One folder, three ways online

Store and publish

Q: Which way keeps search rankings when I move an old site?

Any of them. Old addresses go to redirect_from: in the pages, and HERON writes real 301 redirects. In the image they work at once; on other hosting you connect the map files once.

A HERON site is one folder of text files. The final build turns it into one of two things: plain files for any hosting, or an image, the whole site packed with a small web server, ready for any machine with Docker. An image can be stored in GitHub, in Docker Hub or in your own registry.

Choose how to store and publish: today there are three ways, and more will come. The site is identical in all of them. What differs is how many steps run by themselves after the first setup, and where the site lives: a server with Docker, ordinary hosting, or free static hosting.

git pushEdit a page, commit and push: GitHub Actions builds the site, checks that it opens and publishes it to your server or to GitHub Pages.Docker HubAccount and token, build the site into a small nginx image, push it to a private Docker Hub repository, pull and run it on any server with Docker.Static filesBuild the dist folder and copy it to shared hosting or a VPS, or host it free on GitHub Pages or Cloudflare Pages. Limits and free container options.

The ways side by side

	git push	Docker Hub	Static files
Every update	Edit, commit, push	Build, pack, push the image	Build and copy the files
Who builds	GitHub Actions, automatically	You, on your computer	You, on your computer
Check before going live	Automatic: home 200, missing page 404, every redirect	You run the image on localhost	You open the site on localhost
Where the site runs	A server with Docker, or GitHub Pages	A server with Docker	Shared hosting, a VPS, GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages
Real 301 and 410	Yes, inside the image	Yes, inside the image	With nginx; on other hosting from the map files
Server update	One command, or HERON Agent (paid)	One command, or HERON Agent (paid)	You copy again
Cost	From free (GitHub Pages) to a VPS	A VPS, Docker Hub free tier	From free to shared hosting
Good for	Most sites, teams, work with AI agents	Agencies, closed projects, own registry	A portfolio, a first site, hosting without Docker

Which one to pick

git push

You change a text, push, and GitHub does the rest: build, check, publish. After the first setup an update is three commands, and you never copy files by hand.

How an update looks: Edit a page file, for example services.md, then git add . && git commit -m "New prices" && git push. In a few minutes the site is updated.
What runs for you: GitHub Actions builds the site with the strict check, packs it into an image and makes sure it opens. A broken page never goes live.
History: Every change is saved, so any version can be brought back.
Good for: Most sites, teams, AI agents that work through pull requests.
You need: A GitHub account. A server with Docker, or GitHub Pages for free. New to git? Start here.
Guide: Publish with git push

Docker Hub

You build the image yourself and keep it in your own private registry. An image is the whole site packed with a small web server, ready to run on any machine with Docker.

How an update looks: Build the site, pack it into an image, push it to Docker Hub, then pull and restart it on the server. Four commands, all on this site.
Why private: Nobody but you and your server can download the image, even if the site is a client's project.
Two tokens: One with write access for the machine that builds, one read-only for the server.
Good for: Agencies with many sites, closed projects, teams without GitHub.
You need: A Docker Hub account and a server with Docker. Install Docker
Guide: Publish an image to Docker Hub

Static files

You build a folder of ready pages and copy it anywhere. The most manual way, but it needs no Docker on the server and works with any hosting.

How an update looks: heron build . --env prod --strict, then copy the dist/ folder to the hosting: by rsync, FTP or the hosting's file manager.
What is in the folder: Every page as an HTML file, images in every size, sitemap, robots.txt, llms.txt and a ready nginx config.
Free option: GitHub Pages or Cloudflare Pages take the folder with your domain and HTTPS.
Catch: Nothing happens on its own: every change means build and copy again. Real 301 redirects need nginx or a hosting that supports redirect rules.
Good for: A portfolio, a small business card site, a first try, hosting without Docker.
Guide: Publish as static files

Where your site can live

The choice of hosting applies to every way above. A server with Docker runs the image; any hosting serves static files.

Shared hosting or a VPS

Paid, and fully yours. A VPS is a small rented server where you install Docker or nginx; shared hosting is a folder on someone else's server with a control panel. Both work with every way above.

Cost: A small VPS starts at about €5–6 a month, for example Hetzner CX23 at €5.49 a month without VAT after its June 2026 price change. Prices change, check the provider.
Shared hosting: Ordinary hosting with a control panel takes static files. It usually has no Docker.
Good for: Live business sites, several sites on one server, the image with real redirects.
Guide: Your own server with nginx

Free static hosting

GitHub Pages and Cloudflare Pages host the dist/ folder with your domain and HTTPS. For a portfolio, a blog or a small business site this is often all you need, at zero cost.

GitHub Pages: A published site up to 1 GB and a soft limit of 100 GB of traffic a month. On the free plan only public repositories; private ones need GitHub Pro. Not allowed as hosting for an online shop or a paid service.
Cloudflare Pages: 500 builds a month, up to 20,000 files per site and 25 MiB per file on the free plan, private repositories are fine.
Domain: GitHub Pages with your own domain
Guide: Free hosting for static files

Free container hosting

A few services run one Docker container for free. Each has a catch, so they suit tests and small projects better than a business site.

Google Cloud Run: An always-free allowance of 2 million requests a month; the container sleeps when idle. Needs a billing account with a card.
Render: A free web service sleeps after 15 minutes without visitors and takes about a minute to wake; 5 GB of traffic a month.
Oracle Cloud Always Free: A real small server where Docker and the Agent can run. Needs a card; idle machines may be taken back.
No longer free: Fly.io and Heroku. Data checked in September 2026; free tiers change often.
Guide: Containers for free: the details

Paid

HERON Agent

An add-on for your server that takes over the update step. You do not need it to publish: it saves time when you run several sites.

What it does: Sees a new image of your site in the registry, swaps the container, checks that the site opens and rolls back if not.
Control: Through Telegram: add sites, watch them, update. Your own bot, or ours by subscription.
Without it: Everything on this page works: the server is updated with one command.
More: HERON Agent

Before any of them

1
Set the domain

The working domain in site.yaml, or in the configurator.
2
Look at the site

heron serve . and open localhost:8000. The site rebuilds on every save.
3
Build the final version

heron build . --env prod --strict opens the site to search engines and turns every warning into an error, so a broken link never goes live.

Questions

Can I switch the way later?

Yes. The folder stays the same; only the last step changes. Many sites start with static files on GitHub Pages and move to git push with their own server.

Do I need my own server?

No. Static files run on GitHub Pages or Cloudflare Pages for free, and git push can publish straight to GitHub Pages. A server is needed for the image with real redirects.

Is HERON Agent required?

No. It is a paid add-on that saves you the update command and watches the server. Every way on this page works without it.

Which way keeps search rankings when I move an old site?

Any of them. Old addresses go to redirect_from: in the pages, and HERON writes real 301 redirects. In the image they work at once; on other hosting you connect the map files once.