How to Host Your Web Game Without Paying

As long as your game stays a file on your hard drive, you're the only one who can play it. Putting it online is the missing step, and it's often the one people put off because they imagine they'll have to manage a server and get into complicated setups.

In reality, an HTML5 game can go online for free in a few minutes. You just need to pick the right option, because they don't all meet the same need.

What hosting an HTML5 game means

An HTML5 game is just simple files: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and sometimes a few images or sounds. No need for a server, a database or software installed on the player's device. Everything happens right in the browser of the person playing.

So hosting a game like this just means putting those files at an address a browser can open. It costs platforms almost nothing, which is why so many offer it for free.

What really makes the difference between them is what happens once your game is online. Some give you a URL and that's it. Others host your game and show it to players. And that choice matters much more than the technical specs.

Can you host an HTML5 game for free?

Yes, and for this format it's actually the norm. Platforms like Hoora, itch.io or GitHub Pages accept your files with no fees and no server to manage. On the other hand, free also means a few limits, and it's better to know them before choosing:

• Storage. Check how much your game weighs once exported. With lots of images or music, you quickly hit the ceiling of free plans.
• Bandwidth. It's often capped, and it's precisely when your game starts taking off that you risk hitting it.
• Monetization rules. Ads, donations, support links, etc.: each platform has its own rules, and some ban them completely.
• The accepted format. This is the most important point. Some platforms want an archive or a full folder, others a single standalone HTML file.

That last point is worth a minute. A standalone HTML file contains the whole game in a single document, with nothing else to load. It opens everywhere, never breaks because of a missing file, and publishes in seconds. If your game is already in that form, see our guide to turning an html file into a playable online game. If you made it in a traditional editor, you'll more likely have a folder with several files, and fewer platforms to choose from. Our roundup of the best software to create a game without coding details what each of them produces.

Where can you host an HTML5 game for free?

Three solutions cover most needs. They're all free, but they're not for the same thing:

• Hoora. You import your file from the website, and within seconds the game is playable on desktop and mobile. The difference is that the platform doesn't stop at hosting: every published game joins a feed that players browse by swiping. The app even has its own page in Gizmodo's download section. It's the option to choose if you don't have an audience yet, as long as your game fits in a single file of 100 KB max.
• itch.io. The long-standing reference among indie game creators. Hosting is free, you can customize your game page and receive donations. On the other hand, your game ends up in the middle of a huge catalog, so you'll mostly have to bring in players yourself.
• GitHub Pages. The logical choice if your project is already on GitHub. It's reliable, free and more than enough for a small game, but very technical: no discovery, no game stats, and all the setup is up to you.

In the end, price isn't really the criterion, it's your situation that matters. If you already have a community to send a link to, simple hosting is enough. If you're starting from zero, a platform that shows your game to players will save you a lot of time. For a more detailed comparison with each plan's limits, see our guide on hosting an html5 game for free. And for the audience question, we covered it all in our guide on how to promote and publish your video game.

Can an HTML5 game be played directly in a browser?

Yes, that's the whole point of the format. An HTML5 game works in any recent browser, on desktop, tablet or phone. The player opens a link and the game starts: nothing to download, nothing to install, no store to go through. That's what lets you publish a mobile game without ever submitting an app, as we explain in our guide to publishing a mobile game without the app store.

To make it run smoothly on every device, a few optimizations are worth doing before going online:

• Image weight. Compress them, or replace them with graphics drawn in CSS or canvas, which weigh almost nothing.
• Sound. Generate it in code (Web Audio) rather than adding audio files, which are often the heaviest part of the project.
• JavaScript. A mini game doesn't need a framework. Every extra library adds loading time.
• Mobile display. Plan for portrait format, big enough tap areas, and check that nothing overflows on a small screen.

That last check is the one creators skip most often, and it's also the one that makes players leave after ten seconds. Our guide to testing an html5 game on mobile shows you how to do it before publishing.

Can you make money with an HTML5 game hosted for free?

Yes, there are several ways to go about it, and they're accessible even when you create alone. But they all need the same thing: players.

• Ads. Managed by the platform or an ad network, depending on what the rules allow. It's the most common method for browser games.
• Donations. A support link works well once a community has formed around your games, much less on a single game.
• In-app purchases. It's possible, but it takes real development, an account system and payment handling.
• A premium version. The free game acts as a showcase, and a fuller version is sold elsewhere. It's the easiest to set up when you're starting out.

In any case, read the platform's rules carefully before monetizing: some ban third-party ads, others take a commission. And start by building your audience, the money will come after.

How do you publish an HTML5 game on Hoora?

Hoora hosts your HTML5 game for free and makes it playable right in the web browser. Whether it's a 2D game, a small arcade game or a prototype you want people to test, the path is the same, as long as everything fits in a single file.

The import is done from the website: in the left-hand menu, click the purple "Import" button.

1. Drop in your HTML file, and a playable preview appears right away so you can check everything works before publishing.
2. Add a title and a description.
3. Publish.

It's free, and the only constraint is the format: a standalone HTML file of 100 KB max, with all the code in the same document and no external resources. That's exactly what an AI gives you when you ask it for a web game, and our guide on creating a game with ai shows you how to get one in a few minutes.

Once published, your game has its own public link and launches right away, with no download or account needed for the player, on the website as well as in the app, available on Android and iOS. To update it, just import a newer version of the file, with no review to wait for. The full walkthrough is in our guide on publishing your ai creations.

So you don't need to pay to put your game online. Pick the platform that fits your situation, and if you don't have players yet, go for the one that brings them to you.