Free React app hosting: the minimalist's guide to launch

June 4, 2026 · jsdeck team · 4 min read

If you searched for free React app hosting, you want the shortest reliable path from working code to a public URL — without standing up servers, learning a sprawling cloud dashboard, or entering a credit card before you have a single user. This guide walks through exactly how to do that with jsdeck, what the trade-offs are, and when a different tool is genuinely the better call. We will keep it practical: real steps, real commands, and honest caveats.

Prerequisites

Node.js installed (or the relevant SDK for your framework)
A project that builds to static files (commonly dist/, build/, or out/)
A free jsdeck account — no credit card required

If your project already runs locally and produces a build folder, you have everything you need.

Build a static bundle

The key idea behind free React app hosting is that your framework compiles down to plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Run your production build (npm run build for most setups) and confirm an output folder appears. Open it locally with npx serve dist (adjust the folder name) to verify it works before uploading anything.

Deploy in four steps

Build: npm run build
Sign up: create a free account
Upload: drag the output folder into the jsdeck dashboard, or run jsdeck deploy
Verify: open your *.jsdeck.com URL and test navigation, deep links, and refresh

Client-side routing on static hosts

If your app uses a client-side router, unknown paths must rewrite to index.html, otherwise a refresh on a deep link returns 404. jsdeck applies SPA fallback automatically for hosted apps, so React Router, Vue Router, and similar work out of the box. (For the underlying mechanics, see our routing fix guides in the hub.)

Custom domain, HTTPS, and persistence

HTTPS is provisioned for jsdeck subdomains automatically. When you are ready for production, add a custom domain from the app dashboard. If your app needs to store anything, enable the datastore rather than relying on browser-only storage so data persists across devices and sessions.

Troubleshooting a static deploy

Most first-deploy problems come from a handful of causes. Work through them in order:

Blank page after deploy: usually an asset-path issue. If your bundler emits absolute paths (/assets/...) but expects a sub-path, set the correct base in your build config and rebuild.
404 on refresh of a deep link: that is the SPA-fallback case above — confirm your router uses history mode and rely on jsdeck's automatic rewrite.
Old version still showing: a cached asset. Bundlers add content hashes to filenames, so a fresh build plus a hard refresh resolves it.
Mixed-content warnings: make every request use HTTPS; jsdeck serves your app over HTTPS, so any http:// resource will be blocked by the browser.

Verifying these locally with npm run preview before uploading saves a round-trip almost every time.

Who this is for, and when not to use jsdeck

Good fit: static frontends, single-page apps, demos, portfolios, MVPs, AI-generated exports, and apps that need a little JSON persistence or lightweight visitor login.

Not a fit: apps that require a long-running Node server, server-side rendering at request time, WebSocket backends, private server-side secrets, background jobs, or a full relational database. For those, a platform like the alternatives discussed across our comparisons hub will serve you better — and that is a feature of choosing deliberately, not a compromise.

Frequently asked questions

Is free React app hosting really free?

Yes. jsdeck offers free static hosting with HTTPS for projects like this, with no credit card required to start. Optional features such as the datastore and visitor auth are available when you need them.

Do I need to connect a Git repository?

No. You can upload your build folder directly in the dashboard, or deploy from the command line with jsdeck deploy. Git is optional.

Will client-side routes break on refresh?

No. jsdeck applies SPA fallback so deep links and refreshes resolve to your app instead of returning a 404.

Next steps

Explore more guides in the React hosting hub
Follow the getting started guide to deploy your first app
Read the developer docs for datastore, secure accounts (auth API), and CLI deploy details