The short answer
A static site is only files that a browser can open. A server app has code that runs on the server for every request. Functions are small handlers, usually in an api folder, with no server of their own. Antideploy reads your project and tells you which one it found. Static sites are free and unlimited. Server apps count as live apps.
How to tell which one you have
-
Static site. You have an
index.html, or a frontend such as Vite, Create React App, Astro or Gatsby that has abuildscript and no realstartscript. The build writes a folder of files, such asdistorbuild. -
Server app. You have a
startscript, aProcfile, or a Python, Go, Ruby or Java project that runs its own web server. Express, Fastify, Next.js with API routes, Flask, Django and FastAPI are all server apps. -
Functions. You have files like
api/hello.jsthat export a handler, and nostartorbuildscript. These were written for hosts that supply the server.
How Antideploy treats each one
Static site. Antideploy runs your build if there is one, then serves the result. It is free on every plan, never counts against your apps or your deploys, and has no database.
Server app. It runs as one long-running process, with a database beside it if you need one. It counts as a live app on your plan, and its successful deploys count too.
For functions, Antideploy adds a small server that runs your handlers, so the project works without changes. It tells you it did so.
Frontends that need a server
A frontend that builds to files is static. If the same project also has its own server, such as an Express app that serves the built files and an API, it is a full server app. A project with a real start script keeps that script, so a custom server keeps working.
Some frameworks can do both. SvelteKit builds to files only with its static adapter. Astro builds to files unless it is set to run on a server. In both cases, Antideploy checks which mode you chose.
What counts against your plan
- A static site never counts as a live app, and its deploys never count toward your monthly deploys
- A server app counts as a live app: 1 on Free, 3 on Go, 9 on Pro and 20 on Scale
- Successful deploys of a server app count toward 10 a month on Free, and are unlimited on paid plans
- Failed deploys are free on every plan
The Free plan needs no card and has no trial clock. It includes unlimited static sites, 1 live app with a server, 10 successful deploys a month and 1 Postgres database. Failed deploys are free on every plan.