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A static site is a set of prebuilt files (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, fonts) that Sevalla builds from a Git repository and serves from Cloudflare’s global edge network. There’s no server process to run or scale, and each company gets 100 GB of bandwidth and 600 build minutes free every month.

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How static sites work

  1. A deployment starts when you push to the site’s default branch (with Auto-deploy on), push to another branch (with pull request previews on), or click Deploy now.
  2. Sevalla builds the site in an isolated container: it clones the repository, installs dependencies with the package manager your lockfile names, and runs your build command with the Node.js version you chose. Without a build command, it publishes the repository’s files as they are.
  3. Sevalla uploads the publish directory to Cloudflare R2 storage. Files that didn’t change since an earlier deployment are reused, not uploaded again.
  4. The new version goes live in one step. When every file is uploaded, Sevalla points the site’s domains at the new deployment and purges the edge cache. Visitors never see a half-uploaded site.
  5. Cloudflare serves every request from the edge location closest to the visitor. A Sevalla worker at the edge maps the URL to a file, applies your _redirects and _headers rules and pretty URLs, and caches the response.
On a push, or when you click Deploy now, Sevalla builds the site in a build container, uploads the publish directory to Cloudflare R2, switches your domains to the new deployment and purges the cache. Requests go to Sevalla's edge worker, which applies _redirects, _headers, pretty URLs and the 404 page, and answers from the edge cache or fetches the file from R2. On a push, or when you click Deploy now, Sevalla builds the site in a build container, uploads the publish directory to Cloudflare R2, switches your domains to the new deployment and purges the cache. Requests go to Sevalla's edge worker, which applies _redirects, _headers, pretty URLs and the 404 page, and answers from the edge cache or fetches the file from R2. A static site has no location to choose: it’s served from every Cloudflare edge location. Every site gets a free <name>.sevalla.page domain, for example acme-shop-k3x9p.sevalla.page, and you can add custom domains with free SSL certificates.

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What you can do

Create a static site

Connect a repository, set the build, and publish the first deployment.

Build settings

Build command, Node.js version, root and publish directories, framework defaults.

Deployments

Deploy on push or by hand, filter by changed paths, preview pull requests.

Environment variables

Values the build reads, for production and previews.

Redirects

The _redirects file, rewrites, custom 404 pages and pretty URLs.

Custom headers

The _headers file for security, caching and CORS headers.

Custom domains

Add your domain, verify it and get an SSL certificate.

Networking and caching

How the edge cache works and how to purge it.

Logs

Every request the edge served, searchable and live.

Analytics

Requests, bandwidth, response times, status codes and countries.

Settings

Every setting on the Settings tab, renaming and deleting a site.

Go-live checklist

What to check before you send real traffic.

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Pricing and free allowances

Static sites have no monthly fee. Each company gets a free allowance every billing month, shared by all of its static sites, including pull request previews: Prices exclude tax. See Pricing for every price and Usage for what the company has used. The Static sites page shows the Monthly resource usage card, with the share of each allowance used this billing month: Bandwidth per month, Build minutes per month and Sites. Only people who can view the company’s billing see it.

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Limits

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Site status

The status next to the site’s name, on the Static sites list and on the Overview tab, follows the latest production deployment. Preview deployments never change it. The Overview tab’s Details card shows the site’s primary Domain, its Status and its Source (repository and default branch). Click Visit site to open the site. The Recent deployments card lists the latest deployments, with View all and Deploy now.
The Details card on a static site's Overview tab with the domain, the status Live, the source repository and the Visit site buttonThe Details card on a static site's Overview tab with the domain, the status Live, the source repository and the Visit site button

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When to use an application instead

Static site hosting serves files. Use an application when your site needs any of these:
  • Server-side rendering, API routes or anything that runs code for each request.
  • A database connection, sessions or server-side sign-in.
  • A build that needs more than Node.js and the tools in the build environment, such as PHP or Python.
A static site can still have dynamic features: call third-party services (forms, search, comments) or your own Sevalla application from the browser.