Hosting & Deployment

Once you’ve built your site, you have a dist/ folder containing your entire website. It’s plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Upload it to any static hosting provider and you’re live.

If you’ve never hosted a website before, don’t overthink this. The first option below takes about 30 seconds.

Netlify (Recommended)

The easiest path from “I have a folder” to “my site is on the internet.”

1. Go to app.netlify.com/drop
2. Drag your dist/ folder onto the page
3. Done. You’ll get a URL like your-site.netlify.app
4. Connect a custom domain later if you want one

No git, no command line, no configuration beyond creating a free account.

Other Hosting Options

Vercel

A good fit if you already use GitHub.

1. Push your project to GitHub
2. Go to vercel.com/new
3. Import your repo and deploy with defaults

Cloudflare Pages

Free hosting with a fast global CDN.

1. Push your project to GitHub
2. Go to dash.cloudflare.com and create a Pages project
3. Connect your repo
4. Set build command to npm run build and output directory to dist
5. Deploy

GitHub Pages

Free hosting for anyone with a GitHub account.

1. Push your project to a GitHub repository
2. Go to your repo’s Settings, then Pages
3. Set the source to the dist folder (or use a GitHub Action to build and deploy)
4. Your site goes live at username.github.io/repo-name

Anything Else

Upload the contents of dist/ to your server’s public directory through FTP, SFTP, or your host’s file manager. Static files work everywhere.

Custom Domains

Every host listed above supports custom domains. After deploying, follow your host’s documentation to connect your own domain name. Most include free SSL certificates.

Updating Your Site

When you make changes in the wizard and rebuild, upload the new dist/ folder to replace the old one. On Netlify, drag the new folder onto your site’s deploy page. On git-based hosts, push your changes and it redeploys automatically.

Cost

Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare Pages, and GitHub Pages all have generous free tiers. For a site like Beacon, you’ll likely pay nothing for hosting.