Neocities vs Surge (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Neocities grades higher than Surge: 2.6 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Neocities grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Neocities
Free static website hosting with an in-browser editor
Which one is for you
Pick Neocities if
- Fits if you want a personal static page
- Works for hobby sites you build by hand
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need server-side code or a database, as hosting is static only
- Tight if you want a custom domain, which needs Supporter at $5 a month
- Watch out: free sites are limited in file types and get a stricter content security policy
- Too light for a growing site, with free storage capped at 1 GB
Pick Surge if
- Fits if you are happy in a terminal and want to push a build folder online
- Works for quick previews and demos from a CI job
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a point-and-click dashboard, as publishing is by command line
- Skip it if you need a build step, because Surge only serves files you built elsewhere
- Pricey if you need redirects, rewrites or password protection, which need Pro at $30 a month
- Watch out: publishing is rate limited on every plan, and a project tops out at 450 MB
How we grade them
| 2.6GPANeocitiesGood | 2.4GPASurgeFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AThe free plan is substantial for a static site: 1 GB, 200 GB of bandwidth and no ads. Supporter is $5 a month. | AFree plan with unlimited projects and domains, and custom domains with certificates at no cost. The only paid plan is $30 a month. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free site with SSL and the editor, enough for a personal page. It has file-type limits and a stricter content security policy. | BThe free plan covers real use, with limits you can hit: 450 MB and 10,100 files a project, and publishing is rate limited. |
| Features | CIn-browser editor, CLI, API, CDN and community features. Static only, with no server code or database, so it does a smaller job. | CPreviews, 100 revisions with rollback and single-page app support. It serves static files only and does not run a build, so it does a narrow job. |
| Ease of use | CThe work is building the pages yourself, even though an editor sits in the browser. | DEverything is done from a terminal with the CLI, so it is a poor start for anyone who does not use a command line. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with a CLI and API but no apps or listed integrations. | CWeb only, with a CLI and scoped tokens for CI jobs. No dashboard to build in, and no phone or desktop app. |
| Best for | a hobby static site | publishing a static folder from the command line |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Neocities and Surge. How we grade
Price against what you get
Neocities starts at $5 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Surge starts at $30 a month and scores 1.7.
Neocities scores higher and starts $25 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 13 score higher than Neocities for less, and 92 score higher than Surge for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Neocities is open source, according to its own site.
- Surge also covers workflow automation.
At a glance
| Neocities | Surge | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $5 per month (Supporter) | $30 per month (Pro) |
| Free plan | 1 GB storage and 200 GB bandwidth on a neocities.org subdomain with SSL, the site editor, the CLI tool and no ads. | Unlimited projects and domains, custom domains with certificates, 10 regions, previews and 100 revisions with rollback. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Neocities | Chloi Inc. |
| Price read from | neocities.org | surge.sh |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Neocities
- Hosting is static only; there is no server-side code or database.
- Custom domains, SFTP, WebDAV and multiple sites need the $5 a month Supporter plan.
- The free plan restricts which file types can be uploaded and applies a stricter content security policy.
- The Free plan caps storage at 1 GB and bandwidth at 200 GB.
Surge
- Static files only, and Surge does not run a build, so you build elsewhere and hand it the output.
- Publishing is rate limited on every plan: 30 per domain and 60 per account every 15 minutes.
- A project can be at most 450 MB and 10,100 files.
- Password protection, redirects and rewrites need the $30 Pro plan.
Key features
Neocities
- In-browser editor
- Pages can be written in an HTML editor in the browser or uploaded by drag and drop.
- Command line tool and API
- A CLI and an API are available on both plans, for deploying a site from a terminal or building developer tools.
- Anycast CDN
- Sites are served from Neocities' own caching CDN in more than a dozen datacenters, with SSL and HTTP/2.
- Custom domains
- Custom domains with SSL certificates, SFTP and WebDAV uploads are Supporter features.
- Community features
- Site tags, a gallery, follows, comments and RSS feeds are included, in the manner of a social network for sites.
- AI blocking control
- Both plans list full control over blocking AI crawlers, and the site says it will not sell data for AI training.
Surge
- One-command publishing
- Run surge with a directory and a domain; the CLI remembers the domain in a one-line CNAME file and needs no config file.
- Previews and rollback
- Each publish is a revision and the last 100 are kept, so a domain can be previewed, cut over and rolled back.
- Custom domains and certificates
- Custom domains are free on every plan, with certificates issued and renewed automatically once DNS points at Surge.
- Single-page app support
- A 200.html file serves unknown paths for client-side routes, and a 404.html gives a custom not-found page.
- Tokens for CI and agents
- A token can be scoped to one domain, and Surge publishes a manual for coding agents at surge.sh/docs/agents.
Plans
Neocities
Free$0
1 GB storage, 200 GB bandwidth, a free neocities.org subdomain with SSL, one-click backups, the site editor and CLI tool. No custom domains, SFTP or WebDAV.
Supporter$5
per month
50 GB storage, 3000 GB bandwidth, custom domains with SSL certificates, multiple sites, SFTP, WebDAV, site stats history and basic email support.
Surge
Free$0
Unlimited projects and domains, custom domains with certificates, previews, rollback and scoped CI tokens.
Pro$30
per month
Everything in Free plus password protection for a domain or paths, and redirects and rewrites.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Neocities or Surge?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Neocities is cheaper to start with: $5 a month, against $30 a month for Surge. Neocities starts at $5 per month (Supporter), and Surge starts at $30 per month (Pro).
Which has a free plan, Neocities or Surge?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Neocities and Surge have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.