Write text, fill in a form, publish
A website without coding
You can build a website yourself without coding: write the pages as plain text, answer a short form for the settings, and publish with one command. HERON turns that into a fast site with search tags, languages and a sitemap, with no PHP and no builder subscription. A database is not needed; if you ever want live data, it connects as an optional module.
The only skills you need are typing text and copying a command. Below: the three usual ways to make a site yourself, what each costs over time, and the HERON way step by step.
Three ways to make a site yourself
| Online builder | WordPress | HERON | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | Usually yes, for your domain and no ads | Hosting with PHP and a database | None: free hosting works |
| Who owns the site | The builder: moving out is hard | You | You: one folder of files |
| What needs updating | Nothing, the platform does it | Core, theme and plugins, regularly | Nothing on the server |
| Search tags and speed | Depends on the platform | Plugins | Built in, checked on every build |
| Code needed | No | No for basics, yes for anything custom | No |
Why no PHP and no database by default
Nothing to hack
Nothing to update
Cheap to host
Fast
A database only if you need one
Step by step
- 1
Install Docker
Docker Desktop is a free program that runs HERON in a closed box, so nothing else is installed on your computer. - 2
Create the site
Run the command below. It takes the latest HERON image, and the image creates the site folder: content structure, demo pages and a theme. - 3
Fill in the configurator
A questionnaire: business name, domain, address, hours, social links, what kind of business you are, the theme. Every field has a hint. The configurator fits the structure to your project. - 4
Write your texts
Open the home page file of your site (in the folder of your language insidecontent/) in any editor and replace the demo text. A heading is a line starting with##, a list item starts with-. Look at the same page in the preview to see which line becomes which block. - 5
Add pages
Copy an existing page file, save it under a new name such asservices.md, and change its text. The name becomes the address/services/, and on the next build the page appears in its section, the sitemap and llms.txt. - 6
Preview
Openlocalhost:8000. The site updates each time you save. - 7
Publish
When everything is ready, publish the finished site the way you chose: as files on any hosting, or as an image. - 8
- 9
- 10
What a page looks like
This is a complete page. Everything else, from the menu to the search tags, is done for you.
---
title: "Bakery in Graz: bread, cakes, orders"
h1: "Fresh bread every morning"
description: "Family bakery in Graz. Bread from 6 am, cakes to order."
---
We bake from 4 am, so the bread is still warm when you come.
## Opening hours {#hours}
- **Monday to Friday.** 6:00–18:00
- **Saturday.** 7:00–13:00
A business card site in a day
For a simple site with one to five pages, such as a business card for a craftsman, a lawyer or a clinic, start from a theme with demo content. The text structure is already there, you replace the words and photos. See the themes.
Not even that? Ask an AI agent
Give Claude Code, Codex or another AI agent your texts and a short task. It fills the page files with your content and completes the required fields, following the same rules, and the build checks the result. It works on the content only: the structure of the pages and the theme stay as they are. HERON for AI agents →
Questions
Do I really not need to know HTML or PHP?
No. Pages are text with a few marks: ## for a heading, - for a list item. The theme draws everything else.
What do I need on my computer?
Docker, a text editor and a browser. On Windows, HERON runs in WSL, the Linux terminal built into Windows.
How much does it cost?
HERON is free and open source. Hosting on GitHub Pages (public repository, up to 1 GB) or Cloudflare Pages is free. A domain costs about 10–15 USD a year. A small server of your own starts at about €5–6 a month. Hosting options
Can I add a contact form?
Yes. A form sends to your email or a form service. No server program is needed for that.
What if I get stuck?
Every command and setting is described in the documentation, and heron docs prints the instructions for exactly your version in the terminal.