Everything you need to know about free HTML5 game hosting
Hosting an HTML5 game is the subject beginner creators lose the most time on, usually because they look for a technical answer to a question that isn't technical.
This guide gathers all of it: what hosting means, what it costs, where to drop your file, how to publish it, and what happens next.
What hosting an HTML5 game really is
An HTML5 game is a set of static files that the player's browser runs itself. No computation happens on a server, no database is involved. Hosting it therefore comes down to putting a file at a publicly reachable address.
That's why the operation is almost always free, and why the few euros a month offers you come across are for something else entirely: a full website, email accounts, a database.
The format that determines everything
Before choosing where to drop your game, look at its shape. A self-contained HTML file holds the HTML, the CSS and the JavaScript in one document, with no external resources. It opens anywhere and imports in seconds.
One test is enough to check: cut your internet connection and open the file. If it works completely, it's self-contained. If not, ask your AI to embed every resource in the document, an operation detailed in our guide on turning an html file into a playable online game.
The main families of solutions
- Publishing platforms. Import in seconds, game playable immediately, audience built in. Imposed format: a self-contained file.
- Static hosts. Free and reliable, they accept multi file folders but bring you no players and require setup.
- Indie portals. A customizable game page and a community of creators, provided you bring your own audience.
Each option is compared in detail in our guide on hosting an html5 game for free.
Publishing your game, concretely
Importing happens on the Hoora website. In the left menu, the purple "Import" button opens the upload window.
Three steps are then enough: drop the file in, check it in the playable preview, add a title and a description. And there you go, your game is published!
The game appears in the feed of players who don't know you. That's the model that earned the platform $1.3 million in funding to develop its app.
After hosting
Careful, a hosted game isn't a played game. Once you have the link, you still have to get it circulating, measure what hooks people and fix what drives them away. Two resources complete this guide: our guide on testing an html5 game on mobile, to run before publishing, and our guide on how to promote and publish your video game, for what comes after.
Frequently asked questions about free HTML5 game hosting
- Can you host an HTML5 game for free with no time limit? Yes, there's no server cost to cover for a static file.
- What's the difference between hosting and publishing? Hosting gives your game an address, publishing puts it where players will see it.
- Do you need a domain name or FTP access? Neither, for a self-contained file.
- What happens if my game attracts a lot of people? On a publishing platform, the bandwidth isn't your problem.
- Can I monetize a freely hosted game? Depending on the platform's rules, ads and donations are sometimes allowed, sometimes not.
- Are 3D and WebGL games accepted? Browsers handle them, but build weight quickly becomes the limiting factor.
- What if I don't have a game yet? Our guide on creating a game with ai gets you one in minutes, in the right format.
Hosting stopped being an obstacle a long time ago. What's really at stake when you choose is simply how many people will see your game afterwards.