The two hosts I recommend to clients who just need static files on the internet are GitHub Pages and Cloudflare Pages. They both have free tiers, support custom domains, and integrate nicely with Astro.

GitHub Pages

• Best for folks already storing code on GitHub.
• Build command: npm run build
• Output directory: dist
• Why I like it: first-party GitHub Actions workflow, automatic HTTPS, and simple permissions.

I keep a deploy workflow in .github/workflows/deploy.yml. Whenever main changes the action checks out the repo, runs npm ci && npm run build, and ships the result to the GitHub Pages CDN. The docs branch dance is gone—everything is artifact based now.

Cloudflare Pages

• Best for teams that need branch previews, KV, or Workers integrations.
• Build command: npm run build
• Output directory: dist
• Why I like it: branch previews, instant rollbacks, and generous bandwidth limits.

After connecting the repository you can configure environment variables and custom headers inside the Pages dashboard. I normally create a production project that points at main and a preview project that listens to every branch. This makes it easy to show stakeholders a link without touching GitHub settings.

Which one should you pick?

Honestly, it comes down to where you already live. For this site GitHub Pages is enough, but I keep the option to flip the switch to Cloudflare Pages by reusing the same npm run build output. Both providers happily serve the static dist directory Astro generates.

Cheap (or free) infrastructure means I can spend more time writing and less time moving YAML around. That is a trade I will make every single day.