NeoCities
NeoCities is a free static web hosting platform founded in 2013 that hosts over 1.65 million user-created websites. It serves individual creators, hobbyists, students, and retro-web enthusiasts via a freemium model funded entirely by supporter subscriptions and donations.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersPortland, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What NeoCities does
NeoCities is a free static web hosting platform founded in 2013 by Kyle Drake in Portland, Oregon, positioned explicitly as a modern successor to GeoCities and a vehicle for restoring individual creative expression to the web. The service enables users to publish personal websites using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript through an in-browser editor or a Ruby-based command-line interface. Underlying infrastructure consists of a Ceph-based storage cluster with full redundancy (capable of continuing service even if two-thirds of servers are offline), a proprietary anycast CDN deployed across 11+ global datacenters, TLS 1.3 with Brotli compression, and IPFS integration that makes every hosted site accessible, archivable, and seedable by any IPFS node. The platform hosts 1,654,700+ websites and has cumulatively served 53+ billion site hits and 14+ billion unique visitors.
The business operates on a freemium model: a free tier provides 1GB of storage, unlimited sites, custom subdomains, and zero advertising, while a paid Supporter tier offers 20GB of storage. NeoCities has been 100% supporter- and donation-funded since inception, with no venture capital, private equity, or external investors, and explicitly refuses to monetize user data through advertising or AI training licensing. Distribution is entirely product-led and self-serve through neocities.org, supplemented by earned media coverage (Polygon, Wired, Vice, NYT, Ars Technica) and open-source presence on GitHub. Community features — a website gallery, tagging system, following/news feed, and commenting — drive organic discovery in lieu of paid acquisition.
The company serves individual creators, hobbyists, retro-web enthusiasts, students, educators, and developers building personal blogs, portfolios, hobby pages, games, and creative writing sites. Customer segments are highly horizontal and micro: the six named example users (e.g., personal sites, a German hackerspace, an interactive game site) are all solo creators with negligible individual revenue contribution. With 1-10 employees and no outside capital, NeoCities is structured as a sustainable, founder-controlled utility more analogous to a nonprofit-leaning indie web resource than a venture-backed growth company.
NeoCities firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- NeoCities
- Legal name
- Neocities
- Website
- https://neocities.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- NeoCities is a free static web hosting platform founded in 2013 that hosts over 1.65 million user-created websites. It serves individual creators, hobbyists, students, and retro-web enthusiasts via a freemium model funded entirely by supporter subscriptions and donations.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
NeoCities industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Static Web Hosting
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Community Hosting & Membership Platforms (MPACAJAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Fan Communities & Subscription Content Platforms (Membership/Patronage) (BPAMAJAO), Creator Channel Hosting & Publishing Platforms (MPACABAC)
Keywords
Where NeoCities is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Portland
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
NeoCities business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Supporter Accounts (Subscription): Monthly or annual subscription plans offering increased storage (20GB vs 1GB free), supporting the platform's operations. No VC funding or investor capital - 100% supporter and donation funded since 2013.
- Donations: Direct donations from users and supporters who want to contribute to keeping the web free and independent. One-time payment option for those who cannot commit to recurring subscriptions.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free tier with 1GB storage, unlimited sites, zero ads |
| Subscription | Monthly | Supporter tier with 20GB storage |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels6 records
NeoCities product offering
Product offeringCore offering
NeoCities provides free static web hosting with up to 1GB of storage and an optional paid Supporter tier offering 20GB, allowing individuals to build personal websites using a built-in browser-based HTML editor, custom domains, drag-and-drop uploads, RSS feeds, and a public API. The platform also functions as a social network for websites, letting users browse tagged sites, follow creators, post comments, and accept donations via Site Tipping, while integrating IPFS for distributed web hosting.
Product overview
NeoCities is a free static web hosting platform and social network that operates as a single unified service with multiple integrated features. The core product is free static web hosting (1GB storage) with an in-browser HTML editor, complemented by a Ruby-based CLI tool for developer users. The platform includes a website gallery/browse feature and site-following system that function as a social layer for discovering and tracking creative websites. Paid Supporter Accounts (20GB storage) provide an optional upgrade tier. Additional features include Site Tipping for donations and IPFS integration for distributed web hosting. The platform is 100% supporter-funded without venture capital or advertising, and publishes its source code as open source on GitHub.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Free Static Web Hosting Free static web hosting service with 1GB of storage and a custom subdomain (username.neocities.org), enabling individuals to publish personal websites with full HTML/CSS/JS control, no ads, and no data selling.
- Supporter Accounts Paid subscription tier providing 20GB of storage, additional features, and direct funding to support the platform; 100% supporter-funded with no investors.
- Neocities Command Line Interface (CLI) Ruby-based command line tool for power users and developers to upload and manage Neocities sites from the terminal; installed via `gem install neocities` and supports push from static site generators.
- IPFS Integration Distributed web hosting via IPFS, enabling Neocities sites to be accessed, archived, and seeded by any IPFS node worldwide for content permanence independent of central servers.
- Site Tipping Donation feature enabling Neocities site owners to receive tips from visitors via PayPal, credit card, or Bitcoin without platform fees deducted by NeoCities.
- Neocities API Public API enabling developers to programmatically upload files and manage Neocities site content, supporting integrations and third-party developer applications.
- Default SSL for All Sites Default-on SSL/TLS encryption for all hosted sites, using Let's Encrypt for custom domains, providing security and HTTPS by default without manual configuration.
Quantifiable outcome
- Sites can continue being served even if 2/3rds of servers go down or half of internet connections are lost
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use NeoCities
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
NeoCities technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature7 records
NeoCities partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Protocol LabscoreNeocities collaborated with Protocol Labs to become the first major site to implement IPFS in production. Starting September 2015, all Neocities sites became available for viewing, archiving, and hosting by any IPFS node. When another IPFS node hosts a site from Neocities, that version continues to be available even if Neocities stops hosting it. This partnership enables content permanence and distributed web hosting.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
NeoCities competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Netlify: Static site hosting platform with a generous free tier and developer-focused tooling. Directly comparable to NeoCities on the core offering of free static web hosting with custom domains and CLI/API access, though Netlify is far more feature-rich and VC-funded.
- Vercel: Cloud platform for static sites and frontend frameworks with a free hobby tier. Comparable to NeoCities as a free-tier static hosting destination, but optimized for Next.js-style developer workflows rather than individual creator websites.
- GitHub Pages: Free static hosting tightly integrated with GitHub repositories. Directly competes with NeoCities on free static hosting for individuals, particularly students and developers, and is the dominant free hosting option for technical users.
- Cloudflare Pages: Free static site hosting on Cloudflare's global edge network. Overlaps with NeoCities' CDN-backed static hosting model and competes for developer attention, though Cloudflare Pages is positioned for production-grade web apps rather than personal sites.
- Render: Cloud platform offering free static site hosting alongside web services and databases. Competes with NeoCities in the free static hosting category with a more developer-oriented feature set.
- Carrd: Simple one-page website builder with a free tier and paid pro plans for custom domains. Closely comparable to NeoCities on the individual creator / personal website use case, though Carrd offers templated builders rather than raw HTML editing.
- Surge.sh: Simple static publishing platform for front-end developers with a free tier and CLI-driven deployment. Comparable to NeoCities' CLI-first developer workflow for static site publishing.
Broad incumbents
- Patreon: Subscription/patronage platform that enables creators to receive recurring payments from supporters. Closely parallel to NeoCities' supporter-account revenue model and Site Tipping feature, though Patreon is a far larger, venture-funded incumbent focused on creator monetization rather than hosting.
Emerging players
- Itch.io: Indie creator marketplace and hosting platform for games and other creative work. Comparable to NeoCities as a community-led platform serving individual creators with minimal monetization and no VC dependence, though focused on indie games rather than personal websites.
- Glitch: Community coding and web app hosting platform with a strong creator community. Comparable to NeoCities as a free, community-driven platform for individuals building web projects, with similar emphasis on creative expression and learning.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
NeoCities social profiles
Digital presenceNeoCities financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
NeoCities leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
NeoCities funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
NeoCities M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about NeoCities
What does NeoCities do?
NeoCities provides free static web hosting with up to 1GB of storage and an optional paid Supporter tier offering 20GB, allowing individuals to build personal websites using a built-in browser-based HTML editor, custom domains, drag-and-drop uploads, RSS feeds, and a public API. The platform also functions as a social network for websites, letting users browse tagged sites, follow creators, post comments, and accept donations via Site Tipping, while integrating IPFS for distributed web hosting.
Is NeoCities a public or private company?
NeoCities is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was NeoCities founded?
NeoCities was founded in 2013. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is NeoCities based?
NeoCities is headquartered in Portland, United States, in the North America region.
How does NeoCities make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Supporter Accounts (Subscription) is the primary driver. The others are donations.
Who are NeoCities's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Netlify, Vercel, GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, Render, Carrd and Surge.sh. Patreon is listed as a broad incumbent. Emerging players are Itch.io and Glitch.
Does NeoCities have an API?
Yes. Neocities provides an API for building developer applications. The API allows developers to programmatically interact with Neocities sites, including uploading files and managing site content. A Ruby-based command-line tool (CLI) is available via `gem install neocities`, and the source code is published on GitHub at github.com/neocities/neocities-ruby. Developer documentation is at neocities.org/api.
What industry is NeoCities in?
NeoCities's product category is Static Web Hosting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPACAJAF, Community Hosting & Membership Platforms, with a secondary code of BPAMAJAO, Fan Communities & Subscription Content Platforms (Membership/Patronage). Its NAICS code is 5182 and its SIC code is 7372.