Comparison
deploybase vs GitHub Pages
Looking for a European alternative to GitHub Pages? Free hosting for hobby
projects — or professional EU hosting for production sites. Same git push, very different platforms.
Summary
GitHub Pages is a free hosting add-on built into GitHub — convenient if you're already there, but limited: no custom headers, no previews, no rollback, no SLA, and no commercial use allowed. deploybase is a European alternative — a dedicated static hosting platform with EU data residency, branch previews, instant rollback, and proper EUR invoicing. Choose GitHub Pages if the only thing you need is "push and it's live" with zero configuration. Choose deploybase for everything else — from open-source docs to production business sites.
Where they differ
A hosting add-on vs a hosting platform
GitHub Pages is a feature bundled with GitHub — not a standalone hosting product. There's no custom headers, no server-side redirects, no password protection, no preview URLs, and no uptime SLA. deploybase is purpose-built for static site hosting with all the features you'd expect from a production platform: branch previews, instant rollback, custom headers, and share links with optional passwords. If your site is more than a README, you'll notice the difference.
Free but restricted vs paid but unrestricted
GitHub Pages is free — but prohibits commercial use in its Terms of Service. No business websites, no SaaS landing pages, no e-commerce. Sites are capped at 1 GB and 100 GB/month bandwidth. Private repos require GitHub Pro ($4/user/mo). deploybase starts free too, but every tier allows commercial use with proper EU invoicing, B2B VAT reverse charge, and bandwidth up to 2 TB. No ambiguous ToS, no soft caps that might get your site disabled.
US infrastructure vs EU-native
GitHub migrated Pages to Azure in 2025 and delivers via Fastly's global CDN. Visitor IP addresses are logged regardless of whether visitors have GitHub accounts. EU data residency (available since October 2024) covers Enterprise Cloud but not Pages content or visitor data. deploybase stores all data on Scaleway Paris and delivers globally via Bunny.net CDN. No US sub-processors, no transatlantic data transfers. If your compliance team or clients require EU data residency, GitHub Pages can't deliver that.
Feature comparison
| Feature | deploybase | GitHub Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance & Data | ||
| EU data residency All data stays in the EU. Scaleway Paris infrastructure. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: US (GitHub/Azure) |
| No US sub-processors Zero US cloud providers in the entire stack. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: Microsoft/Azure |
| No US data transfers No data crosses the Atlantic. Not even billing data. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| Pricing & Billing | ||
| Transparent EUR pricing Flat tiers in EUR. No credits, no surprises. | Supported: Yes | Limited: Free only |
| No overages Fixed monthly price. Hard limits, not surprise bills. | Supported: Yes | Supported: Yes |
| No per-seat pricing Flat per tier. Add team members without extra cost. | Supported: Yes | Supported: Yes |
| EU VAT with reverse charge Correct VAT for all 27 EU member states. B2B reverse charge. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| EU payment processing Billed by an EU Merchant of Record. No Stripe, no US processors. | Supported: Yes | Limited: Free only |
| Deployment & Builds | ||
| Git-connected deployments Push code to deploy. Supports 8 frameworks. | Supported: Yes | Limited: GitHub only |
| Branch preview URLs Every branch gets a CDN-backed preview URL. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| Instant rollback Re-point production to any previous deployment. No rebuild. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| Auto-deploy on push Push to Git and your site rebuilds automatically. | Supported: Yes | Limited: GitHub Actions |
| Priority builds Pro and Scale plans get priority in the build queue. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| Security & Access | ||
| Custom domains + TLS Connect your domain with automatic TLS certificates. | Supported: Yes | Supported: Yes |
| Geo-filtering (country access control) Allow or block visitors by country or region — keep a site EU-only in one click. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| Password-protected share links Share deployments with optional password protection. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| Environment variables Encrypted at rest, injected at build time. | Supported: Yes | Limited: Actions secrets |
| Collaboration | ||
| Team roles (RBAC) Four roles: Viewer, Member, Admin, Owner. | Supported: Yes | Limited: Repo permissions |
| Developer Experience | ||
| API keys Programmatic access with scoped API keys. | Supported: Yes | Limited: PATs |
| MCP server for AI tools Manage projects from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| Redirects file (_redirects) Netlify-compatible _redirects file with up to 1000 rules. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| CLI deploys Deploy from your terminal with the deploybase CLI. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| Form handling Native form endpoint. Submissions stored in the EU, spam quarantined without CAPTCHAs. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| Serverless functions Run backend logic alongside your static site. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| Git Integrations | ||
| GitHub integration One-click GitHub App connect. No personal access tokens. | Supported: Yes | Limited: Native only |
| GitLab integration Deploy from GitLab with webhook auto-deploy. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| Codeberg integration Deploy from Codeberg (Gitea-compatible). | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| Bitbucket integration Deploy from Bitbucket Cloud with webhook auto-deploy. | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| Platform specifics | ||
| GDPR-compliant visitor data | Supported: No US logging | Not supported: Logs visitor IPs |
| Commercial use allowed | Supported: Yes | Not supported: Prohibited by ToS |
| Custom HTTP headers | Supported: Yes | Not supported: No |
| Private repo hosting (free) | Supported: Yes | Not supported: Requires Pro ($4/mo) |
| Site size limit | Supported: No hard limit | Limited: 1 GB max |
| Bandwidth | Supported: Up to 2 TB | Limited: 100 GB/mo soft cap |
| Build timeout | Supported: Generous | Limited: 10 min hard limit |
| Analytics (built-in) | Limited: Coming soon | Not supported: Third-party required |
| Uptime SLA | Supported: Bunny.net 99.99% | Not supported: No SLA for Pages |
Pricing comparison
GitHub Pages is bundled with GitHub plans — you're really paying for GitHub, not hosting. deploybase is dedicated hosting with flat EUR tiers.
| Tier | deploybase | GitHub Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Free | €0 — 1 site, 100 GB bandwidth | $0 — public repos only, 100 GB BW, 1 GB size |
| GitHub Pages Free requires public repos. deploybase Free works with private repos. | ||
| Solo / Pro | €9/mo — 10 sites, 500 GB | $4/mo — private repos, same Pages limits |
| Pro | €19/mo — 25 sites, 1 TB, unlimited members | $4/user/mo — no additional Pages features |
| Scale / Enterprise | €49/mo — 100 sites, 2 TB, unlimited members | $21/user/mo — 50K Actions min, same Pages limits |
25 sites, unlimited members, 1 TB
$4 × 5 users, same Pages limits
Similar price — but deploybase includes branch previews, custom headers, instant rollback, and no commercial use restrictions.
Who should choose what
Choose deploybase if you…
- Want a real hosting platform — docs, blogs, marketing sites, or client projects
- Need branch previews, custom headers, redirects, and instant rollback
- Need EU data residency for GDPR compliance or client requirements
- Need transparent EUR invoices with proper B2B VAT handling
- Want an uptime SLA and reliability you can count on
Choose GitHub Pages if you…
- Want zero-config convenience — push to a branch and it's live, nothing else to set up
- Are already on GitHub and don't want a separate service
- Don't need custom headers, redirects, previews, or access control
- Are fine with US-hosted infrastructure and a 1 GB / 100 GB cap
- Don't need to use the site commercially
Common questions
Can I use GitHub Pages for my business website?
GitHub Pages Terms of Service explicitly prohibit use as a free hosting service for online businesses, e-commerce sites, or SaaS platforms. Donation buttons and crowdfunding links are permitted, but running a commercial site on GitHub Pages violates their usage policies. deploybase allows commercial use on every plan, including the free tier.
Is GitHub Pages GDPR compliant?
GitHub logs visitor IP addresses for all Pages sites, regardless of whether the visitor has a GitHub account. A Data Processing Agreement is only available for GitHub Enterprise Cloud customers. EU data residency (GA since October 2024) applies to Enterprise Cloud repositories, but does not extend to Pages content delivery or visitor telemetry. For sites serving EU audiences, this creates a compliance gap. deploybase hosts everything in the EU — no US data processing or transatlantic transfers.
What happens if I exceed GitHub Pages limits?
GitHub Pages has a 1 GB site size hard limit, a 100 GB/month bandwidth soft cap, and a 10-minute build timeout. Exceeding the soft limits triggers an email suggesting you reduce your site's impact, but GitHub reserves the right to disable your site. There is no SLA or guarantee that your site stays up. deploybase offers up to 2 TB bandwidth with no surprise shutdowns and a 99.99% CDN uptime SLA.
Can I migrate from GitHub Pages to deploybase?
Yes. If your site builds with Jekyll, Hugo, Astro, Next.js SSG, SvelteKit, Eleventy, Vite, or any other static site generator, connect the same Git repository to deploybase, set your build command and output directory, and deploy. Custom domains can be moved by updating your DNS records. No code changes are needed for most sites. Your GitHub repo remains unchanged — you're just changing where it deploys.
Why doesn't GitHub Pages support custom headers?
GitHub Pages is designed as a simple hosting add-on, not a full-featured hosting platform. It doesn't support custom HTTP headers (no Cache-Control, no CORS, no security headers like Content-Security-Policy), server-side redirects, or any edge logic. This means you can't set proper security headers, control caching, or handle SEO redirects. deploybase supports custom headers and redirects natively.
How reliable is GitHub Pages?
GitHub experienced 109 service incidents in the first half of 2025 — a 58% increase over H1 2024 — including 17 major incidents totaling over 100 hours of disruption. The Azure infrastructure migration has introduced additional instability. GitHub does not offer an SLA for Pages. deploybase delivers via Bunny.net CDN, which provides a contractual 99.99% uptime SLA with 100+ global points of presence.
Do I still need GitHub if I use deploybase?
deploybase works with any Git provider — GitHub, GitLab, Codeberg, Bitbucket, or self-hosted Gitea. You can keep your code on GitHub and deploy with deploybase. You don't need to migrate your repositories. deploybase connects to your repo, pulls on push, builds, and deploys to EU infrastructure.
Ready to deploy from Europe?
Same git push workflow. EU infrastructure. No commercial use
restrictions.