You've poured your creativity into building an amazing 3D web experience with Three.js. Now, it's time to share it with the world! This section dives into deployment strategies, starting with the most common and accessible: static hosting. We'll explore what it is, why it's ideal for many Three.js projects, and then touch upon other options as your projects grow.
Static hosting is a method where web servers deliver pre-built files directly to the user's browser without any server-side processing. For Three.js projects, this typically means serving your index.html file, your JavaScript bundles (including your Three.js code and any other scripts), and any assets like textures, models, or shaders.
This approach is incredibly efficient because there's no dynamic content generation or database interaction happening on the server for each request. The server just sends the files as they are.
- Performance: Static files are delivered very quickly.
- Cost-Effective: Many static hosting providers offer generous free tiers, making it extremely affordable to get started.
- Scalability: Static hosting services are designed to handle high traffic loads with ease.
- Simplicity: Deployment is straightforward – just upload your built files.
Several platforms make static hosting incredibly easy, often integrating seamlessly with Git repositories.
- GitHub Pages: Free hosting directly from your GitHub repository. Excellent for open-source projects and personal portfolios. You can host from a dedicated
gh-pagesbranch or a/docsfolder. - Netlify: A powerful platform offering continuous deployment from Git, serverless functions, forms, and more. It has a very generous free tier.
- Vercel: Similar to Netlify, Vercel offers a developer-focused platform with excellent performance and a free tier, especially popular for Next.js projects, but works great for any static site.
- Cloudflare Pages: Leverages Cloudflare's global network for fast delivery and offers a robust free tier with powerful features.