the free Sandbox plan, paid compute starts at around $2.70/month for the smallest plan (nf-compute-10) and scales from there.

Free tier: 2 free services, 1 free database, and 2 free cron jobs on the Sandbox plan.

Best for: Devs already thinking in containers. Apps that need multiple services talking to each other.

Watch out for: Free limits are small. This is a "try the platform" tier, not a "host your indie SaaS forever" tier.

7. Azure Static Web Apps

Microsoft's answer to Vercel, integrated with the Azure Functions ecosystem.

Static Web Apps gives you static hosting plus serverless functions in one deploy. GitHub Actions handles the build. Custom domains and free SSL are included. It plays well with .NET, but the platform itself is framework agnostic.

Free tier: 100 GB bandwidth per subscription, 2 custom domains per app, free SSL, 0.5 GB storage included (0.25 GB max per app), managed Azure Functions, service-defined authentication.

Best for: Teams already on Azure. .NET shops wanting a frontend home. Anyone who wants free serverless functions tied to a static site.

Watch out for: No SLA on the free tier, and the per-app storage cap is tight. Also, the Azure portal is the Azure portal. If you've used it, you know.

8. AWS Amplify

Amazon's full-stack platform, and one of the more usable on-ramps into AWS for devs who don't want to learn CloudFormation first.

Amplify Hosting handles static and SSR deployments with a global CDN. Pair it with Amplify Studio and you get auth, GraphQL, storage, and analytics in one toolkit.

Free tier (12 months only): 1,000 build minutes/month (Standard Instance), 5 GB stored on CDN, 15 GB served, 500,000 SSR requests, 100 GB-hours SSR request duration. AWS Free Tier limits apply to attached services.

Best for: Devs who know they'll end up on AWS eventually and want the on-ramp.

Watch out for: This is a 12-month free tier, not always-free. After that, you're billed. "Free" turns into "billed" the moment you cross any limit, and AWS does not warn you gently. Set billing alerts on day one.

9. Surge.sh

A free static hosting service that's been around since 2015 and quietly never died.

Surge does one thing. You type surge in your terminal and your site is live. No config. No dashboard. No build pipeline.

Free tier: Unlimited publishing, one custom domain, basic SSL.

Best for: Throwaway demos. Client previews. Anything you want online in the next 30 seconds.

Watch out for: No build step. You push the compiled output, not the source. Custom SSL, force HTTPS, custom redirects, and password protection all require the $30/month Professional plan.

10. Val Town

A platform for writing and running short serverless functions, entirely in the browser.

Vals are JavaScript functions you can write, save, and call as APIs. Cron jobs work. HTTP endpoints work. Webhooks work. It's the closest thing to a personal serverless playground.

Free tier: MCP integration, unlimited public vals, 100,000 runs per day, 15-minute cron intervals, 1 min wall clock time per run, 3 days log retention, email yourself.

Best for: Quick automations. API endpoints you need in five minutes. The "I just want to glue these two services together" kind of project.

Watch out for: Not a place to host a real app. Treat it like a smarter cron service. No custom domains on free.

11. Oracle Cloud Always Free

The most generous always-free tier from a major cloud provider, and one of the least talked about.

Oracle gives you a US$300 credit for 30 days to try the full platform, then an Always Free allocation that runs forever. The Always Free tier includes Arm-based Ampere A1 compute (up to 24 GB memory total, usable as one VM or split across multiple VMs), block volume storage, and Always Free database options. Always Free means always free, not "free for 12 months then we bill you."

Free tier: Always Free Arm compute and database services, plus a US$300 credit for the first 30 days to test paid services.

Best for: Self-hosted projects. Personal infrastructure. Apps you want to control end to end.

Watch out for: You're managing a VM. There's no platform layer. You install your own runtime, your own SSL, your own everything. Onboarding has been known to be its own adventure.

12. PythonAnywhere

A Python-specific hosting platform that's been running long enough to remember Python 2.

PythonAnywhere gives you a hosted Python environment with web apps, scheduled tasks, and a browser-based shell. It's the easiest way to put a Django or Flask app online if you've never touched a server.

Free tier (Beginner plan, $0/month): 1 Python web app at yourname.pythonanywhere.com, 1 web worker, up to 2 consoles, 100 CPU seconds per day, low bandwidth, access to specific external sites via HTTP(S) only.

Best for: Python devs prototyping Flask or Django apps. Students. Anyone who wants their first deployment to take under ten minutes.

Watch out for: No custom domain, no SSH, and the 100 CPU second daily allowance is tight. Upgrading to the Developer plan ($10/month) unlocks custom domains, SSH, and 5,000 CPU seconds per day.

13. GitLab Pages

GitHub Pages but with more flexibility, less hype, and the same price.

GitLab Pages serves static sites from any GitLab repo. The big difference is build flexibility. GitLab CI is more powerful than Pages workflows on GitHub, which means you can build with whatever toolchain you want.

Free tier (GitLab Free plan): Source code management & CI/CD, 5 licensed users per namespace, 400 compute minutes per month, 10 GiB storage. Custom domains and free SSL on Pages.

Best for: Teams already on GitLab. Anyone who needs build flexibility GitHub Pages doesn't offer.

Watch out for: The 5-user cap on Free is a real constraint for growing teams. Smaller community, fewer tutorials. You'll be debugging from the docs more than from Stack Overflow.

14. Sevalla

Application hosting from the team behind Kinsta, aimed at full-stack apps. Sevalla's static site hosting is actually free.

Sevalla supports static sites, application hosting, managed databases, and object storage. The static site tier is the standout: free hosting on 260+ edge locations with a real bandwidth allowance, not just a trial. Application and database hosting are paid (starting at $5/month) but the static tier alone is competitive with GitHub Pages and Cloudflare Pages.

Free tier (static site hosting): 260+ global edge locations, auto-deploys on git push, 1 GB size limit per site, 100 GB free bandwidth, 600 free build minutes, 100 sites per account. Fair use policy applies.

Best for: Static sites that need a real bandwidth allowance and global edge delivery. Devs who liked Heroku before it died and want the same managed feel for paid app hosting later.

Watch out for: Only static sites are free. Application hosting ($5/month), database hosting ($5/month), and object storage ($0.02/GB/month) are paid from day one.

15. Zeabur

A modern PaaS in the same category as Railway, with a free plan for trying small projects before moving to a paid tier.

Zeabur deploys apps from Git or templates with one click. It handles databases, custom domains, environment variables, and team collaboration. The UI is clean and the templates cover most common stacks.

Free tier: Dashboard basics and community support, 1 manageable own server, Build CI at 2C4G, 48-hour log retention, 50 MB single file upload limit.

Best for: Anyone who wants Railway's UX without Railway's pricing model.

Watch out for: The free plan is genuinely limited — most useful features (monitoring, backups, agent, longer log retention) sit behind the $5/month Dev plan. Smaller ecosystem and fewer integrations than mainstream options. Paid GCP regions start at $20/month.

Free hosting platforms compared at a glance

How to pick one for your next project

Pick by what your project actually needs, not by what's trending on dev Twitter this week.

If you're shipping a static site with no backend, GitHub Pages, GitLab Pages, Surge, or Sevalla will have you live in minutes. Cloudflare Pages is the upgrade path when you need edge compute later.

If you need serverless functions without a heavy framework, Deno Deploy and Val Town are the lightest options. Azure Static Web Apps is a strong fit if you want functions tied to a static frontend.

If you need a real backend process that runs continuously, look at Koyeb, Northflank, or Zeabur.

If you want full infrastructure control, Oracle Cloud Always Free is one of the strongest free options from a major provider for proper VMs. You're trading convenience for control.

If you're building a Python app, PythonAnywhere stays one of the lowest-friction options in 2026.

If you want a frontend host and a full backend stack in one project, Appwrite Sites is built for exactly that.

When to move beyond free hosting

Free tiers are starting lines, not finish lines. You'll outgrow them when:

• Your app sees consistent traffic that pushes past bandwidth limits.
• Cold starts annoy real users, not just you.
• You need a real database, not a sleeping one.
• You want SLAs, support, and someone to email when things break.

Most of the platforms above have paid tiers that scale from there. A few don't, and that's where moving to a full-stack platform makes sense.

Conclusion

The mainstream free hosting platforms get most of the airtime, but the options above are still worth knowing. Some are old, some are new, and each one gives developers a different way to get projects online without starting on a paid plan.

A pattern shows up if you stitch the picks together. Most of them solve one slice of the stack. Static hosting on one. Edge compute on another. A container runner. A Python sandbox. You end up combining three or four free tiers to ship one real product, and that works until it doesn't. The day one provider sunsets a free plan, raises pricing, or hits a hard limit, the whole setup wobbles.

Start building with Appwrite

The pattern across this list is the same. Most free hosts solve one slice. Stitch three or four together and your app ships, until one of them changes terms and the whole setup wobbles.

Appwrite covers the slices in one open source platform. Sites for the frontend, plus auth, databases, storage, functions, messaging, and realtime for everything behind it. Self-host it or run it on Cloud.

Sign up for Appwrite Cloud or spin up a self-hosted instance in minutes, and have a real full-stack project running before the coffee gets cold.

Resources

• Appwrite documentation
• Appwrite Sites quick start
• Appwrite on GitHub
• Join the Appwrite Discord