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The right way to host a web application depends on one question: does it need a server-side backend? A front-end-only site or single-page app can usually run on static hosting. An app with authentication, a database, matchmaking, leaderboards or other server code needs a platform-as-a-service (PaaS), container/serverless platform, virtual private server (VPS) or dedicated machine. Choose the simplest model that meets your traffic, control and compliance requirements; every step toward more control also adds security, patching and deployment work.
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Choose a hosting model before you deploy
List the application’s storage, bandwidth, expected traffic, compute needs, database dependencies and uptime requirements first. A game guide, patch-notes site or static companion interface may only need HTML, CSS, JavaScript and image assets. A live-service dashboard, account system, leaderboard or API adds server-side execution and persistent data.
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| Hosting model | Backend fit | Traffic and scaling | Control | Operational work | Examples named in current guidance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Static hosting | Static files and browser-side code; no long-running backend | Good for predictable or bursty front-end delivery through a content network | Low server control | Build settings, routes and domains; provider usually handles TLS | Cloudflare Pages, Vercel, Netlify, GitHub Pages, Azure Static Web Apps |
| PaaS | Web servers, APIs and managed application runtimes | Convenient scaling; capacity and pricing depend on the provider | Moderate; you configure the app, not the underlying host | Build configuration, environment variables and application settings; updates are largely managed | Vercel, Netlify, Heroku, Railway, Render |
| Containers and serverless | Containerized services or event-driven functions | Well suited to uneven demand; some services can scale to zero | More runtime control than PaaS, less machine control than a VPS | Container images, permissions, observability and service limits | Google Cloud Run, AWS Lambda; AWS EKS and Azure AKS for heavier container platforms |
| VPS | Any backend you can run on a Linux server | Fixed resources; you resize or add capacity yourself | Root access and dedicated virtual resources | You handle hardening, patches, firewall rules, reverse proxy, certificates, monitoring and deployment | DigitalOcean, Linode |
| Dedicated server | Resource-heavy or specialized backends | Predictable capacity; scale by upgrading or adding machines | Highest physical and software control | Most infrastructure and hardware responsibility, unless managed | Provider-dependent dedicated machines |
| Major public cloud | Anything from a virtual machine to managed databases and orchestration | Broadest scaling options, including multi-region designs | Very high | Requires the most architecture, identity, networking and cost-management expertise | AWS, Google Cloud, Azure |
Static hosting: the fastest route for a front end
Static hosting publishes the files produced by your build command. It is a strong fit for documentation, a game database rendered at build time, a marketing site or a single-page app whose data comes from an external API. Git-based services can rebuild and publish on every push, and managed HTTPS is normally included.
A single-page app still needs correct client-side routing. If a visitor opens /characters/zelda directly, the host must serve the app’s entry document rather than return a 404. Configure the provider’s rewrite or fallback rule and verify it with a direct browser request.
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PaaS: the practical default for a conventional backend
A PaaS connects to a GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket repository, detects or accepts your build and start commands, and runs the application without requiring you to administer a machine. It is usually the easiest option for an API, authentication service or database-backed application. The convenience premium is the trade-off: you accept the platform’s supported runtimes, quotas, networking model and pricing.
Most PaaS products can deploy automatically from the main branch after the first setup. Use a separate staging branch or environment before allowing every push to reach production.
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Container services package the application and its dependencies so the same image can run in development and production. Google Cloud Run is named as an option that can scale to zero, which avoids running an instance when no requests arrive but can introduce startup latency. AWS Lambda runs functions in response to events rather than keeping a traditional web process alive; it is useful for short, independent operations and APIs designed around function limits.
For larger, continuously running container estates, the retrieved guidance names AWS EKS and Azure AKS. These orchestrators provide extensive control but bring cluster upgrades, networking, identity and observability responsibilities that are disproportionate for a small web app.
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VPS, dedicated servers and major clouds: control has a cost
A VPS gives you root access and a predictable allocation of CPU, memory, disk and network capacity. It is a middle ground when a managed platform cannot support a custom runtime or when you need system-level tuning. You are also responsible for operating-system updates, SSH security, firewall rules, backups, reverse-proxy configuration, certificates and incident recovery.
Dedicated hardware makes sense for high, predictable traffic or workloads that consistently consume substantial CPU, memory, storage or network capacity. Public clouds provide the widest menu of managed services and scaling patterns, but they require the most in-house expertise. As a rule of thumb, heavy and predictable traffic points toward a VPS or dedicated server; unknown or highly variable traffic points toward a cloud, serverless service or PaaS.
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- Inventory resources. Estimate storage, monthly bandwidth, normal and peak requests, background jobs, memory, CPU, database size and file-upload needs. Separate assets such as screenshots or video from the application process; large files can dominate bandwidth.
- Make the build reproducible. Pin runtime and dependency versions where your package manager supports it. Confirm the production build and start commands locally, and make sure the process listens on the port supplied by the host rather than a hard-coded development port.
- Remove machine-specific assumptions. Replace
localhostAPI URLs, local file paths and development-only callbacks with configuration values. Check settings such asDATABASE_URL, allowed origins, session-cookie domains and the public application URL. - Keep secrets out of Git. Put local credentials in a
.envfile excluded by.gitignore. Create the same variable names in the host’s secret or environment-variable dashboard. If a secret has ever been committed, revoke and replace it; deleting the file in a later commit does not erase it from repository history. - Test production behavior. Run the built application with production settings, exercise login and logout, submit a form, read and write a database record, and test a failed dependency. Confirm that logs do not print tokens, passwords or connection strings.
Account for framework-specific build and routing requirements
Static site generators and front-end frameworks
Set the exact output directory produced by the build. A common failure is pointing the host at the source directory when the deployable files are in a generated folder. Confirm the directory name in the build log and inspect the published asset paths.
React, Vue and Angular single-page apps need a history-fallback rule for client-side routes. If the app calls an API on another origin, configure the API proxy or CORS policy deliberately; a successful local request through a development proxy does not prove that production CORS is correct.
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Next.js and Nuxt
Choose between server-side rendering and static generation before selecting the deployment settings. Static generation produces files that can use a static host. Server-side rendering requires a runtime capable of executing the framework server and handling its routes, headers and data-fetching behavior. Treat image optimization, middleware and server-only modules as runtime requirements rather than static assets.
Deploy through a Git-connected platform
- Push a clean repository. Commit the application, lockfile and documented build instructions. Exclude
.env, private keys, local databases and generated build directories unless the framework explicitly requires them. - Create the project in the host dashboard. Choose the repository and production branch. Review the detected framework instead of accepting it blindly.
- Enter build settings. Supply the install command if needed, the production build command and the output directory for a static deployment. For a backend, provide the start command and the runtime version.
- Add environment variables. Copy names—not secret values—from your local configuration. Set separate values for staging and production where the platform supports environments.
- Run the first deployment. Read the complete build log. Fix missing modules, wrong Node or Python versions, case-sensitive path errors, failed migrations and permission problems before attaching a public domain.
- Test the deployed URL. Check the home page, a deep link, API requests, authentication, database operations, file uploads, error pages and mobile layout. Confirm that browser developer tools show HTTPS requests without mixed-content warnings.
- Enable automatic deployments carefully. Deploying each push to the main branch is convenient, but protect that branch and require review or passing checks for production changes. Keep a rollback path to the last known-good commit.
Deploying on a VPS
A VPS is not a managed website account; it is an empty computer on the internet. The exact reverse-proxy configuration depends on your framework and was not established in the available provider guidance, so use the host’s current documentation for the Nginx site block and application service definition.
- Provision the smallest suitable server. Select an operating system and region near your users, then record the assigned IP address. Plan how the server will be resized when CPU, memory or disk approaches its limit.
- Create a non-root administrator. Use SSH keys, disable password login when your distribution supports it safely, and reserve root for emergency administration. Restrict SSH access with a firewall and keep an out-of-band recovery method available.
- Patch and harden the operating system. Apply security updates, enable a host firewall, remove unused services and configure time synchronization. Schedule updates and reboots rather than assuming the initial image remains secure.
- Install the runtime and process manager. Install the language runtime, package manager, database client and a service manager appropriate to your application. The service should restart after failure and start automatically after reboot.
- Deploy the application without copying secrets into Git. Pull a tagged release or checked-out commit, place production variables in a protected server-side file or secret store, install production dependencies and run migrations with a tested backup.
- Put a reverse proxy in front. Nginx or an equivalent proxy accepts public HTTP and HTTPS traffic, routes requests to the application’s private listening port and serves static assets efficiently. Bind the application itself to localhost or a private interface so it is not directly exposed.
- Configure DNS. Point the domain’s A or AAAA record to the server’s address. Lower the DNS time-to-live before a planned migration, and restore a normal TTL after the change is stable.
- Back up the proxy configuration. The official Certbot guidance recommends backing up Nginx configuration before using its plugin. Keep a copy outside the server so a failed change does not remove your recovery path.
- Issue the certificate. Install Certbot and enable the Nginx plugin with the
--nginxflag. Test the resulting HTTPS site, redirect HTTP if appropriate, and verify that renewal is scheduled. - Reload after renewal. A deployment hook can run
systemctl reload nginxafter a successful renewal so Nginx begins using the new certificate without a full restart. Test renewal in a safe environment before relying on it in production. - Monitor and recover. Collect application and Nginx logs, disk and memory alerts, certificate-expiry alerts and backup-success notifications. Document how to roll back the application, restore the database and replace a compromised credential.
Domains, HTTPS and certificates
Managed static hosts and PaaS products normally provision TLS after you add a domain and update DNS. On a VPS, HTTPS is your responsibility: the reverse proxy terminates TLS, and certificate tooling obtains and renews the certificate. Do not treat a browser lock icon as proof that the application is secure; cookies, authentication, authorization and input validation still need correct configuration.
Let’s Encrypt’s official limit is up to 300 new orders per account every three hours. Use its staging environment while testing automation so repeated experiments do not consume production issuance capacity. A frequently repeated figure of 50 certificates per registered domain per week was not confirmed on the official page, so do not design an issuance strategy around it.
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Free tiers: useful for prototypes, not a permanent capacity plan
Free limits and commercial-use terms change frequently. Check the provider’s current official plan and terms immediately before launch, and record the date and region of the limits you relied on.
| Service or plan | Published or reported limit | Qualification | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Pages | 100 GB monthly bandwidth soft limit; 10 builds per hour soft limit; site size no larger than 1 GB; deployments time out after 10 minutes | Figures are from GitHub documentation; the build limit does not apply to custom GitHub Actions workflows | Large game assets, frequent rebuilds and sites approaching the soft limits |
| Cloudflare Pages | 25 MiB maximum size for one asset | Official limits page | Secondary reports also cite 500 builds per month and 20,000 files per free site; verify those figures on the current plan page |
| Vercel Hobby | Secondary reports cite up to 100 GB per month | One source describes this as a fair-use guideline rather than a listed allowance; the conflict with official plan terms is unresolved | Confirm current usage rules and whether the plan permits your intended commercial activity |
| Netlify Free | Secondary reports cite 300 credits per month and roughly 15 GB of bandwidth | The current model uses credits; sites in a team may be paused when credits run out. Accounts created before September 4, 2025 may still use a legacy model | Credit consumption, team-wide pauses and the account’s creation date |
A secondary source says Vercel Hobby is restricted to personal, non-commercial use; verify the current official terms before using it for a monetized or business application. Another secondary source says GitHub Pages is not intended as free hosting for an online business or primarily commercial SaaS, but that claim was not verified against official text. Treat both as checks to perform, not as universal legal conclusions.
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Common deployment failures and fixes
- Build succeeds locally but fails remotely: compare runtime versions, install from the lockfile, check Linux case sensitivity and inspect the first failing command in the build log.
- Deep links return 404: add the framework’s history fallback or server-side route, then test a URL pasted directly into a private browser window.
- API calls fail only in production: remove hard-coded localhost URLs, set the production API base URL, and configure CORS, cookies and proxy rules for the real domains.
- The app cannot connect to its database: verify
DATABASE_URL, network allowlists, TLS requirements, migrations and whether the database is reachable from the chosen region or private network. - Uploads or game screenshots disappear after a restart: do not rely on a VPS’s local disk or an ephemeral container for durable files. Use a persistent storage service and back it up.
- HTTPS shows an old or invalid certificate: confirm DNS points to the intended host, inspect which proxy is answering on ports 80 and 443, run a renewal test, and reload the proxy after renewal.
- Costs rise unexpectedly: inspect bandwidth, build minutes, function invocations, log retention, database storage and egress separately. Set provider budgets or alerts before production traffic arrives.
- A VPS becomes unreachable after a configuration change: use the provider console, restore the backed-up Nginx configuration, validate syntax before reloading, and keep a documented rollback command.
A practical decision path
- Choose static hosting if the app is only browser-delivered files and API calls to another service.
- Choose a PaaS if you need a conventional backend and want Git-based deployment without administering a server.
- Choose containers or serverless when traffic is intermittent, workloads are independently deployable or scale-to-zero economics matter.
- Choose a VPS when you need root access, a custom runtime or predictable dedicated resources and can operate Linux securely.
- Choose dedicated hardware or a major cloud architecture when sustained traffic, data locality, specialized networking or multi-service scale justifies a larger operations team.
For a first release, start with the least operationally demanding option that supports the application’s backend and data model. Reassess after measuring real requests, memory, bandwidth, build time and database growth; migrating from static hosting to a backend platform is usually simpler than maintaining an overbuilt cluster before you have traffic.
Quick Recap
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