How do I put my website files online for free?

If the folder has an index.html file at the top, a free static host can put it online in minutes: drag the folder onto Netlify Drop, upload the folder or a zip to Cloudflare Pages, or upload the files to a GitHub repository and turn on GitHub Pages. Each gives you a free web address with HTTPS. If an AI assistant like Claude or ChatGPT made the files, you can also connect it to RunCabin and say "put this online".

Can I upload a zip file to make a website?

Some hosts take a zip directly (Cloudflare Pages' dashboard upload does); others, like Netlify Drop, want the unzipped folder. Either way, open the zip first and check that index.html sits at the top level, not inside another folder.

Where is the publish button on my website?

If you built the site in Wix, Squarespace or GoDaddy, the Publish button is in that builder's editor, usually the top right corner, and the site lives on their servers. Those sites can't be downloaded as files and hosted somewhere else. If you have the files themselves, there is no publish button: you upload the files to a host.

How do I put my uploaded website on my own domain name?

Every host has a custom domain setting that tells you which DNS records to add at the company where you bought the domain. You add those records, wait for them to take effect (often minutes, sometimes a few hours), and the host sets up the security certificate. Some services, RunCabin included, can buy the domain and set the records for you.

RunCabin Blog · Getting started

I have my website files. How do I put them online?

October 27, 2026 · 7 min read

Short answer: if the folder has a file called index.html at the top, you can have it online for free in about five minutes. Drag the folder onto Netlify Drop, upload it (or the zip) to Cloudflare Pages, or put it on GitHub Pages. Each gives you a free address with the padlock. The part that takes longer is putting it on your own domain name, and that is where most people get stuck. Here is what to check first, how each option works, and the domain step in plain English.

First: what do you actually have?

"My website files" can mean a few different things, and only some of them can be uploaded as they are. Open the folder (or unzip the zip) and look:

What's in the folder	Can you upload it as is?
An `index.html` file, maybe with other .html, .css and .js files and an images folder	Yes. This is a static site, and every option below takes it.
A zip whose only content is another folder	Yes, after one step: the `index.html` must be at the top level, so upload the inner folder.
Files ending in .php, or a WordPress folder (wp-content, wp-admin)	No. These need a host that runs PHP and a database. A static host will show the code or an error.
A WordPress export (.xml) or a "backup" file from a builder	No. That is content for re-importing into the same kind of system, not a website.
A React, Vue or Next.js project with package.json	Not directly. It has to be built first; upload the build output folder (often called dist or build).

One quick test: double-click index.html on your computer. If it opens in your browser and looks like your site, it's a static site and you're in good shape.

"Where is the publish button?"

If you built your site inside Wix, Squarespace or GoDaddy's builder, you don't have files. The site lives on their servers, and the Publish button is in their editor, usually the top right corner. Those builders don't let you download the site as files to host elsewhere. If that is your situation and you want to leave, see how to move a Wix website to another host; the same limits apply to the other builders.

Three free ways to put a static site online

Netlify Drop: drag a folder, get a link

Go to app.netlify.com/drop and drag your site's folder onto the page. It publishes the files as they are and gives you a live address. You can try it without an account, but make a free account to keep the site and change it later. It wants an unzipped folder, not a zip.

Cloudflare Pages: upload a folder or a zip

In a free Cloudflare account, create a Pages project and choose to upload your assets directly. The dashboard takes a single folder or a zip file, up to 1,000 files and 25 MB per file, and serves it at a yourname.pages.dev address. To change the site, you upload the whole folder again.

GitHub Pages: free, but more steps

Make a free GitHub account, create a repository, upload your files with "Add file", then turn on Pages under the repository's Settings. It is free and reliable and keeps a history of every change, but it is built for developers and the screens show it.

All three put your site on HTTPS automatically. None of them builds or edits the site for you: to change a phone number later, you edit the file on your computer and upload again.

Putting it on your own domain name

The free address works, but customers should see your own name. Every host has a "custom domain" setting, and the steps are about the same everywhere:

Add your domain in the host's custom domain setting.
The host shows you one or two DNS records (often a CNAME or an A record).
Log in where you bought the domain (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace Domains, and so on), open its DNS settings, and add those records exactly.
Wait. It often works within minutes and occasionally takes a few hours. The host then issues the security certificate on its own.

Two warnings. If your business email uses the same domain, don't delete records you don't recognize: some of them are what makes your email work. And if you don't own a domain yet, buy it in the business's name with an account you control, not a designer's.

If an AI assistant made the files

A lot of sites now start in a chat: you ask ChatGPT or Claude for a website and it hands you HTML. You can save that as index.html and use any option above. Or you can skip the downloading and uploading: connect your assistant to RunCabin once (in Claude, add a custom connector with the address https://runcabin.com/mcp), then say "put this online". A few seconds later the assistant gives you a live address on your-name.sites.runcabin.com with HTTPS, free. Photos go up from a public link, or straight from your phone through a photo link the assistant sends you.

The difference shows up the next time you want a change. Instead of editing a file and uploading the folder again, you tell the assistant "change our Saturday hours to 8 to 2" and it updates the same address, with the previous version kept so "roll it back" works. When you want your own domain, say "put it on mybusiness.com": the assistant checks the name and its price, and you pay on a RunCabin checkout page, $4.99 a month (or $47.99 a year) for hosting plus the domain's price. The DNS records and the certificate are set up for you. Full steps are on our page for publishing from your AI assistant.

If you'd rather not touch any of this

Some owners have files from a designer who moved on, or a half-finished site, and really just want a working website with their phone number on it. That is what RunCabin's done-for-you websites are for. You answer our questionnaire (you can tell us about the old site and send what you have), and we build the site with AI, then a web developer finishes every page. You'll see your first version within 24 hours of sending your answers and photos. It starts at $499 to build, then $39.99 a month for hosting (or $479.88 a year), on your own domain, with a quote form that goes straight to your inbox.

Skip the upload, get the finished site

Answer our questionnaire and we build your site - your name, your work, your city. It's built with AI and finished by a web developer. Starting at $499 to build, then $39.99 a month.

Start our planner →