Where an HTML file should go

GitHub Pages, when the project is a repository

GitHub Pages serves HTML, CSS, and JavaScript from a repository. The usual address is yourname.github.io, or a project path under that host. You can add files in the browser, and the path most people use is git. A custom domain can point at the site.

PHP does not run, and neither does a database. Use it when the page already lives in Git, or when you want that custom domain and you are fine keeping a repository. The docs are at pages.github.com.

GitHub Pages

Neocities, when you want the editor and the neighborhood

Neocities publishes a personal site on a yourname.neocities.org address and gives you an editor in the browser. The free site is that subdomain. A profile, tags, and other people’s sites sit next to yours. Custom domains are on their paid plan.

It is still a static host. A page that must run PHP or keep a password on the server does not belong there. Open it if you want the site to live among other personal pages, not only at an address you send to one person.

Neocities

Pagepod, when the folder is already finished

Pagepod is the direct upload. Create a free account, claim a short name, and put index.html on that name. The public address is yourname.pagepod.me. CSS, JavaScript, images, and fonts go in the same site. There is no repository and no build step.

PHP files are refused and never executed. One file can be 2 MB. One site can hold 25 MB and 80 files. There is no custom domain: the address is the subdomain you chose. A published page shows a short line that it is hosted free on Pagepod, with a link to open your own address.

Create a free accountHow publishing works

Which one to open

Open GitHub Pages if the work is already in a repository, or if you need your own domain on a developer host. Open Neocities if you want the browser editor and a public profile among other personal sites. Open Pagepod if the page is a folder on your computer and you want it on a hostname you picked, without learning git.

Netlify and Cloudflare Pages sit with GitHub Pages: they publish a static build from a repository. They are the right door when a framework has to compile first. They are a long way around when the only file is index.html.