The terms bar online businesses, so use it for docs and project sites. GitHub Pages publishes static sites straight from a GitHub repository. GitHub's limits page says published sites may be no larger than 1 GB, deployments time out after 10 minutes, and there is a soft bandwidth limit of 100 GB per month and a soft limit of 10 builds per hour, which does not apply if you build and publish with a custom GitHub Actions workflow. The same page says Pages is not intended for, or allowed to be used as, free hosting for an online business, e-commerce site or other site primarily directed at commercial transactions or commercial software as a service, and that sensitive transactions such as sending passwords or card numbers should not run on it. Reddit threads repeat the commercial restriction as a warning, and the usual workaround for traffic spikes is to put a CDN such as Cloudflare in front, an idea that dates back to a 2016 Hacker News thread.
Free tier quotas
Site size
Published sites may be no larger than 1 GB
Deployment time
Deployments time out after 10 minutes
Bandwidth
Soft limit of 100 GB per month
Builds
Soft limit of 10 builds per hour, not applied to custom GitHub Actions workflows
Commercial use
Not allowed for online businesses, e-commerce or commercial SaaS sites
Sensitive data
Do not use for sensitive transactions such as sending passwords or credit card numbers
Terms
Subject to the GitHub Terms of Service
Last sniffed Oct 1, 2026. Always confirm on the official pricing page.
👍 Good boy
+Pages publishes from a GitHub repository and is covered by the GitHub Terms of Service, so there is no separate vendor agreement to read.
+The limits page is short and specific: 1 GB site size, 10-minute deploys, 100 GB of soft bandwidth and 10 builds an hour.
+The 10 builds per hour soft limit does not apply if you build and publish with a custom GitHub Actions workflow, so heavy CI-driven sites can avoid it.
+GitHub labels the bandwidth and build limits soft, and the limits page does not describe an automatic cutoff.
+A long-standing community workaround is to put Cloudflare in front for performance and to stay below the bandwidth limit, per a Hacker News commenter (December 2016).
+r/github threads discuss what the 100 GB monthly soft limit means in practice, so the number is well documented by users as well as by GitHub.
👎 Watch out
−GitHub Pages is not allowed for online businesses, e-commerce or commercial SaaS sites. A r/HostingReport post is titled as a warning that you cannot host a business website on it.
−A r/selfhosted commenter confirms that e-commerce sites are in the prohibited uses section, so the restriction is about purpose, not traffic.
−Bandwidth is soft-capped at 100 GB per month. A viral site can exceed it, and the page does not describe a paid way to buy more.
−Static only. The limits page describes published sites and builds, with no mention of server-side code or databases.
−The 1 GB site size limit and the 10-minute deploy timeout rule out large media sites or slow builds without a workflow change.
−I found no G2 or Trustpilot listing for Pages, so independent feedback comes from Reddit and Hacker News.
The catch
Pages is for static sites, and the commercial restriction is firm. GitHub's limits page says it is not intended for or allowed to be used as free web hosting for an online business, e-commerce site or any site primarily directed at commercial transactions or commercial SaaS, so a SaaS landing page that sells a product is a gray area you should read the terms about.
The other limits are generous for documentation and portfolios: 1 GB published size, 10-minute deploy timeout, a soft 100 GB monthly bandwidth limit and a soft 10 builds an hour limit that does not apply if you publish with a custom GitHub Actions workflow.
The limits page does not describe a paid option for more bandwidth. I could not confirm card requirements, and I did not read GitHub's plan pricing.
What’s included
✓Publish from a GitHub repository
✓Static sites
✓Custom GitHub Actions workflow for builds
✓Subject to GitHub Terms of Service
✓Soft bandwidth and build limits
✓1 GB published site size
Free tier value
Generosity
B
Estimated value
Free static hosting for repositories, with a 1 GB site size
Feature parity
No paid Pages tier is listed. Soft limits: 100 GB bandwidth and 10 builds an hour.
The limits page lists soft limits, not paid tiers. It does not describe a way to buy more bandwidth.
Custom Actions workflow
The 10 builds per hour soft limit does not apply if you build and publish your site with a custom GitHub Actions workflow.
Common questions
Can I host a business site on GitHub Pages?
No. GitHub's limits page says Pages is not intended for or allowed as free hosting for an online business, e-commerce site or commercial SaaS.
How big can a Pages site be?
Published sites may be no larger than 1 GB.
What is the bandwidth limit?
A soft limit of 100 GB per month.
How often can I build?
A soft limit of 10 builds per hour, which does not apply to custom GitHub Actions workflows.
What if a deploy takes too long?
Deployments time out after 10 minutes.
Change history
Checked October 22, 2026
GitHub limits page read in full. Reddit threads read as excerpts; the Hacker News thread is from December 2016. No G2 or Trustpilot listing found. Plan pricing and card requirement not captured.
