Exact plans, no fog
StaticHost pricing is organized by how many sites you run and how much storage they consume, with staging and teams appearing as you move up. This page states the numbers and what they buy—without fake “unlimited” language.
| Plan | Monthly price | Sites | Storage | Extra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $9 | 1 | 2 GB | — |
| Pro | $30 | 3 | 10 GB | Staging |
| Scale | $65 | 10 | 30 GB | — |
| Business | $130 | 30 | 100 GB | Teams |
Trial: about one day. No forever-free tier. After trial, pick a paid plan to keep sites online. Compare philosophy with free vs paid static hosting.
What every plan includes
- Hosting for static files: HTML, CSS, JS, images, fonts, generator output.
- Deploy via zip upload or GitHub (artifact files—not remote
npm/hugo/jekyll). - HTTPS on preview hostnames immediately.
- Custom domain support with certificates issued after DNS verification.
- Deploy history with rollback.
- nginx file serving with
try_files $uri $uri/ =404(no SPA index fallback).
What no plan includes
- cPanel
- Email mailboxes
- Built-in CDN product
- Platform serverless functions
- WordPress/PHP runtime
- Invented rewrites for client-side routers
If you need PHP or WordPress, use a different kind of host. If you need functions, use a platform that sells them—where to host.
How to choose a tier
Starter ($9). One portfolio, one docs site, one landing page. 2 GB covers typical code and compressed media. Natural home for resume and personal HTML projects.
Pro ($30). Freelancers with a few clients, or one client plus staging plus an experiments site. Staging exists so production deploys stay boring. 10 GB helps image-heavier marketing pages.
Scale ($65). Agencies or product companies with up to ten static properties—campaign pages, microsites, doc versions. See agencies and campaign landing pages.
Business ($130). Up to thirty sites, 100 GB, teams. Multi-seat workflows and larger media libraries (photography-heavy work—photography portfolio).
Storage math without scare tactics
2 GB is roughly two thousand one-megabyte images—or far more if you compress responsibly. Most JS marketing sites barely dent Starter. Failures come from uploading raw video or entire node_modules by mistake. Publish build output only.
If you approach limits, optimize assets before assuming you must jump two tiers. When site *count* is the bottleneck, upgrade for sites, not storage.
Staging as a budget line
Staging is not a toy; it is where you bake VITE_* / NEXT_PUBLIC_* staging keys and show clients unfinished IA. Pro’s staging feature is often the reason to leave Starter even when one production site would fit in 2 GB. Running “staging” by overwriting production is false economy.
Cost compared to assembling IaaS
S3 + CloudFront + ACM + logging + preview buckets has a low cash floor and a high attention ceiling. StaticHost’s $9–$130 band buys a site-shaped workflow. Neither is universally cheaper; measure your time. Broader comparison: where to host a static website.
Operational tips that save money
- Delete dead campaign sites after teardown windows.
- Do not duplicate identical asset libraries across ten sites without need—or do, and budget Scale/Business honestly.
- Roll back bad deploys instead of panic-hotfixes that create more deploys and confusion.
- Keep SPA architectures compatible with
=404so you do not churn hosts hunting for redirects.
Worked example: freelancer plan path over a year
Month 1: personal portfolio on Starter ($9). Zip HTML; HTTPS preview; later custom domain after DNS verifies.
Month 4: first client brochure. Upgrade to Pro ($30) for three sites + staging. Client reviews staging; you promote; you keep your portfolio on site #2.
Month 8: two seasonal campaign microsites. Still on Pro until a third client arrives—then Scale ($65) for ten sites becomes cheaper than juggling deletions weekly. You schedule teardown dates so Scale does not silently become a junk drawer.
Month 12: collaborating designer needs access without sharing the owner password—evaluate Business ($130) for teams, or keep Scale if access stays via GitHub only.
At no point did paying more unlock remote npm, email, a CDN product, or SPA fallback. Higher tiers buy inventory and workflow, not mythology.
Failure table: pricing misunderstandings
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| “Unlimited sites?” expectation | Marketing elsewhere | Use the table: 1/3/10/30 |
| Bill high after campaigns | Forgotten microsites | Teardown runbook |
| Thought $9 included mail | Wrong product category | Separate mail vendor |
| Upgraded for “speed” | Assumed CDN SKU | Optimize assets; CDN not included |
| Hit storage with tiny site | Uploaded node_modules/video | Publish dist only; compress |
| Want forever $0 | Misread trial | Trial ~1 day; then paid or other hosts |
| SPA host-hopping costs | Needed rewrite, not more sites | Hash/SSG or different platform |
Extra procedure: quarterly cost review (30 minutes)
- List every StaticHost site and last traffic-meaningful date.
- Mark campaign sites past teardown windows; delete or sunset.
- Sum storage; compress or externalize outliers (video, RAW).
- Check whether you pay for Scale site count you no longer use—downgrade if within lower limits.
- Confirm staging still earns its Pro+ keep (client QA, env separation).
- Re-read what plans do not include so roadmap items (functions, WordPress, mail) get proper budgets elsewhere.
- Document owners for each site; orphaned sites are how $65 becomes $130 accidentally.
Pair with free vs paid when stakeholders ask why GitHub Pages exists. Pricing clarity is part of hosting reliability.
Passing cost to clients without awkwardness
Agencies often hide hosting inside retainers; freelancers often show a line item. Either works if the plan math is explainable: “Pro at $30 covers staging plus your site plus my experiments site.” Avoid quoting “unlimited static hosting” when the real ceiling is 3, 10, or 30 sites. When a client’s campaign calendar implies eight microsites, quote Scale ($65) up front rather than surprising them after Starter fills.
Mention the short trial and the absence of forever-free so finance does not model $0. Mention that domain registration and email are separate vendors so your $9–$130 figure is not accused of bait-and-switch. Honesty about no CDN product and no remote builds prevents scope arguments mid-contract. Tie invoices to teardown dates for campaigns so you are not financing ghost sites on Business unnecessarily.
FAQ
Are prices per year?
Quoted as monthly: $9, $30, $65, $130. Check the billing UI for annual options if offered; this guide states the monthly figures.
Does custom domain cost extra on Starter?
Domain registration is paid to your registrar. Certificate issuance after DNS verify is part of hosting.
Is bandwidth metered in this table?
This guide documents the plan dimensions given: sites, storage, staging, teams. Trust the dashboard for any additional meters.
Can I downgrade?
If you are within the lower plan’s site and storage limits, downgrade paths follow billing UI rules—reduce usage first.
Why is there no free plan?
Product choice: short trial, then paid. Forever-free lives elsewhere in the ecosystem.