You’ve created an outstanding web app or website? Sounds great! However, your job is not over yet, unless you are able to pick a suitable web hosting service for deploying your app/website. Your targeted audience will be able to view your website or application only if it is hosted on the World Wide Web.
A web hosting service deploys a website or an app on a computer network so that an internet user or a web browser client can access it. A web host or a web server refers to a computer system that deploys a web app. Web hosts permit customers to embed multimedia files or documents like web pages or HTML pages into a specialized computer called the web server. The web server offers continuous support and a high-speed connection. Internet users can view your website by typing website or domain address.
Web hosting services are a necessity! However, it’s difficult to find a suitable web hosting platform that offers free services. This post explores the free web hosting services for deploying React apps and Angular apps. I have chosen React and Angular as these are the most preferred frameworks for developing responsive websites or apps speedily and cost-effectively.
Free Web Hosting Services for React and Angular Apps & their Offerings
Heroku
Heroku is one of the viable options for hosting Angular apps and React apps. This popular Cloud service platform supports a wide range of frameworks and its free plan is sufficient for most projects. The free plan provides 550 dyno hours. The limit gets extended to 1000 dyno hours if users verify themselves by furnishing their credit card particulars. This step is just for user verification, no amount is charged. Users can work on five projects for free.
Heroku: Key Features
Heroku is a container-based setup and is easy to use. It offers a simple solution for web application development & web page hosting. The platform even allows you to add customized domains and offers various tools that allow you to scale your app as per business requirements. You can deploy the custom domains with the help of Docker and Git. Another noteworthy feature of Heroku is its CLI which makes it possible to deploy projects straightaway from the code editor. Moreover, the services offered by Heroku are synchronized and secure, providing a rich user experience altogether.
Heroku: Limitations and Resolutions
One limitation of Heroku’s free plan is that the servers go into sleep mode if no activity is detected for 30 minutes. In other words, the app “sleeps” if there aren’t any visitors for 30 minutes at a stretch. But, what happens when the app gets visitors after going off to “sleep mode?” Well, then Heroku runs the application again employing commands such as ‘npm build.’ Yet, there’s another bottleneck you’ll face. Your app will take longer to load and you are likely to lose any app instance that you have stored. The app instance can be any kind of data that has been stored in the form of a variable. Nevertheless, there is a solution to this problem as well. You can prevent your Heroku app from going into “sleep mode” by using “cron-jobs.” This command will carry out the task of automatically pinging the app every thirty minutes.
Heroku: Usage Guidance
Check out how to go about the process of app deployment using Heroku. After developing the app, users have to create a new GitHub repository and or sync it to their existing repository. Then they need to add the code to it. After users create their account and connect it to Heroku, the platform pulls the code. Users then deploy the website/web app by clicking the option “Deploy Branch” available under the category of “Manual Deploy.” Heroku deploys the app after the build process finishes and delivers the completed project to the users immediately.
Google’s Firebase
Google-developed Firebase is a managed hosting service that caters to static content, dynamic content, and microservices. This hosting service includes Cloud Build and provides ready-made solutions designed for DevOps that automate your project’s workflow and facilitate continuous deployment.
The free hosting service of Firebase, known as the ‘Spark Billing Plan’, offers 10GB storage; but, users can transfer only 360MB of data in a day. Firebase offerings include SSL certification, the support for custom domains, and the allowance for hosting several sites for each project.
If your Firebase project avails of the ‘Spark Billing Plan,’ and you connect the project with a Cloud billing account, Firebase automatically upgrades your project to the billing model called “Blaze.” “Blaze” refers to the pay-as-you-go model.
Firebase: Key Features
The key features include hosting, analytics, Cloud Firestore, phone authentication, Cloud in-app messaging, dynamic links, global CDN, SSD storage, the availability of a real-time database, etc.
Firebase: Limitations and Resolutions
Firebase allows users unrestricted access to Google’s services and benefits React and Angular app developers to a great extent. But, if your project requires the involvement of any third-party service like MongoDB endpoints, you have to go for the paid services.
Firebase: Usage Guidance
First of all, you need to install the Firebase CLI globally and log in with either your Firebase or Google account. Then go to the root directory of the project and run the command firebase init. Reply yes when asked for confirmation to proceed. After setting up the project, you will have to host the project. Hosting involves steps like uploading hosting assets using Firebase deploy. Finally, you’ll have to run the command of firebase deploy.
GitHub Pages
This popular hosting service is an excellent option for newbies as it enables speedy website deployment. It’s a great option for hosting static websites. You can also deploy a multi file website using this platform.
GitHub Pages: Key Features
GitHub Pages comes with benefits like easy maintenance and features such as automated deployments, CI/CD configuration, etc.
GitHub Pages: Usage Guidance
This platform directly transfers JavaScript, CSS, and HTML files from a GitHub repository. The files are then optionally run using a build process and the website or web app gets published. Here’s how to go about the process.
Create a free GitHub account and upload the code into a public repository over there. Then, rename the README.md file for indexing the index.html file and inserting relevant HTML content. Now, scroll down and execute the new modifications. GitHub Pages host your website at once; it takes around one to ten minutes. Your website gets live under your specific username and domain name.
Vercel
Vercel is a transformative serverless web hosting service that caters to several JavaScript-based apps including React and Angular apps. This platform allows one to effortlessly import projects from Bitbucket and GitLab.
Vercel: Key Features
Vercel comes with the “fast refresh” feature that enables live editing for the UI components. Its “flexible data fetching” functionality works for every dev environment, once you connect your pages to an API, or a data source, or a headless CMS.
Vercel: Usage Guidance
For deploying Vercel, you need to create a new account and login using OAuth. Once the login process is a success, you can view a dashboard. This dashboard or the Vercel CLI can be used for project deployment.
Here’s an example of how to deploy a React app using the Vercel CLI and dashboard.
Vercel CLI: Install Vercel globally and run the command Vercellogin. Then you’ll get an option asking you to enter the email that is registered with Vercel. After successful submission, you’ll receive a login verification email from Vercel. Now, go to the root directory of your project and run the command vercel. Then you’ll be asked questions related to aspects like specifying the project path, project deployment scope, project’s name, the location of the directory that contains the code, etc. Once these questions are answered, the project will be ready to deploy.
Vercel Dashboard: The first step of app deployment using the dashboard involves integrating Bitbucket, GitLab, or GitHub to the place the React app is stored. Then click on the option Import Project available on your panel. Thereafter, you need to "import your project". Vercel auto-detects and picks a well-suited configuration for your project. Then click on deploy and your job is done.
Netlify
This highly productive web development tool helps developers to architect, test, and deploy websites and web apps including Angular & React Apps. The free web hosting services offer multiple serverless solutions and instant rollback plans to users. It offers three plans that cater to individual hosting, team plans, and business hosting requirements.
Netlify: Key Features
Owing to the various plugins offered by Netlify like form plugins, authentication plugins, etc.; one doesn’t need to manage any database for maintaining the users’ data on the server. With “Netlify Functions”, one can write as well as run Lambda functions.
Netlify: Limitations and Resolutions
Netlify is designed for static sites and so, doesn’t cater to Node.js applications. So, if you have written the app code in Node.js, you’ll have to rewrite the code in React or Angular.
Netlify: Usage Guidance
Once users create an account with Netlify, the projects can be directly integrated with the users’ git account.
Amazon EC2
Amazon EC2 is another service that is suitable for deploying a React/Angular website or app. Amazon EC2 is not entirely free service. The web hosting services are offered for free for a twelve-month period. However, if utilized properly, one can make the most out of these 12 months.
Amazon EC2: Key Features
Amazon EC2 users can access several Amazon services like Amazon Dynamo DB, a real-time database (250 GB), etc.
Amazon EC2: Limitations and Resolutions
The usage of web hosting services is limited to 750 hours for each user.
Amazon EC2: Usage Guidance
You need to select AWS EC2; then you can choose the processor RAM. You have the flexibility to choose processors from options like T2 micro, T2 small, and T2 mini.
Microsoft’s Azure
Microsoft’s Azure web hosting services support multiple platforms including Linux and Windows.
Azure: Key Features
You get a high-end virtual private server for your React app or Angular app. The pay-as-you-go model is also available.
Azure: Limitations
Azure provides a free trial period that lasts for 12 months with limited amount of services each month. Besides the quantity of services available in a month expires at the end of the month.
End Note:
I hope the aforesaid details about the novel offerings and limitations of the free web hosting services available for deploying React apps and Angular apps have proved beneficial for you.
If you are a newcomer and require professional assistance with web app development, deployment, or maintenance, I would suggest you to partner with an experienced software development service provider. Experienced Angular App development companies and React Native development services can help you to create and deploy an app following the best practices and intelligent strategies. This will help your business create its digital footprints globally.