BeamshipFAQ
Last updated August 21, 2026
What can I paste or upload?
HTML, a single-file React/Vite component (.jsx/.tsx), a single image (PNG, JPEG, GIF, or WEBP), a single PDF, or a zip of a static site. The right handling is auto-detected — you don’t need to tell Beamship what you’re giving it.
What's the size limit?
1 MB per site on the free tier (with or without an account), for pasted code, an uploaded file, or a zip (compressed). Paid plans get more room per project — see pricing for exact numbers per tier.
My zip upload failed with 'must contain index.html at its root' — why?
Zip uploads need an index.html directly at the top level of the zip — not inside a subfolder. Automatically finding an entry point in a subfolder isn’t supported yet. If your zip has everything nested one folder deep (a common export shape from some tools), re-zip so index.html sits at the root of the archive itself, not inside a folder within it.
Are there other zip limits?
Yes — a zip can contain up to 500 files, and its decompressed contents have to fit your plan’s per-project size (separate from the size limit on the zip file itself, which is compressed). Both exist to keep builds fast and prevent abuse.
How long does a free site stay up?
30 days from the moment it’s deployed, then it’s automatically deleted — no warning email on the free plan, since there’s no account required to send one to. Two ways to keep a site alive longer: subscribe (sites never expire on any paid plan, for as long as you’re subscribed), or pay a one-time $5 to extend just that one site 30 more days — no account needed, from that site’s own management page.
Can I pick my own subdomain instead of a random one?
Yes, for free — there’s an optional field right where you paste or upload, and it’s yours if it’s available (lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens, and not already taken by another live site). Leave it blank and a random one is generated for you, same as always.
Why does my free site show a small 'Made with Beamship' badge?
Free-tier sites (with or without an account) carry a small badge in the corner — subscribing to any paid plan removes it, on every site under that account. It’s reapplied automatically if you edit a free site’s content afterward, so it can’t be edited out.
What happens when I cancel my subscription?
Every site under that account stops being live right away — its link goes down, and the subdomain becomes available for someone else (including you) to reuse immediately. Nothing is deleted outright, though: each site’s files are kept as a downloadable backup for 60 days from your dashboard, then permanently deleted. If you want to keep something, download its backup and redeploy it as a new paste/upload within that window.
Can I downgrade to a cheaper plan?
Not directly — neither the dashboard’s billing page nor Stripe’s billing portal offer switching down to a lower tier, only canceling or upgrading. This is deliberate: it’s what stops someone from subscribing to a bigger plan just long enough to create an oversized site, then dropping to a cheaper one while keeping it alive indefinitely. To move to a cheaper plan, cancel and resubscribe to the tier you want — see the answer above for what happens to your existing sites when you cancel.
Where do I manage my subscription, invoices, or payment method?
From your dashboard’s billing page (linked from the plan summary at the top of /dashboard) — change plan (upgrades and monthly/yearly switches), cancel or resume a scheduled cancellation, view/download past invoices, and update your card, all without leaving the app. Stripe’s own hosted billing portal is still there too as a fallback, from the same page. Canceling always takes effect at the end of your current billing period, never immediately — your sites stay live and unwatermarked until then.
Do I need an account?
No — paste or upload, get a link, pick your own subdomain, and the one-time $5 extend payment all work without one. An account is only for subscribing to a plan (more projects, more room, nothing ever expiring, no watermark), for a separate/bigger project budget on the free plan, or for having a dashboard listing your sites in one place.
Can I password-protect a site?
Yes — from a claimed site’s management page. Visitors without the password see a login prompt instead of your content; entering it correctly keeps them in for 30 days on that link. Changing or removing the password immediately invalidates anyone who was already logged in with the old one. Needs an account (the site has to be claimed first) since there’s nowhere to manage a password without one.
Can I get a QR code for my site?
Yes — from any site’s management page, claimed or not. It encodes that site’s current link and is generated fresh each time you open the page, so renaming a site’s subdomain never leaves an outdated QR code lying around. Downloadable as a PNG.
Can I customize the 404 page for a broken link?
Yes, two ways. If you upload a zip or Vite project that already includes its own 404.html at the root, it’s used automatically — nothing else to do. Any site (including a plain paste, which can’t include a second file on its own) can also set one directly from its management page, same as password protection — needs the site to be claimed first.
Can I edit a site after deploying it?
Yes, for pasted HTML sites — from that site’s management page, an editor loads the current content and saving replaces the live page at the same link immediately (no undo, no version history). Needs the site to be claimed first, same as password protection and custom 404 pages. Not available for zip/Vite-built sites, since those are build output rather than a single file to edit in place.
Can I collect visitor emails from my site?
Yes — a claimed site’s management page has a snippet you paste into your own content. No account needed for a visitor to submit an email through it. Captured emails are visible from that site’s management page and from a dashboard-wide view (with CSV export) that keeps showing them even after the site that collected them is later deleted — unlike password protection, custom 404 pages, or the site’s own content, a captured lead isn’t tied to that one disposable link’s lifetime.
Can I see how many people visit my site?
Yes, on a paid plan (Starter and up) — from a claimed site’s management page, under “Analytics”: total visits over the last 30 days, top referrers, and top visitor countries. Not available on the free plan, even with an account.
Can I use my own domain instead of a beamship.app link?
Yes, on the Pro plan — from a claimed site’s management page, under “Custom domain.” Add your domain (e.g. www.yourdomain.com), then add the CNAME record we give you at your own DNS provider. We check automatically and it goes live once that DNS change propagates and SSL finishes provisioning, usually within a few minutes. One custom domain per site, subdomains only for now (not a bare apex domain like yourdomain.com with no subdomain).
Is there a limit on how many sites I can deploy?
A reasonable per-IP rate limit applies to every deploy, to prevent abuse. If you hit it, wait a bit and try again. Separately, the free plan (with or without an account) caps how many sites can belive at once at 3 — an expired site frees its slot automatically, and claiming a site into an account moves it into a separate budget from your anonymous one, so signing in effectively gives you a second set of 3 on top of whatever you deployed before creating an account. Paid plans get a bigger number — see pricing.
Is my content scanned for anything?
Pasted/uploaded HTML, JavaScript, and SVG content is checked against a small set of known-malicious patterns (things like crypto-mining scripts or obfuscated payloads) before publishing. This is a first-pass filter, not a guarantee — see our Terms of Use for what’s not allowed.
Can I deploy and manage sites from a script instead of the website?
Yes, on the Growth plan and up — a small REST API (deploy, check a deploy’s status, fetch or delete a site) authenticated with an API key you create from your dashboard. See the API docs for the full reference and curl examples. Everything else the site itself uses internally (billing, analytics, and so on) isn’t part of this API.
Can I deploy sites by just asking an AI assistant?
Yes, on the Growth plan and up — Beamship runs an MCP server, so Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible assistants can deploy, check status, list, and delete your sites directly from a conversation, using the same API key as the REST API. See the MCP docs for setup instructions per client.
Can I get notified automatically when something happens to my sites?
Yes, on the Growth plan and up — webhooks. Add an endpoint and pick which events you want (a deploy finishes, a site is about to expire, a site is deleted, a payment succeeds, your subscription changes) from the same API & webhooks page. Every delivery is signed (HMAC-SHA256) so you can verify it really came from us. There’s no retry queue yet — a delivery that fails or times out isn’t redelivered.
Can I delete a site myself?
Yes, from a claimed site’s management page. It’s permanent — the files, the link, and (if you set one) the custom domain connection are all removed immediately, and it can’t be undone. An unclaimed (anonymous) site can’t be deleted this way since there’s no account to authorize it — it goes away on its own once it expires.