How to Upload and Host a HTML/PHP Site on ZipWP

ZipWP lets you upload your existing static website and host it on a fast sandbox URL with one click. Your site can be built with plain HTML/CSS/JavaScript, exported from a tool like Vite, Astro, or Next.js, or generated by an AI tool like Claude Artifacts, ChatGPT, v0, or Bolt.

After uploading, you can replace the files anytime, download a copy, clone the site, and attach a custom domain. No WordPress setup needed.

This guide walks you through the upload process and everything you can do after.

Why Host a Static Site on ZipWP?

If you have a static site ready to go, ZipWP gives you a simple way to get it online fast without any extra setup.

You get a live URL in seconds. Upload your files and ZipWP gives you a working URL right away. No server configuration, no hosting account to set up, no waiting.

It works with AI-generated sites. If you built something with Claude Artifacts, v0, ChatGPT, or Bolt, you can go from “AI built it” to “it’s live online” in under a minute.

Your URL never changes when you update. When you push a new version of your site, the URL stays the same. Only the content changes. This makes it easy to share a link and keep it up to date.

You can connect a custom domain. A sandbox URL is great for testing, but when you’re ready to go live, you can attach your own domain and get a free SSL certificate.

It fits into AI coding workflows. If you use an AI assistant that supports MCP (like Claude Code or Cursor), you can have it build and deploy your site directly to ZipWP without manually zipping or uploading anything.

What You Can Upload

ZipWP accepts two formats:

• A .zip archive containing your site files (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, fonts, PDFs, and self-contained PHP). Maximum size: 20 MB compressed / 80 MB uncompressed.
• A single .html file for one-page sites, landing pages, or quick prototypes. Maximum size: 10 MB.

Your index.html (or index.php) should be at the top level of the zip file. If it’s inside a standard build folder like dist, build, out, or public, ZipWP will detect it automatically.

Uploading Your Static Site

• Open your ZipWP Dashboard and click Create New in the top-right corner.
• From the dropdown, select Upload Static Site. [Screenshot: The Create New dropdown menu with Upload Static Site highlighted.]

• In the modal, drag your .zip or .html file onto the drop area. You can also click Choose file to browse for it on your computer.
• Give your site a Site Title so it is easy to find in your dashboard later.

• Click Upload & Host. ZipWP checks your files, deploys the site, and shows you the progress as it happens.

When the build is done, your sandbox URL will appear and you can open the site right away.

Preparing Your Files Correctly

If you are uploading a built project (Vite, Astro, Next.js, etc.), zip the contents of the build folder, not the project folder itself. Click How to prepare files in the upload modal for a visual guide. It covers three cases:

• Single HTML – Upload a .html file directly. ZipWP hosts it as your home page.
• Multi-page site – Zip all your files so index.html is at the top of the archive.
• Built site – Run your build command (for example, npm run build) and zip the contents of dist, build, or out.

If your zip has a single top-level folder inside, ZipWP will unpack it automatically. Deeper nesting is not detected, so keep index.html at the root of the archive for best results.

Updating Your Site

To deploy a new version of your site, use the Replace Files action. Your URL stays the same and only the content changes.

1. Open your site from the dashboard.
2. Click the … menu and select Replace Files.
3. Upload your new .zip or .html file. ZipWP swaps the content as soon as the deploy is done.

Downloading Your Current Files

To get a copy of what is currently live, use Download Files:

1. From your site in the dashboard, click the 3 dots menu.
2. Select Download Files.
3. A .tar.gz archive of your site will download to your computer.

This is useful for backups, making edits locally, or moving to a different host.

Going Live with a Custom Domain

When you are ready to move off the sandbox URL, you can connect your own domain:

1. Open the site’s settings.
2. Go to Domain and connect a domain you already own, or buy one through ZipWP.
3. Once DNS is verified, your site goes live on your custom URL with a free SSL certificate.

Creating Static Sites from AI Tools (MCP)

If you use an AI assistant that supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP), like Claude Code, Cursor, v0, or ChatGPT, you can ask it to build and deploy a static site directly to ZipWP. No manual zipping or uploading needed. The AI creates the files and your site goes live on a sandbox URL.

ZipWP has two MCP tools for static sites:

• create-static-site – The assistant builds a new site (HTML, CSS, JS, or PHP) and ZipWP hosts it.
• replace-static-site-files – The assistant updates a site you already have on ZipWP.

Both tools can accept a file map, a base64-encoded archive, or a public URL pointing to a .zip file.

How it works:

1. Connect your AI assistant to ZipWP via MCP. This is a one-time setup. See our MCP setup guide.
2. Ask your assistant something like “Build me a portfolio site with three pages and deploy it to ZipWP”
3. The assistant builds the site, calls the MCP tool, and sends you a live URL.

The site shows up in your ZipWP dashboard just like any other site. You can replace it, download it, clone it, or connect a custom domain from there.

What’s Supported and What’s Not

Supported:

• HTML, CSS, JavaScript
• Self-contained PHP (no database)
• Images, fonts, audio, video, PDFs, and most common file types
• .htaccess for routing rules

Not supported yet:

• Server-side frameworks that need a Node.js runtime, like Next.js SSR or Nuxt server. Static exports (next export, nuxt generate) work fine.
• Database connections. Static sites are files only.

For most landing pages, portfolios, documentation sites, AI-generated websites, prototypes, and frontend builds, ZipWP gives you a fast way to go from local files to a live URL in minutes.

If you already have a static site ready, you can upload it now and get it online immediately.