Guides / Finipage / Putting it online

How to Put an HTML File Online: 4 Free or Cheap Hosts

By the Qorlize team · Last reviewed November 11, 2026

Finipage guide · Edit HTML files without code. Open Finipage

You have a file called index.html that looks right when you double-click it. The address bar says something like file:///C:/Users/you/Desktop/index.html, which only works on your own computer. To send the page to a client or print it on a flyer as a QR code, the file has to live on a web server with a real address. There are several free or cheap ways to do that, and they differ mostly in three things: what account you need, how you update the page later, and what limits apply.

Before you upload: what "static page" means

Every option below hosts static files. The server hands out your HTML, CSS, images and JavaScript exactly as they are. Nothing runs on the server. That covers most landing pages, portfolios, event pages and menus, but it has one consequence people often miss: a contact form has nowhere to send its data. If your page has a <form> with a submit button, clicking it will either reload the page or show an error.

The usual fix is a separate form service (Formspree, Google Forms, Tally and similar). You point the form's action at the address they give you, or replace the form with an embedded one. The same applies to anything that needs a database, logins or payments.

Edit first, then upload the whole folder

Hosting and editing are separate jobs. Make your final changes in whatever you like: Notepad, VS Code, or a visual editor such as Finipage, which opens the file in your browser, lets you fix text and images by clicking, and saves it back to your disk. Finipage does not put pages online; once the file is saved, you take it to one of the hosts below.

What you upload matters more than which editor you used. A typical page is not one file but a small folder:

bakery-site/
  index.html
  style.css
  images/
    hero.jpg
    logo.png

If index.html refers to images/hero.jpg, the host needs the images folder sitting next to it in the same arrangement. Upload bakery-site as a whole, not the HTML file alone, and keep the main page named index.html so the bare address opens it. Paths that start with C:\Users\... will break the moment the file leaves your computer. Why images don't show in an HTML file explains how to spot and fix them.

GitHub Pages

Account: a free GitHub account. On GitHub Free the repository has to be public, so anyone can read your source files. Paid plans can publish from a private repository, but the site itself is public either way.

Updating: you change files in the repository and the site rebuilds after a short wait. You can upload files through the website with "Add file", but most people end up learning basic Git, which is the real cost here.

Limits: GitHub's documentation puts the published site at no more than 1 GB, with a soft bandwidth limit of 100 GB a month and a soft limit of 10 builds an hour. It also says Pages is not to be used as free hosting for an online business or e-commerce site. Figures change, so check the "GitHub Pages limits" page before you rely on them. Your address will be username.github.io/repository-name unless you add a domain.

Netlify Drop

Account: none to start. You drag a folder onto the Drop page and get a random address within seconds. Until you claim the project by signing up or logging in, Netlify protects that address with a temporary password and treats it as temporary, so in practice you create a free account to keep it.

Updating: on the project dashboard, under "Production deploys", you drag the whole updated folder onto the drop area. Drop the folder, not the single file, or your images will be missing.

Limits: the free plan has monthly usage allowances. Netlify has changed how it counts them more than once, so check their current pricing page rather than trusting an old blog post. The address is something.netlify.app, and you can rename the first part.

Cloudflare Pages

Account: a free Cloudflare account.

Updating: either connect a Git repository, or use direct upload and drag in the folder (or a zip of it) each time you change something. Choose at the start: a direct upload project can't be switched to Git later.

Limits: comfortably enough for a single page. Dragging files in through the dashboard allows up to 1,000 files, each no larger than 25 MiB, which only matters if you have big videos or a large image library. The address is project-name.pages.dev. The dashboard holds many unrelated products, which can be confusing the first time.

Shared hosting with FTP

This is the traditional route, and still common in Korea through hosts such as Cafe24, Gabia and Dothome. You rent a small amount of space for a monthly fee and get FTP login details. Dothome also has a free plan with 500 MB of space and 15 GB of monthly traffic, but it only gives you a Dothome address (no own domain), has no SSL, and has to be extended every six months.

Account: a hosting account, usually with identity verification and, for paid plans, payment details.

Updating: open an FTP program such as FileZilla, connect with the host name, user and password from the hosting control panel, and drag your folder's contents into the web folder (often named www or public_html; your host's manual will say which). Overwriting a file updates the page.

Limits: set by your plan's disk space and daily traffic. HTTPS is handled per plan: some certificates are free but carry an installation fee, others are paid, and Dothome needs a paid add-on before SSL can be installed. Check before you print the address. The upside is that you usually also get PHP and a database, so forms can be handled on the same server.

Which one to choose

If you need one page online today and don't want to touch Git or FTP, a drag-and-drop host such as Netlify Drop or Cloudflare Pages' direct upload is the shortest path. If you expect to edit often and don't mind learning a little Git, GitHub Pages keeps a history of every change. If forms must be processed on your own server, shared hosting is still the simplest all-in-one choice.

Once the page is live, you may want your own address instead of a subdomain: see how to connect a custom domain. Before sending the link around, check how it looks on a phone.

Want to try it on your own file? Open the Finipage editor. It runs in your browser and your file stays on your device.