NEXT.JS HOSTING
Next.js hosting for a statically exported site
Next.js hosting for the static half: add output export, build, and upload the out folder to get a live HTTPS address in seconds. Server rendering, API routes and middleware do not survive the export, and this page says so before you upload anything.
Free plan, free SSL, no credit card.
- 1
- config line turns the build into a static export
- out
- is the folder to upload, not .next
- 25 MB
- storage on the free plan, no card
- 5,000
- visits a month before you pay anything
How it works
Three steps, start to live link
-
Turn the export on
Add output export to next.config.js. This is the switch that tells Next.js to finish the pages at build time instead of rendering them per request.
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Build and open out
Run the build. The finished site appears in out, not in .next, which holds build artefacts rather than a publishable site.
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Upload out
Drag the folder or a ZIP of it in. The site is live on HTTPS in seconds and republishing keeps the same address.
The honest answer
What is Next.js static hosting?
Next.js static hosting means publishing the output of a Next.js static export: every page rendered once at build time into plain HTML, rather than assembled on a server for each visitor. It is a real and supported Next.js mode, and it is the only mode a static host can serve.
Next.js renders on a server by default, which is why "can I host Next.js on a static host" has a conditional answer rather than a yes. Adding output: "export" to next.config.js changes that: the build writes finished pages into out, and that folder is an ordinary static site.
What the export drops is the part worth reading twice, because nothing here can configure around it. API routes, server actions, middleware, on-demand revalidation and dynamic image optimisation all run on a server, and after an export there is no server. If your app depends on any of them, it needs a host that runs Node, and that is a real answer rather than a limitation of this product.
If it does not, the export is genuinely finished output and behaves like any other static site: fast, cacheable and cheap to serve. The Next.js deploy guide carries the exact config change and the build command.
Who it is for
The people who reach for this
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Developers
A marketing site or docs built in Next.js that never needed the server half, and does not need a platform bill either.
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Marketing teams
A campaign page exported from the main Next.js project and published on its own address, on its own schedule.
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Agencies and freelancers
A client build to review, at a link, without adding a seat on somebody else deployment platform.
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People holding AI-generated projects
Generators produce Next.js projects constantly, and the export switch is usually the missing step.
In detail
What you actually get
The two things to change, and nothing else
A Next.js static export is a short list, and most failed attempts come from missing one item on it rather than from anything structural.
- Add output: "export" to next.config.js. Without it the build produces a server bundle and there is nothing to upload.
- Upload out, not .next. The second one holds build artefacts, not a site.
- If you use next/image, the export needs the optimizer disabled or a custom loader, because the default one is a server feature.
- The Next.js deploy guide carries the command, and the Nextra guide covers documentation sites built on top of it.
What the export leaves behind
Stated plainly, because a host that lets you discover this after three uploads has wasted your afternoon. None of the following works after an export, on any static host.
- API routes and route handlers, server actions, and middleware.
- Incremental static regeneration and on-demand revalidation.
- Dynamic image optimisation through the built-in loader.
- Anything reading cookies or headers at request time to decide what to render.
One address, every export
Each upload becomes an immutable version and publishing swaps which one the address points at, so a rebuild is a publish rather than a migration.
- The URL does not change, so links, bookmarks and QR codes keep working.
- A visitor mid-load never sees half the old export and half the new one.
- Rollback to a previous export is one click from Pro.
A domain, without the platform
The usual reason to export in the first place is to stop paying for a runtime the site does not use. From Pro the exported site is served from a domain you own.
- Certificates issued and renewed automatically, on the Droply address and on yours.
- Step-by-step DNS guides for the common registrars.
- Free sites are served noindex. Search visibility starts on Starter, which a public marketing site will need.
No card required
What the free plan includes
Everything below is on the free plan, with no card and no trial to run out, which is enough to put a Next.js static export at a real address today.
- 1 live site on a real free plan, not a trial of a paid one, and no card to start.
- Up to 25 MB per upload and 25 MB of storage across the account.
- 5,000 visits and 5 GB of traffic a month.
- HTTPS with a real certificate, issued and renewed for you.
- Up to 25 publishes a day, so you can iterate without asking permission.
- The deploy-time security check, which reads what you published and warns about a stray .env file, a .git folder, a private key or an API key left in your JavaScript.
- A small Droply badge in the corner of the page. Removing it starts on Starter.
- Free sites are served noindex, so search engines do not list them. Search visibility starts on Starter.
Droply vs Static.app
How this compares with Static.app
Static.app publishes the same kind of per-framework page, and neither product runs a Next.js server. These are the rows that differ once you are holding an exported out folder.
| Droply | Static.app | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 1 site, 25 MB storage, 5,000 visits a month, no card, and a plan rather than a trial. | A 7-day trial with no credit card, then paid. 1 site and 50 MB during it. |
| Entry paid price | $5 a month for Starter, or $60 a year. | $5 a month or $60 a year for Starter: 2 sites, 500 MB, custom domain included. |
| Server rendering or API routes | No. Static export only, and the page says so before you upload. | No. Both products serve files rather than running Node. |
| Loose .html file accepted | Yes, dropped on its own with nothing around it. | No. Its own documentation states a loose .html file must be zipped first. |
| Rollback to a previous export | One click from Pro, with every version kept. | Backups are offered as a separate feature rather than a per-publish version history. |
| Security check on every publish | Every plan, free included: leaked keys, a stray .env, a committed .git folder. | Not offered. |
Static.app figures checked 8 September 2026 on its own pricing page (free tier: 1 site, 50 MB, a 7-day trial with no credit card; Starter $5 a month or $60 a year for 2 sites and 500 MB with a custom domain; Medium $10; Large $15) and on its Claude hosting page, which states that a loose .html file is not accepted for upload and must be zipped first. Both products publish finished output rather than running your build, so the rows below compare what each one accepts and what it costs, not build speed. Product plans can change.
When Droply is the wrong choice
This is the page in the cluster most likely to end with "go somewhere else", and that is the point of it. A Next.js app that uses the framework for what makes it distinctive is not a static site, and exporting it will either fail at build time or quietly drop behaviour you needed.
- You use API routes, route handlers, server actions or middleware. Export them and they are simply gone.
- You rely on incremental static regeneration to refresh pages after the build. Regeneration needs a running server.
- You need per-request personalisation, cookie-aware rendering or authenticated server pages.
- You need a database, a login system, or code that runs on the server. Droply serves files; it does not execute your application.
- You want a build to run on every push to a repository. Droply has no Git integration and no CI: you build locally and upload the result.
- You are running WordPress or another PHP application. A static export of it can be hosted here, but the application itself cannot.