Hey everyone! I’m trying to find a way to show off my cool project. It’s a website that uses Node.js and Puppeteer to do some neat accessibility checks automatically. The thing is, I’m kinda stuck on where to put it online.
I know Puppeteer needs a headless browser, which can be a bit of a pain for some free hosting places. They don’t always like it because it uses up a lot of resources.
Does anyone have ideas for free (or super cheap) places where I could put this? I just want to be able to show it to people without breaking the bank. Maybe there’s a trick I’m missing or a different way to do it?
I’d love to hear what you all think. Thanks in advance for any help!
I’ve been in your shoes, and I found that Railway.app is a pretty solid option for hosting Node.js and Puppeteer projects. They offer a generous free tier that includes 500 hours of runtime per month, which is perfect for showcasing projects like yours.
What I really like about Railway is that it supports Docker out of the box, so you can easily set up a container with all the necessary dependencies for Puppeteer. This approach sidesteps a lot of the headaches you might encounter with other platforms.
Just a heads up, though – you’ll want to keep an eye on your usage. If your project starts getting a lot of traffic, you might need to upgrade to a paid plan. But for demo purposes, the free tier should be more than enough.
One tip: make sure to optimize your Puppeteer usage to minimize resource consumption. This will help you stay within the free limits and keep your project running smoothly.
I’ve had success deploying Node.js and Puppeteer projects on Heroku’s free tier. While it has limitations, it’s suitable for demonstration purposes. You’ll need to add buildpacks for Node.js and Google Chrome, then configure your app to use the installed Chrome binary. Remember to keep your app ‘awake’ to avoid cold starts. Alternatively, consider DigitalOcean’s App Platform - it’s not free but very affordable for small projects and handles Node.js deployments seamlessly. Just ensure you’re mindful of resource usage to keep costs down.
hey there! have u tried render.com? they got a free tier that might work for ur project. it supports node.js and can handle puppeteer with some tweaks. just make sure to optimize ur code to stay within the free limits. good luck with ur project, sounds cool!