RENDER ALTERNATIVE
Render alternative that does not need a Git repo
Render hosts static sites for free and does it well, as long as the site is in a repository. There is no upload path at all: the documented way to deploy is to connect a repo and let Render build on every push. This page is for when that is the whole obstacle.
Free plan, free SSL, no credit card.
- 0
- build minutes consumed, because no build runs
- 0
- repositories, commits or branches needed to publish
- 96
- file types accepted, in 7 groups
- 23
- framework build guides with the exact output folder
Who should not switch
Render is a real platform and static sites are the free corner of it. If you use the rest, keeping the site next to it is worth more than anything on this page.
- You already run a web service, a database, a cron job or a background worker on Render. Keeping the static front end in the same workspace is a genuine operational win.
- Your site is in a repository and you want it rebuilt on every push. Render does that for free on Hobby and Droply does not do it at all.
- You need more than 5 GB of traffic for free. Render's Hobby workspace includes 5 GB a month, so at that end the two are close and Render costs nothing.
Why people look
Why people look for a Render alternative
Every point below is taken from Render's own documentation, with the page and the date it was read. Nothing here is a guess about how the product behaves.
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A Git repository is not optional, it is the only door
Render's static-sites documentation describes one workflow: link your site's Git repo, choose a branch, and Render updates the site on every push. There is no upload path. If the finished site arrived as a ZIP in an email, the first step is creating a repository for someone else's files.
Render docs, static sites, read 8 September 2026.
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A build runs whether or not you needed one
Static sites count against the workspace's monthly pipeline minutes: 500 on Hobby, 1,000 on Pro, and $5 per additional 1,000. For a site that is already built, that is a meter running on work that did not need doing.
Render pricing page, read 8 September 2026.
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Bandwidth is billed per gigabyte once the allowance is gone
Hobby includes 5 GB of outbound bandwidth a month and Pro includes 25 GB, with everything above billed at $0.15 per GB. A page that gets shared unexpectedly is a bill rather than a limit.
Render pricing page and the workspace-plans changelog of 23 April 2026, read 8 September 2026.
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Documents are not a thing it hosts
Render serves what your build produces. A PDF, a deck or a spreadsheet is not a site, so sharing one means a different service, a different link, and a different place to look when it needs updating.
Render docs, static sites, read 8 September 2026: document hosting is not offered as a service type.
Our answer
How Droply handles each one
One answer per point above, in the same order.
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A Git repository is not optional, it is the only door
Drag the folder, the ZIP or the single .html file onto the page. No repository, no branch, no build settings, and nothing to keep in sync afterwards.
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A build runs whether or not you needed one
No build ever runs, so there is no minute to count. A publish is an upload and a pointer flip, and the fifth one costs exactly what the first one did.
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Bandwidth is billed per gigabyte once the allowance is gone
Bandwidth is a plan allowance rather than a meter, so an unexpected week of traffic is a cap you hit, not an invoice you receive. The numbers per tier are on the pricing page.
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Documents are not a thing it hosts
PDFs, images, media and office documents are first-class: each gets a URL and renders in the browser. See turning a PDF into a link.
Side by side
Droply and Render, row by row
Render static sites are free. That row is here, at the top.
| Droply | Render | |
|---|---|---|
| Price for a static site | Free plan, then $5 a month for Starter. | Free to deploy on the Hobby workspace. |
| How you publish | Upload a folder, a ZIP or a file in the browser. | Connect a Git repo. Render builds and deploys on every push. |
| Publishing without Git | The only way. | Not documented. |
| Build minutes | None consumed. No build runs. | 500 a month on Hobby, 1,000 on Pro, then $5 per 1,000. |
| Included bandwidth | 5 GB a month on free, more per tier. | 5 GB on Hobby, 25 GB on Pro, 1 TB on Scale. |
| Bandwidth over the allowance | A plan cap, not a meter. | $0.15 per additional GB. |
| PDFs and documents | First-class files with an in-browser viewer. | Not a service type. |
| Password protection | From Starter, checked at the edge. | Not offered for static sites. |
| Expiring links | From Starter: six hours, a week, or a date. | Not offered. |
| Rollback | From Pro, one click. | Redeploy a previous commit from the dashboard. |
| Security check on every publish | Every plan, including free. | Not offered. |
| Entry paid tier | $5 a month for Starter. | $25 a month for Pro, flat, plus usage. |
Render figures come from its own documentation and pricing page, read on 8 September 2026, plus the workspace-plans changelog entry of 23 April 2026 that replaced the per-member plans. Rows marked "not offered" mean the feature does not appear in those documents on that date. Product plans can change.
Migration
How to move a site from Render
Everything you need is already on your machine, because Render built it from your repository. The site stays up while you do this.
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Run the same build command locally
Take the build command and publish directory from the Render service settings and run them yourself. That publish directory is exactly the folder to upload; the framework guides confirm the output folder for 23 frameworks.
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Move any redirect and header rules by hand
Render's redirect and rewrite rules live in its dashboard rather than in your repository, so they do not travel with the folder. Write them down before you delete the service.
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Drop the folder on Droply
Sign up, then drag the folder, the ZIP or the single HTML file onto the upload area. Nothing is repackaged and no build runs: the files you upload are the files served.
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Check what the security pass found
Every publish is read for things that should not be public: a committed .env, a .git directory, a private key, an API key in a bundle. Old exports carry these more often than fresh builds do, so read it before you send the link anywhere.
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Point your domain at it, if you had one
From Pro at $15 a month you move the DNS record to Droply and the certificate is issued for you. Change the record last, once the Droply URL already renders what you expect, so there is no window where the domain resolves to nothing.
Price
Pricing compared
Render bills a static site as usage on top of a workspace plan. Droply bills a plan, at $5 a month against Render Pro at $25 flat plus usage. The rows below compare like with like where that is possible and say so where it is not.
| Droply | Render | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 1 site, 25 MB, 5,000 visits and 5 GB a month. | Hobby: free to deploy, 5 GB bandwidth and 500 build minutes included, then usage billed. |
| Entry paid tier | $5 a month for Starter. | $25 a month for Pro, flat: 25 GB bandwidth, 1,000 build minutes. |
| Overage | None. A plan cap rather than a meter. | $0.15 per GB of bandwidth, $5 per 1,000 extra build minutes. |
| Top published tier | See the pricing page. | $499 a month for Scale: 1 TB bandwidth, 5,000 build minutes. |
Render prices and allowances from its own pricing page, read 8 September 2026, and the workspace-plans changelog of 23 April 2026. Droply prices are read live from the plans table on this page. Product plans can change.
No card required
What you get without paying anything
No repository, no build minutes, and no per-gigabyte meter behind the free plan.
- 1 live site on a 25 MB account, with no card and no trial clock.
- Up to 25 MB per upload, and up to 25 publishes a day.
- 5,000 visits and 5 GB of traffic a month.
- HTTPS with a real certificate, issued and renewed for you.
- The same URL on every re-upload, so a link you already sent keeps working.
- 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.
- Publishing straight from the browser, the API, Chrome or VS Code, with no repo in between.