Overview
GitHub Pages turns a repository into a website. Create a repository named username.github.io for a personal or organization site, or enable Pages on any project repository, push HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and GitHub publishes it. Jekyll builds run automatically, and any other static site generator can be used through a GitHub Actions workflow. Add a CNAME file to use a custom domain.
Hosting is free for public repositories. Limits are a 1 GB published site, a soft limit of 100 GB of bandwidth a month, 10 builds per hour (not applied to custom Actions workflows) and a 10-minute deployment timeout. Pages from private repositories needs a paid GitHub plan.
GitHub's rules say Pages is not a free host for online businesses, e-commerce or SaaS, and must not be used for sensitive transactions such as passwords or card numbers. There is no server-side code, no preview deployment per pull request out of the box, and visitors' IP addresses are logged for security.
Pricing and plans
checked 28 Sept 2026Free tier · no card
Free for public repositories: sites up to 1 GB, soft limit of 100 GB bandwidth per month and 10 builds per hour, custom domains. Not permitted for commercial or SaaS sites.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub Free | $0 | Pages for public repositories |
| GitHub Team | $4/user/mo | Includes Pages and wikis for private repositories |
What it does
- Deploy by push
- Publish from a branch or folder, or from a custom GitHub Actions workflow.
- Jekyll built in
- Markdown blogs and docs build automatically without a database.
- Custom domains
- Serve the site on your own domain via a CNAME file.
- Project sites
- One site per repository at username.github.io/repository, plus one user or org site.
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Completely free for public repositories.
- Lives next to the code, so docs update with every push.
- No separate account or build service needed.
Limitations
- Not allowed for commercial sites, online businesses or SaaS.
- Static files only; no server-side code or databases.
- Soft limits of 100 GB bandwidth per month and 1 GB per site.
- Private-repository sites need a paid GitHub plan.
Who it suits
Good for
- Open-source project documentation
- Personal portfolios and blogs
- Static demos of libraries
Look elsewhere if
- Commercial websites and stores
- Sites that need server-side logic or forms
Alternatives to GitHub Pages
| Tool | From | Free option | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|
| alwaysdata European managed hosting | €5/mo | Free tier | |
| Azure App Service Managed PaaS | $0.017/hr | Free tier | |
| CapRover Self-hosted PaaS | — | Free tier | |
| Cloudflare Workers (incl. Pages) Edge serverless platform | $5/mo | Free tier | |
| Coolify Self-hosted PaaS | $5/mo | Free tier | |
| Deno Deploy Serverless JavaScript platform | $20/mo | Free tier |
Questions
Is GitHub Pages free?
Yes, for public repositories. Publishing from private repositories requires a paid GitHub plan.
Can I use GitHub Pages for a business website?
GitHub's usage limits say Pages is not intended or allowed as free hosting for an online business, e-commerce site or SaaS.
What is the GitHub Pages bandwidth limit?
A soft limit of 100 GB per month, with published sites capped at 1 GB.
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