7 cool Jamstack hosting solutions
@jeremymorganjeremymorgan
Technical blogger, author, geek in general. I love technology and love to write about it.
The Jamstack architecture is rapidly gaining popularity with web developers around the world. Jam stands for “JavaScript, API, and Markup.” Jamstack sites are static sites built with HTML, JavaScript and CSS; they are text files, so they can be served quickly without the overhead of traditional compiled or interpreted architectures.
Tim Berners-Lee created the first static website in 1991. In fact, it was the first website ever built. In the decades that followed, developers switched to using interpreted and compiled code for websites and applications, requiring complicated setup and additional overhead.
Web developers do not return to static sites due to deficiencies or problems with compiled or interpreted code; this is how APIs and other web services are built. However, we now use HTML and JavaScript as a client to communicate with these systems. This allows us to decouple our web applications from APIs and take advantage of fast static hosting and CDNs for the web application front end.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few options for deploying our Jamstack websites.
1. GitHub
One of the easiest ways to publish a static site is to use GitHub pages. You can create your static site on your local machine, build it, and then validate the artifacts. It will be published on yourusername.github.io.
Benefits :
- No cost)
- Git integration
- Good performance
This method is perfect for trying out different static site builders or experimenting with a project. You can sign up for free on GitHub. Pluralsight also offers a guide where you can learn how to host your static web pages on GitHub pages.
2. Netlify
Netlify is a Platform as a Service (PaaS) for building static websites. They provide static site hosting with content delivery networks (CDNs) which makes your site fast no matter where you are. Like GitHub pages, you can create a static site from a repository. However, Netlify includes build services that run the build and deploy it for you. So you can host your source in a repository like GitHub or Bitbucket, and Netlify will build your Gatsby, Jekyll, or Hugo site for you as part of the automated process.
Benefits :
- Continuous integration
- Support for teams
- Fast Edge Servers
- Building servers for popular static site generators
- Branch deployments
- Split test
- Support for lambda functions
You can sign up for Netlify and try it out here.
3. Vercel
Vercel is another PaaS solution that provides fast static site hosting for your Jamstack solutions. Like Netlify, it contains a “turnkey” solution ranging from a repository to a fully functional website. It includes build services for Next.js, Gatsby, Vue, and other major static site frameworks. Vercel also offers templates for common static site builders (31 at the time of writing this article) that can help you build your project the way you want.
Benefits :
- Continuous integration
- Support for teams
- Fast Edge Servers
- Create servers and templates for popular static site builders
- Support for lambda functions
4. Amazon web services
There are several ways to host a Jamstack site on AWS, depending on your needs. They provide services to support everyone from the occasional hobbyist blogger to a full-fledged business. AWS Amplify combines these services into an easy-to-use interface for deploying Jamstack sites.
Small websites:
Large websites:
Benefits :
- Continuous integration
- Scalability
- Integration with other AWS services
5. Microsoft Azure
There are several ways to host Jamstack sites on Azure. This can be especially useful if you have other applications living in the Azure ecosystem.
Small websites:
Large websites:
Benefits :
- Continuous integration
- Scalability
- Integration with other AWS services
6. Google Cloud Platform
GCP offers great services to combat static site hosting.
Small websites:
Large websites:
Note: Compute engines, virtual machines, and containers all require additional configuration.
Benefits :
- Continuous integration
- Scalability
- Integration with other GCP services
7. Firebase hosting
Although Firebase is part of Google and tied to the GCP platform, it deserves special mention because of its speed and simplicity. It provides a fast, easy-to-scale hosting service that is linked to GCP functions if you need it.
Benefits :
- Continuous integration
- Mixed mode (static / dynamic) with GCP
- Powerful command line interface
- Scalability
The future is Jamstack
The Jamstack architecture allows you to build lightning-fast interfaces and host them anywhere. The above services specialize in hosting Jamstack sites, so you get features that go beyond just HTML hosting.
If you want to learn more about building Jamstack sites, check out these Pluralsight courses:
Previously published on https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/software-development/where-to-host-your-jamstack-site
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