First App.
Your learning space A little progress, every day
CHAPTER 01Lesson 2 of 20

Choose free tools and know their limits

A small website can start with £0 extra hosting cost. Your Mac, AI access and any domain are separate costs.

In your browser7 min read & do
By the end of this lesson

Choose a free starting setup and recognise when a paid service would be needed.

A free starting point, with the limits that matter
What you needStart hereWhat to watch
Code saved onlineGitHub Free, private repositoryOnline source copies do not publish a site by themselves.
Website hostingCloudflare Pages Free500 builds/month. Unlimited free static requests; functions have separate limits.
Website addressIncluded pages.dev addressYour own domain is an optional yearly purchase.
Server code, if neededCloudflare Workers Free100,000 requests/day; CPU and other limits also apply.
Online records, if neededCloudflare D1 Free5 GB total across the account, 500 MB per database; 5 million rows read and 100,000 written/day.
Logins plus records, if neededSupabase Free2 active projects; 500 MB database per project; quiet projects can pause after 1 week.
Design partsshadcn/ui, Tailwind CSS, LucideFree core libraries. Paid templates and extras are optional.
AI writes the codeYour existing eligible Codex or Claude planCheck account access and usage limits. Building with AI is separate from adding AI to your site.

Let’s do this

  1. 1
    In your browser

    Start with the first three free tools

    Use GitHub Free for source files, Cloudflare Pages Free for the published site and its included pages.dev address. Use free design libraries. For the lessons, React with Vite is the default: it handles both a simple page and a small interactive app.

    GitHub: free plan (opens a new tab)
  2. 2
    In your AI account

    Use AI access you already have

    Check your existing account before paying. Codex access and allowances vary by ChatGPT plan. Claude Code desktop requires an eligible paid Claude plan. Neither is unlimited. Work in small steps, and do not enable extra usage or API billing just to follow this course.

    OpenAI: Codex pricing and access (opens a new tab)
  3. 3
    In Cloudflare

    Know what “free” covers

    Pages includes 500 builds a month, one at a time; static requests are free and unlimited. A build turns saved source files into a publishable site. Server functions use a different allowance. Staying on a free plan can mean hitting a limit and waiting, rather than unlimited service.

    Cloudflare Pages: free plan limits (opens a new tab)
  4. 4
    In the provider’s billing page

    Add costs only for a clear need

    A custom domain renews each year. Workers Paid starts at US$5 a month plus applicable usage. Supabase Pro starts at US$25 a month with possible extra charges. Login emails, uploads or an AI feature can add other bills. Check current prices and tax before upgrading.

    Cloudflare Workers: pricing (opens a new tab)

A message for your AI helper

For my first website, recommend the smallest setup using GitHub Free and Cloudflare free hosting. Separate website hosting, domain renewal, AI coding access, database, file uploads and email costs. Prefer no database until my features require one. Check official current limits and explain what happens if I reach them. Do not enable paid services.

Make this message fit your idea.

What you should see

You have a £0 hosting route, know that your AI plan is separate, and know that a domain is optional.

If you get stuck

Go at your own pace. There is no test to pass.

Checked 7 September 2026. Screens can change; the official guides below have the latest steps.

GitHub: free planCloudflare Pages: free plan limitsCloudflare Pages: static and function pricingCloudflare Workers: pricingCloudflare D1: pricingCloudflare D1: storage and recovery limitsSupabase: plans and free limitsCloudflare Registrar: domain registrationOpenAI: Codex pricing and accessAnthropic: Claude Code on desktop