Beginner guides › Put a project online for free
Put your project online for free
Got a game, tracker or wedding site working on your computer? Put it online and you get a link that opens on any phone, which you can send to anyone. Here are two free ways, both without code.
Get your files ready
- Put your project in its own folder, with any pictures it uses next to it.
- Rename the main file to index.html. Websites open the file with that name automatically.
- Double-click index.html once more to check it still works.
Option 1: Netlify Drop (drag and drop)
Open Netlify Drop
Go to app.netlify.com/drop in your browser.
Drag your folder onto the page
Drag the whole project folder from File Explorer or Finder into the box on the page. After a few seconds you get a link like sparkly-otter-12ab34.netlify.app.
Sign up to keep it
Sites made without an account are deleted after a short time. Sign up free with your email to keep it, then change the name under Site configuration › Change site name to something like sam-and-alex.netlify.app.
Update it later
Open your site in Netlify, go to the Deploys tab and drag the updated folder onto it.
Option 2: GitHub Pages
A little more clicking, but well known, very reliable and free with no limits for a project like this.
Make a free GitHub account
Sign up at github.com. Your username becomes part of your web address.
Create a repository
Click + at the top right, then New repository. Give it a short name like snake, set it to Public and click Create repository. A repository is just a folder that lives on GitHub.
Upload your files
On the next page click uploading an existing file, drag in index.html and anything it uses, then click Commit changes.
Switch on Pages
Open Settings › Pages. Under Build and deployment, set Source to Deploy from a branch, choose the main branch and the / (root) folder, and click Save.
Open your link
After a minute or two your site is live at yourname.github.io/snake. The link also appears at the top of the Pages settings.
Use your own address
Want samandalex.com instead of a free address? Buy the name from a domain seller (often around £10 a year), then:
- Netlify: open your site, go to Domain management › Add a domain and follow its steps.
- GitHub Pages: type the name into Settings › Pages › Custom domain and follow the DNS instructions GitHub links to.
Both give you the secure padlock (https) for free. Not sure about the DNS step? Paste the instructions into your AI chat with the name of your domain seller and ask it to walk you through it.
Quick fixes
I get a 'Page not found' error
The main file must be called exactly index.html, all lower case, and sit at the top of the folder rather than inside another folder. Rename or move it and upload again.
Pictures don't show up online
Check you uploaded the picture files too, and that the names match exactly, including capitals. Online, Photo.JPG and photo.jpg are different files.
My changes aren't showing
Give it a minute, then refresh. If it still shows the old version, try a private browser window, which skips the saved copy.
Can my RSVP or contact form work online?
A single HTML file can't receive messages on its own. The simplest fix is a free Google Form: link to it or ask the AI to embed it. Netlify also has free built-in forms; ask the AI to "make this form work with Netlify Forms".
How do I take it down?
On Netlify, open the site and go to Site configuration › Delete this site. On GitHub, open the repository's Settings and delete it at the bottom of the page.