Criteria before brand names

“Where to host an HTML website” should not start with a forty-row comparison table. Start with constraints: Do you already have files? Who runs TLS? Do you need the host to compile anything? Do you need mailboxes on the same invoice? Do you need history-mode SPA rewrites? Answer those, and most hosts fall away before you ever open a pricing page.

StaticHost fits when the answer is: files ready (or built locally), HTTPS preview then DNS then cert, zip or GitHub of those files, nginx try_files $uri $uri/ =404 with no SPA fallback, no remote npm/Hugo, no email, no CDN product, paid plans $9 / $30 / $65 / $130 after a short trial—not forever free.

Adjacent picks for similar decision work: best host for a static website, static website hosting for front end projects, static website hosting for agencies.

Write your constraints on paper once. Hosting debates go in circles when one person quietly requires remote builds and another quietly requires $0. Surface the quiet requirements; the shortlist shrinks.

What this host is

StaticHost is HTML/CSS/JS and static generator output hosting. You upload a finished tree. Preview gets HTTPS immediately. Custom domains get certificates after DNS verifies. Deploy history supports rollback. Plans scale by site count and storage: Starter 1 site / 2 GB at $9, Pro 3 / 10 GB + staging at $30, Scale 10 / 30 GB at $65, Business 30 / 100 GB + teams at $130.

It is deliberately small. The server returns files. That is the product. Agencies use it for microsites; individuals use it for personal HTML; docs teams use it for generator output. The contract does not change with the audience.

What this host is not

Not a remote CI builder. Not WordPress/PHP hosting. Not a mail provider. Not a global CDN control plane. Not a forever-free commons. Not an SPA-fallback platform—unknown paths 404 unless a file exists. If you need those, pick a different class of host on purpose instead of stretching this one until support tickets invent features.

Also not a browser IDE that replaces your editor. Edit locally, publish the tree. That discipline keeps “where to host” from becoming “where to learn a proprietary CMS.”

Decision filters that matter

  • Build location. If you refuse to run a local or CI build, you need a build-centric JAMstack platform—not StaticHost.
  • Routing. If marketing insists on clean URLs for a client-only router without prerender, you need fallback rewrites elsewhere.
  • Mail. If the invoice must include @domain inboxes, buy mail separately or choose a combined host; StaticHost will not.
  • Ops appetite. If you enjoy patching VPS nginx, you can self-host; most HTML brochure owners should not.
  • Budget shape. Forever $0 → GitHub Pages class. Predictable paid file hosting → StaticHost. Enterprise edge rules → object storage + CDN.
  • Preview workflow. Prefer hosts that give HTTPS without DNS so stakeholders can review without registrar access.

Score each filter. The host that wins the scorecard is the answer—not the one with the densest feature matrix.

Worked example: documentation folder from a generator

Your open-source library uses MkDocs or Docusaurus locally. mkdocs build (or npm run build) emits a site/ or build/ directory of HTML. You need a stable URL for the docs subdomain.

Decision: StaticHost is a fit because the artifact is already HTML. You will not ask the host to install Python plugins or run npm. Zip site/ contents, deploy, preview, then point docs.example.com after the preview’s search box and version picker work. Confirm that asset paths honor the docs baseURL; misconfigured bases show up as CSS 404s on preview, which is exactly when you want to catch them.

Not a fit: needing preview builds of every pull request with remote install of theme dependencies. That is CI plus a build-aware host. StaticHost can still receive the CI artifact if your pipeline uploads built files or pushes them to a branch the platform serves.

Plan: one docs site → Starter $9. Agency shipping docs for many clients → Scale or Business for site caps. Keep changelog HTML in the same tree so /changelog/ is a real directory with index.html, not a client route.

Failure: pointing DNS before the preview looks right

Docs launches often collide with release dates. Someone updates DNS for docs. while the zip still contains yesterday’s version string or a broken assets path from a baseURL misconfiguration. Resolvers flip early. Users hit 404s for CSS under /assets/ because the generator assumed a different prefix. The team debugs “DNS propagation” and certificate pending states while the preview URL—unused—would have shown the broken CSS in one hard refresh.

Order is a decision criterion for hosts too: prefer platforms that give you HTTPS preview without requiring DNS first. StaticHost does. Use it. Attach DNS after the generated HTML is correct. Certificates follow verification. Releasing docs is a file problem first; DNS is a naming problem second. Treating them as one tangled step is how “where should we host?” meetings turn into war rooms.

Choosing without a roundup hangover

If your HTML website is a folder and you want paid, reversible hosting with honest =404 behavior, StaticHost is a direct answer. If you need remote builds, mail, SPA fallbacks, or $0 forever, the answer is elsewhere—and that clarity is the point of criteria-first selection. Revisit the scorecard when requirements change; portability of static files means you are not trapped by a proprietary renderer.

Questions people actually ask

Is StaticHost only for hand-written HTML?

No. Generator output is fine. The requirement is that the files exist before upload; the host will not run the generator.

How does pricing compare to “free HTML hosting”?

Free hosts trade policy limits and fewer commercial features. StaticHost starts at $9/mo with explicit quotas and no forever-free tier after the short trial.

Will deep documentation URLs work?

Yes when each page is a real file or index.html in a directory. Client-only routes without files return 404.

Can agencies host many HTML microsites here?

Yes—pick Scale ($65, 10 sites) or Business ($130, 30 sites) for count and storage headroom, and keep each project’s output separate.