Once your site is built using rift build, you're left with a static output directory (dist/) containing plain HTML, CSS, JS, and asset files. You can host this folder on any static-friendly web platform.
Recommended Hosting Providers
1. Cloudflare Pages
Best for performance and global edge delivery.
- Free tier: Excellent — unlimited sites, generous bandwidth, automatic HTTPS
- Deploy method: Connect GitHub, or push manually via
wrangler
- 404 support: Uses
404.html
- i18n support: Subfolders fully supported
📖 pages.cloudflare.com
2. Netlify
Fast CI, free tier, custom domains.
- Free tier: Includes 300 build minutes/month, 100GB bandwidth
- Deploy method: Git push or CLI (
netlify deploy)
- 404 support:
404.html required at root
- i18n support: No native per-locale routing, but folders work
📖 netlify.com
3. GitHub Pages
Great for open source docs & projects.
- Free tier: Always free with a GitHub repo
- Deploy method: Push
dist/ to a gh-pages branch
- 404 support: Requires root
404.html
- i18n support: Basic folder support only
📖 pages.github.com
4. Vercel (Static mode)
Optimized for frontend apps.
- Free tier: Generous — includes preview deployments and HTTPS
- Deploy method: GitHub or CLI (
vercel --prod)
- 404 support: Automatically picks up
404.html
- i18n support: Native locale routing if configured
📖 vercel.com
5. Firebase Hosting
Good for hobby projects, requires Google account.
- Free tier: 1GB storage, 10GB/month transfer
- Deploy method:
firebase deploy
- 404 support: Via
firebase.json configuration
- i18n support: Manual folder structure only
📖 firebase.google.com/products/hosting
6. Render
Simpler alternative to Netlify, works well with Rift.
- Free tier: Static site hosting with custom domains, HTTPS
- Deploy method: GitHub auto-deploy or CLI
- 404 support: Root
404.html required
- i18n support: Works with folder-based locales
📖 render.com
Self-Hosting Rift Sites
You can also serve your Rift site from:
- Any VPS or Linux server: using
nginx or caddy
- Docker containers: serve
dist/ using nginx:alpine
- Cloud storage buckets: e.g., S3 + CloudFront
- IPFS: or static CDN gateways
Local Testing
To preview your built site locally before pushing it to production, use:
npx serve dist/
or:
python3 -m http.server --directory dist
Tips for Deployment
- Make sure
404.html is present at the root
- Confirm your permalinks match the host's expected folder/file behavior
- Don’t forget to rebuild (
rift build) before every deployment
- Use Git-based deploys for easier automation
