GitHub Pages vs Cloudflare Pages vs Netlify vs Vercel (Free, 2026)

The four big free static hosts are GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, Netlify and Vercel, and they are close enough that the fine print decides it. In short: Cloudflare Pages wins on bandwidth, GitHub Pages wins on simplicity, Netlify wins on build features, and Vercel wins for framework sites but bans commercial use on its free plan. All four give you a free custom domain and free HTTPS. Here is the head-to-head on the numbers that actually matter, checked 2026-09-10.

Cloudflare Pages: the bandwidth winner

Cloudflare Pages is the strongest free static host because it removes the one risk the others carry: bandwidth. It serves unlimited bandwidth and unlimited sites on the free plan, so a post that goes viral costs you nothing. You get 500 builds a month, one build at a time, a free custom domain and free SSL, plus optional serverless Functions. It allows commercial use. The only reasons to look elsewhere are if you specifically want GitHub's repo-native workflow or Netlify's build extras. For most people, Cloudflare Pages is the default recommendation.

GitHub Pages: the simplest

GitHub Pages is the easiest option if your code already lives on GitHub, because it deploys a site straight from a repository with almost no configuration. It offers a free custom domain and HTTPS and carries generous soft limits — GitHub suggests staying under roughly 1 GB of storage and 100 GB of bandwidth a month. Its main caveat is in the terms: GitHub Pages is aimed at personal, project and documentation sites, and its guidelines discourage primarily commercial use and running an online business through it. For an open-source project page or a developer portfolio, it is the least-friction choice on the list.

Netlify (free): the build features

Netlify's free tier is the most feature-rich for the build itself: deploy previews, form handling, serverless functions and a polished dashboard, with a free custom domain and HTTPS. It caps you at 100 GB of bandwidth and 300 build minutes a month, and limits the free team to a single member. The reason it sits just behind Cloudflare is the overage: exceed the free bandwidth and the extra cost is steep, so a traffic spike can turn a free site into a bill. For a controlled-traffic site that benefits from Netlify's extras, it is excellent; just know where the meter is.

Vercel (Hobby): great, but personal only

Vercel's free Hobby plan is a superb home for framework-built personal sites, with 100 GB of data transfer a month, a free custom domain, SSL and instant global deploys. Its defining catch is the licence: the Hobby plan is for personal, non-commercial use only. The moment a site charges customers, runs ads for profit or represents a business, Vercel's terms require the Pro plan at 20 dollars per developer a month. That makes Vercel outstanding for a hobby project and off-limits, on the free tier, for anything commercial — a distinction that catches people out after they have built the site.

Which should you pick?

Pick Cloudflare Pages unless you have a specific reason not to — its unlimited bandwidth removes the only real free-tier risk. Pick GitHub Pages for a repo-based project or docs site. Pick Netlify if its build features earn their keep and your traffic is predictable. Pick Vercel for a personal framework site you will never monetise. For the wider decision — including how these compare with a free PHP host — see the best free hosting for a static site and our full best free web hosting ranking.

What none of them can do

All four share the same hard boundary, and it is the first thing to check against your project. None of them is a traditional web host: there is no PHP, no MySQL database, no cPanel, and no persistent server running your code between requests. That means a classic self-hosted WordPress install, a phpBB forum or an off-the-shelf PHP shopping cart will not run on any of them. They serve static files, and they run short-lived serverless functions on top — a modern architecture, but not the shared-hosting model a lot of software still expects. If your site is content, these platforms are ideal; if it is a packaged PHP application, you need a PHP host like InfinityFree for free, or a cheap paid shared plan.

Serverless functions on the free tiers

The way these hosts handle anything dynamic is serverless functions, and three of the four include them free. Cloudflare Pages pairs with Cloudflare's Workers and Functions, Netlify has Netlify Functions, and Vercel has its own functions, each with a monthly free allowance of invocations and compute — enough for a contact form, a small API call, or light dynamic logic on an otherwise static site. GitHub Pages is the pure-static exception: it serves files only, with no serverless layer, so dynamic bits there need an external service. For most personal and small-business sites the free function allowances are ample; you only need to watch them if a function runs on heavy traffic or does real work per call. This is what lets a "static" host power a form, a search box or a simple app feature without ever becoming a traditional server.

One practical note ties the functions back to the plan limits: serverless usage draws on its own free quota, separate from bandwidth and builds, so a busy function can hit its ceiling while your static traffic is nowhere near the bandwidth cap. If you plan to lean on functions, read that specific allowance on each host rather than assuming the headline bandwidth number covers it. For a mostly static site with light dynamic touches, none of this will trouble you; for a function-heavy project, it is the limit that decides the host.

A note on how fast these change

Free-tier limits on these platforms move, so treat the exact figures here as a snapshot checked on 2026-09-10 rather than a permanent contract. Build allowances, function quotas and bandwidth caps have all shifted over the years as the providers tune their free offers, usually loosening in some places and tightening in others. The stable parts — Cloudflare's unlimited bandwidth, Netlify's 100 GB cap, Vercel's non-commercial licence, GitHub Pages' static-only nature — have held for a long time and are safe to plan around. The precise build-minute or invocation numbers are the parts most likely to have changed by the time you read this, so confirm the current figure on the host's own pricing page before you commit to one because of a specific quota. The overall ranking, though, rarely moves: Cloudflare's unlimited bandwidth keeps it the safest default whatever the smaller numbers do.