What’s the best free way to build a website for hosting my research?

If your site will mainly contain text, PDFs, images, and other static material, GitHub Pages is a good free starting point. You can connect it to a repository and publish a simple HTML/CSS site without managing a server. The free address will use the platform’s domain, while a custom domain such as .com usually requires purchasing and renewing the domain separately.

Avoid exposing a self-built server directly to the public internet unless you’re prepared to learn a lot about security and maintenance. Running hardware at home or writing your own server software creates unnecessary risks for this project. A managed static host is safer and simpler, and you can still learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and deployment along the way.

A custom domain is normally the part that isn’t free. Use a reputable domain registrar and check the renewal price rather than only the introductory offer. Hosting can remain free, but you should still think about backups, file organization, accessibility, and whether any unpublished or sensitive research should be uploaded publicly.

You can also look at free static hosting services such as Neocities, Nekoweb, or Netlify. Netlify can automatically publish updates from a Git repository, which is convenient if you want to edit the site locally and deploy changes whenever you push them. These options are best when you don’t need user accounts, payments, or a database.

Before choosing a tool, decide whether your main goal is learning web development or simply getting your research online. If you just need a reliable publication site, a static-site generator, a template, or a content management system will be much easier than building everything from scratch. Plan the pages first—for example, an about page, research list, individual project pages, downloadable files, and contact information.