The most manual way, and it runs anywhere

Publish as static files

The most manual way, and the one that runs anywhere. You build the site into a folder of ready pages, check it on your computer and copy it to the hosting yourself, on every update. Nothing on the hosting needs PHP, a database or HERON.

Where the files go is your choice: paid shared hosting or a VPS, or free static hosting on GitHub Pages and Cloudflare Pages. All the options with their limits are below.

How it goes

1
Build

heron build . --env prod --strict makes the dist/ folder: every page, image, sitemap and llms.txt.
2
Check on localhost

Start the finished folder in a small nginx and look at it as visitors will.
3
Copy

Send dist/ to the server with rsync, to shared hosting through FTP or the file manager, or to free static hosting.
4
Once: domain and HTTPS

Point the domain to the hosting and turn on a free certificate.
5
Every update

Build and copy again: nothing happens on its own.

Build and check

The same two steps for any hosting.

Build the final version

The strict build opens the site to search engines and stops on any broken link or empty description. The result is one folder, dist/, that holds the whole site.

heron build . --env prod --strict && ls dist

What is inside dist/: Every page as HTML, images in WebP and AVIF of every size, sitemap.xml, robots.txt, llms.txt, the feed, the 404 page.
Server settings: dist/.heron-nginx.conf holds the nginx config for this site, with every redirect.
Hidden files: Names starting with a dot are hidden in Finder and Explorer; ls -a dist shows them.
If it stops: The build names the file and the line. Fix it and run the command again. Common errors
Takes: About a second for a small site; a thousand pages in two languages take a few seconds.

Look at it as visitors will

Start the finished folder in a small nginx and open localhost:8080. This is the same server software a hosting uses, so you see the site exactly as visitors will.

docker run --rm -p 8080:8080 -v "$PWD/dist:/usr/share/nginx/html:ro" nginxinc/nginx-unprivileged:1.27-alpine

Check: The home page, a page in the second language, a missing address.
Missing address: Open localhost:8080/no-such-page/: your 404 page should appear, not a browser error.
Phone view: In the browser, open the developer tools and switch to a phone size to see the mobile layout.
Stop it: Ctrl+C in the terminal. No Docker? Install it.

Your own server with nginx

A VPS from about €5–6 a month. The way that keeps real 301 and 410 redirects without Docker.

Copy the files

rsync sends only what changed and removes pages you deleted. You run it on your computer; it connects to the server over SSH.

rsync -avz --delete dist/ you@my-server:/var/www/my-site/

Without rsync: Any file manager or SFTP client works too.
The slash matters: dist/ with a slash copies the contents of the folder, not the folder itself.
First time: Create the folder on the server once: sudo mkdir -p /var/www/my-site && sudo chown you /var/www/my-site.
Every update: Build, then the same rsync line. Nothing else changes on the server.

Set up nginx once

Copy dist/.heron-nginx.conf to /etc/nginx/sites-available/my-site.conf, set the folder /var/www/my-site and your domain in it, then enable it. nginx is the small web server that sends your pages to visitors.

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/my-site.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ && sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx

nginx -t: Checks the config before reload, so a typo never takes the site down.
What the config already has: Every 301 from redirect_from:, every 410 from gone:, your 404 page, compression and cache rules.
Install nginx: On Debian or Ubuntu: sudo apt install nginx.
When to repeat: Only when redirects change: copy the new config from dist/ and reload.

Point the domain and add HTTPS

An A record at your domain registrar with the server address, then a free certificate from Let's Encrypt. HTTPS is the lock in the address bar; browsers warn about sites without it.

sudo certbot --nginx -d my-site.com -d www.my-site.com

Renewal: certbot renews the certificate on its own.
A record: Name @, value the server IP address. Add the same for www, or a CNAME from www to the domain.
Wait: A new record usually works within an hour, sometimes up to a day. Domains in plain words
Install certbot: On Debian or Ubuntu: sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx.

Shared hosting

Ordinary paid hosting with a control panel and FTP. The cheapest paid option, often already in use for an old site; it needs no Docker and no commands on the server.

Upload the files

Copy the contents of dist/ into the site folder of the hosting, usually public_html or www.

How: The file manager in the panel, or an FTP client such as FileZilla.
Every update: Upload the folder again; delete pages that no longer exist.
Replace, do not merge: The safest way is to delete the old files and upload the new folder, so removed pages do not linger.
Check: Open the domain in a private browser window; a cached old page in your usual window can mislead.
Domain: Usually already pointed at the hosting; if not, the hosting panel shows which records to set.

Redirects on shared hosting

Shared hosting usually runs Apache, which does not read nginx configs. Pages work as usual; only redirects from old addresses need a manual step.

Old addresses: The list is in dist/redirects.map (301) and dist/gone.map (410). Add them in the redirect settings of the panel.
Moving an old site: If you move many addresses, prefer your own server or the image: there the redirects work at once.
New site: No old addresses means nothing to do here.
Check a redirect: Open the old address: the browser should land on the new one, and the address bar should change.

Free static hosting

Both services host the dist/ folder with your domain and HTTPS, with no server at all.

GitHub Pages

Publish dist/ with GitHub Actions on every push, or from a branch.

Size: A published site up to 1 GB; the repository should stay under 1 GB too.
Traffic: A soft limit of 100 GB a month.
Builds: A soft limit of 10 builds an hour; it does not apply when you publish with your own GitHub Actions workflow.
Plan: On the free plan only public repositories. Private ones need GitHub Pro or a paid team plan.
Rules: Not allowed as free hosting for an online shop, a business that sells online or a paid service. A business card site, a portfolio, docs and a blog are fine.
Domain: A CNAME file in static/ is copied to the root of dist/. GitHub Pages with your own domain
Workflow: git push to GitHub Pages

Cloudflare Pages

Connect the repository, or upload the dist/ folder in the dashboard. A good choice when the repository is private and you do not want to pay for GitHub Pro.

Builds: 500 a month on the free plan, one at a time.
Files: Up to 20,000 files per site and 25 MiB per file.
Repositories: Private ones are fine.
Domain: Add it in the project settings; Cloudflare issues the certificate.
Upload by hand: Workers & Pages → Create → Pages → Upload assets → drop the contents of dist/.

What free static hosting cannot do

Both are file hosting, not a server. For most new sites that is fine; it matters when you move an old site with many addresses.

Redirects: No nginx: real 301 and 410 from the HERON config do not work as is. Cloudflare can take rules built from dist/redirects.map.
When to move: A live business site with many old addresses is better on a server with the image.
Forms: A form needs a small separate service on any static hosting; the site itself stays files.
Your 404 page: Both show it for missing addresses; GitHub Pages reads 404.html from the root of the site.

Free container hosting

If you want the image with its nginx and real redirects but no server bill, a few services run one Docker container for free. Each has a catch. Data checked in September 2026; free tiers change often, check before you rely on one.

Google Cloud Run

An always-free allowance per billing account. Plenty for a small site; the price is setting up a Google Cloud account.

Limits: 2 million requests, 180,000 vCPU-seconds and 360,000 GiB-seconds a month.
Sleep: The container scales to zero when idle and wakes on the first request.
Catch: Needs a billing account with a card; usage above the allowance is billed.
Domain: A custom domain is set up in Cloud Run itself or through a load balancer, depending on the region.

Render

A free web service from a Docker image. The simplest of the four to set up: point it at your image and it runs.

Sleep: Stops after 15 minutes without visitors; the first visitor waits about a minute.
Traffic: 5 GB a month, then paid.
Good for: Tests and previews, not a live business site.
Size: 512 MB of memory and a tenth of a CPU: plenty for nginx with static pages.

Koyeb

One free web service per account. Regions are Frankfurt or Washington.

Size: 512 MB of memory, a tenth of a CPU.
Sleep: Scales to zero after an hour without visitors.
Catch: A card is needed, with a temporary hold.
Good for: A small site that can live with a slow first open after a quiet hour.

Oracle Cloud Always Free

Not a container service but a real small server, free for good. The only free option where the paid HERON Agent can run too.

What runs: Docker, your site images and HERON Agent, like on a paid VPS.
Catch: A card and a phone number are needed; idle machines may be taken back; free capacity is often busy.
You look after it: Like any server: updates, Docker, nginx with HTTPS in front of the site.
Good for: People who are comfortable with a server and want several sites for free.

No longer free

These used to be the usual answer and are not anymore.

Fly.io: Free allowances ended in October 2024; only a short trial now.
Heroku: Free plans ended in November 2022.

Questions

Does the site need PHP or a database?

No. Every page is ready HTML. The server only hands out files, so there is nothing to hack or update on it.

How often do I copy the files?

After every change. Nothing happens on its own here. If that gets tiresome, switch to git push: the folder stays the same, and GitHub can even publish to GitHub Pages for you.

Will search engines see the language versions?

Yes. The hreflang tags and the sitemap are inside the pages and files, so they work on any hosting.

Which free option should I start with?

A portfolio or a business card site: GitHub Pages or Cloudflare Pages. If you need real redirects from an old site, take a small VPS from about €5–6 a month.