Wellty • Student Guide

Put Your Claude Website Online for Free

Claude gave you an HTML file. This guide takes you from that file to a live website anyone can visit, using Cloudflare’s current drag-and-drop publishing flow.

About 10 minutes Free hosting No account needed to preview Custom domain optional

Before you start

Gather these items first. The custom domain is optional.
  • The website files from Claude. You need an index.html file, plus any images, CSS or JavaScript files your page uses.
  • A current web browser. Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox will work.
  • An email address you can access. You only need this when you decide to keep the site.
  • Optional: a custom domain. A personalised address such as yourname.com normally has an annual registration fee.

The shortest route: Cloudflare Drop

Cloudflare Drop accepts a folder or ZIP file, publishes it immediately and gives you a temporary live site. You then have 60 minutes to claim it and make it permanent.

Open Cloudflare Drop
PLAIN ENGLISH
Hosting means putting your files on the internet. Cloudflare stores and serves the website so other people can open it using a normal web address.

Prepare your site folder

One filename matters more than anything else.
  1. Find the HTML file from Claude. It is usually in your Downloads folder and normally ends in .html.
  2. Rename the main page to exactly index.html. On a Mac, select the file and press Return. On Windows, right-click it and choose Rename. Use lowercase letters.
  3. Put index.html in its own folder. Give the folder a simple name such as my-website. The index.html file must sit at the top level of that folder, not inside another folder.
  4. Keep every related file and subfolder together. If Claude gave you images, CSS, JavaScript or font files, keep their original filenames and folder structure inside my-website.
  5. Optional: turn the folder into a ZIP file. Cloudflare Drop accepts either the folder itself or a .zip containing the same files.
IMPORTANT
The homepage must be called index.html. A name such as website.html, Index.HTML or index.html.txt can produce a blank page or a 404 error.
STATIC SITES ONLY
This flow publishes HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images and fonts. It does not by itself create a private database, payment system, server login or secure form-processing service.

Upload with Cloudflare Drop

No Cloudflare account is required for this first upload.
  1. Open Cloudflare Drop. Go to cloudflare.com/drop.
  2. Choose the matching upload button. Click Browse folders if you kept a normal folder, or Browse zips if you made a ZIP file.
  3. Select your site folder or ZIP. Choose the item that contains index.html, then confirm the file picker.
  4. Wait while Cloudflare uploads and publishes it. Cloudflare distributes the static files and then shows you a live preview address.
EXPECTED RESULT
You should see a live address ending in .workers.dev. Keep the result screen open because it also contains the private link used to claim the site.
FILE LIMITS
A normal Claude-built page is far below Cloudflare’s limits. The Workers Free plan supports up to 20,000 static assets in one version, with a maximum size of 25 MiB for each asset.

Test the live preview

Check the important parts before you make the site permanent.
  1. Open the live workers.dev address. The website should load in a new browser tab.
  2. Check the whole page. Scroll from top to bottom. Test the navigation, buttons and links. Confirm that every image appears.
  3. Check it on a phone if possible. Copy the live address to your phone and confirm that the text and layout remain readable.
  4. Return to the Cloudflare result screen. If the site looks right, continue immediately to the claim step.
60-MINUTE LIMIT
The temporary site and claim opportunity expire after one hour. Opening the claim link is not enough. You must finish signing in or creating the account and complete Cloudflare’s prompts within the 60-minute window.
KEEP PRIVATE
Do not share the claim link. Share only the public workers.dev address. The claim link controls ownership of the temporary deployment.

Claim and keep the site

This turns the one-hour preview into a permanent Cloudflare deployment.
  1. Click Claim on the Cloudflare result screen. Cloudflare will take you to its sign-in page.
  2. Sign in, or create a free Cloudflare account. If you are new to Cloudflare, enter an email address you can access and choose a secure password.
  3. Verify your email if Cloudflare asks you to. Open the verification email and follow Cloudflare’s link. Check your spam or junk folder if it does not arrive promptly.
  4. Complete every claim prompt before the timer expires. Continue until Cloudflare confirms that the account and deployment have been claimed.
DONE
The Worker and its website files now remain in your Cloudflare account. If the timer expires before you finish, upload the folder again at Cloudflare Drop to create a fresh preview and claim link.

Share the permanent site

Your public address now works like any other website link.
  1. Open the public workers.dev address again. Confirm the site still loads after the claim is complete.
  2. Copy only the public website address. You can send this link to friends or classmates and open it on any normal phone or computer.
  3. Save your original site folder. Keep it somewhere safe. It is the editable source you will need when you change the website later.

You can stop here

The workers.dev address is a real public website address. A custom domain is optional and does not make the website itself more functional.

Optional

Use your own web address

A custom domain gives you an address such as yourname.com instead of a workers.dev address. Domain registration normally has a yearly cost even when the website hosting remains on Cloudflare’s Free plan.

Add a custom domain

The domain must be active in the same Cloudflare account as your claimed site.

If you need to buy a domain

  • Use the domain option shown after you claim the deployment, if available.
  • Alternatively, open Cloudflare’s domain registration area and search for the name you want.
  • Review the exact first-year and renewal price before paying.
  • Keep the domain in the same Cloudflare account as the website.

If you already own a domain elsewhere

  • Add the domain to Cloudflare and choose the Free plan.
  • Cloudflare will give you two nameservers.
  • Replace the current nameservers at your registrar with Cloudflare’s two values.
  • Wait until Cloudflare reports that the domain is active.

Attach the active domain to your site

  1. Open the Cloudflare dashboard. Go to dash.cloudflare.com and select the account that contains your claimed site.
  2. Open Workers & Pages. Select the Worker created when you claimed the Cloudflare Drop deployment.
  3. Open Settings → Domains & Routes.
  4. Choose Add → Custom Domain. Enter the domain or subdomain you want to use, then select Add Custom Domain.
  5. Wait for the domain to become active. Cloudflare creates the required DNS record and security certificate. This can take a short while.
  6. Open the custom address in a new tab. Confirm that it loads the same website as the workers.dev address.
DO NOT GUESS
Use the exact nameservers and domain status shown in your own Cloudflare account. If the domain carries email or other services, preserve its existing DNS records when adding it to Cloudflare.

Updating your site later

Choose whether you need to keep the same public address.

Simplest: create a new address

  • Save the updated files from Claude.
  • Make sure the homepage is still index.html.
  • Repeat the Cloudflare Drop and claim steps.
  • Share the new workers.dev address.

Keep the same address

  • Do not delete the claimed Worker or custom domain.
  • Deploy the updated folder to that existing Worker using an authenticated Cloudflare deployment workflow such as Wrangler.
  • This is a separate, more technical workflow. Ask for help and identify the exact existing Worker before any deployment.
SAVE YOUR SOURCE
Keep one master website folder. Replace files inside that folder when Claude gives you a new version. This prevents images and supporting files from being lost between deployments.

Troubleshooting and FAQ

The most common problems, solved.
My live address shows a 404 or a blank page

Check that the homepage is named exactly index.html and sits at the top level of the uploaded folder or ZIP. Also confirm that Windows did not hide a second extension such as index.html.txt. Correct the folder and upload it again.

The one-hour timer expired before I finished

Return to Cloudflare Drop and upload the folder again. Cloudflare will create a fresh temporary site and a new claim link. An unclaimed temporary account and its resources are deleted after the claim window expires.

Is the hosting really free?

You can use Cloudflare Drop and keep a basic static site on Cloudflare’s Free plan without paying for hosting, subject to the Free plan limits. A custom domain normally has a separate annual registration cost.

Why does my address end in workers.dev instead of pages.dev?

Cloudflare Drop uses Workers Static Assets and gives current deployments a workers.dev address. Older tutorials may describe Cloudflare Pages and a pages.dev address. Both can host static sites, but this guide follows Cloudflare’s current Drop workflow.

Can I use a domain I already own?

Yes. Add it to Cloudflare, preserve its existing DNS records, change the nameservers at your registrar and wait for Cloudflare to report it as active. Then attach it under your Worker’s Settings → Domains & Routes.

Can this host forms, payments or a private database?

The upload flow publishes static files. A form can appear on the page, but safely collecting submissions, taking payments or storing private data requires a separate trusted service or backend.

Should I send the claim link to someone else?

No. Treat the claim link as private because it controls ownership of the temporary deployment. Share only the public workers.dev website address.

Official references

Cloudflare documentation used to verify this guide on 25 July 2026.