Reviewed by the SEOPointz team · Last reviewed June 2026. Limits and policies here were checked against GitHub’s own documentation. SEOPointz may earn a commission from some links; it never changes what we recommend.
If you write code and own a domain, you may already have free, fast, HTTPS-secured hosting sitting unused inside your GitHub account. GitHub Pages turns a repository into a live website — no server to rent, no monthly bill, no control panel to learn. It’s how a huge number of project docs, developer portfolios and open-source landing pages get online. But it’s deliberately narrow in what it does, and using it for the wrong kind of site will end in frustration. Here’s what GitHub Pages is genuinely good for, how to ship a site on it, and where its limits start.
What GitHub Pages actually is
GitHub Pages is a static hosting service built into every GitHub account — personal, organization and enterprise — with no paid tier required. You commit HTML, CSS and JavaScript files to a repository, point Pages at the right branch or folder, and GitHub serves them from its global infrastructure. There are no build-minute caps or bandwidth overage charges within the documented limits. For a portfolio, a docs site, a blog or a marketing page that doesn’t need a backend, that’s a remarkably good deal: zero cost, sensible performance, and version control baked in.
Shipping your first site
The fastest path is also the simplest. Create a repository, add an index.html at the root, then open Settings → Pages and choose the branch to publish from. Within a minute or two your site is live at a username.github.io address. From there you have two paths depending on how your site is built:
- Plain HTML/CSS/JS — commit the files as-is and you’re done. Nothing to compile.
- A static site generator — GitHub Pages has built-in support for Jekyll, so a Jekyll project builds automatically on push. For other generators (Hugo, Astro, Next.js static export and so on) you write a small GitHub Actions workflow that builds the site and publishes the output.
Using a custom Actions workflow has a useful side effect: it sidesteps the default build rate limit, which we’ll come to below.
Custom domains and HTTPS
You don’t have to live on a github.io subdomain. GitHub Pages supports custom domains, and once your DNS is pointed correctly it provisions a free TLS certificate through Let’s Encrypt, so your site is served over HTTPS automatically. For an apex domain you’ll set the appropriate A or ALIAS records at your registrar; for a www subdomain you use a CNAME pointing at your Pages address. After DNS propagates, tick “Enforce HTTPS” in the Pages settings and you have a professional, secure URL at no extra cost.
The limits you need to know before you commit
GitHub Pages is generous, but it’s a static host with published ceilings. Plan around them rather than discovering them in production:
| Resource | Limit |
|---|---|
| Published site size | 1 GB (also the recommended source-repo size) |
| Monthly bandwidth | 100 GB (soft limit) |
| Builds per hour | 10 (soft; doesn’t apply when you publish via a custom Actions workflow) |
| Deployment timeout | 10 minutes per build |
These are soft limits for the most part, meaning GitHub may contact you rather than instantly cutting you off — but a site that routinely blows past 100 GB of monthly traffic has outgrown the free tier and should move to a service built for that load.
Where GitHub Pages is the wrong tool
This is the part the “free unlimited websites” headlines skip. GitHub Pages runs no server-side code — no PHP, Python or Ruby executing on the server — and provides no database. You can’t run user logins, a server-rendered comment system, or anything that needs to write data on the backend without leaning on third-party APIs and client-side JavaScript. Just as importantly, GitHub’s terms state Pages isn’t intended as a free host for running a business: e-commerce sites and commercial SaaS are out of scope. If your project needs a backend, a database, or is fundamentally a storefront, GitHub Pages is the wrong foundation — reach for a host or platform designed for dynamic, commercial workloads instead.
Frequently asked questions
Can I run a WordPress site or an online store on GitHub Pages?
No. WordPress needs PHP and a database, and an online store needs a backend to process transactions — neither of which GitHub Pages provides, and commercial/e-commerce use is excluded by its terms. Pages is for static sites; for a store or a dynamic CMS you need conventional hosting.
Does GitHub Pages support custom domains and HTTPS for free?
Yes. You can point your own domain at a Pages site, and GitHub issues a free Let’s Encrypt certificate so it’s served over HTTPS at no charge. Enable “Enforce HTTPS” in settings once DNS has propagated.
What happens if my site exceeds the bandwidth limit?
The 100 GB monthly figure is a soft limit, so you’re unlikely to be cut off the instant you cross it — but consistently exceeding it signals you’ve outgrown a free static host and should move to a service provisioned for higher traffic.
If your project does need a backend or staging environment, see our guide to web hosting for developers, and for a wider look at no-cost options weigh up whether free web hosting is worth it.
