Tech · · 2 min read
How I built this website for $0
No website builder, no server, no monthly bill. Just simple files, GitHub and free hosting from Cloudflare.
This website costs me nothing to run. No hosting bill, no subscription, and no domain fee for now. Here's how I put it together, in case you want to make one too.
Starting with the design
I didn't want a typical developer portfolio. I wanted a site about me, not just my work.
So first I looked through a lot of award-winning personal websites for ideas. Then I went through a few rounds of designs before picking this one: a soft glowing ball, frosted glass cards and pastel colours. It also has a dark mode that follows your phone or computer setting.
The design took the longest. Once I knew what I wanted, building it was quick.
Keeping it simple
My first thought was to use React. But this site is mostly text and photos, so React would only make it slower and more complicated. In the end I went with plain HTML, CSS and a little bit of JavaScript.
Blog posts are written in Markdown, which is basically plain text with a few symbols for headings and links. A small script turns each post into a web page.
The home page is only about 50 KB, so it loads fast even on slow mobile data. Google's Lighthouse test gives it full marks for speed, accessibility and SEO.
Hosting it for free
The code is on GitHub, and Cloudflare Pages hosts the site for free. I connected the two once, and now every time I push a change to GitHub, Cloudflare builds and publishes it automatically. A new post goes live in about a minute.
Cloudflare also gives you a free address ending in .pages.dev, which is why this site is jerrytee.pages.dev. I might buy a proper domain later, but for now this works fine.
A bit of help from AI
I built this with the help of an AI coding assistant. It helped with design ideas, writing the code, and testing that everything works on both phone and desktop. I still made the calls on the design and what goes on the site, but it saved me a lot of time.
Honestly, I think in this era we should use AI to make our lives easier. It won't do everything for you, but it's a great helper if you know what you want.
What it costs
- Hosting: free (Cloudflare Pages)
- Code: free (GitHub)
- Domain: free for now (.pages.dev)
- Total: $0
If you've been thinking about making your own website, you don't need to pay for a website builder. A few simple files and a free host are enough.