Azure Static Web Apps alternative · Static hosting with serverless APIs
An Azure Static Web Apps alternative for what your AI made
Azure Static Web Apps serves static front ends from a global network, with serverless APIs, free SSL and Microsoft or GitHub sign-in built in. artifact.guru shares what your AI made: agents publish over MCP, you invite people by email and see who opened it.
Checked on October 8, 2026 against Azure Static Web Apps’s own pages. See the sources
Pick Azure Static Web Apps if
- Your app needs serverless APIs on Azure Functions next to the front end.
- Your team lives in Azure and signs in with Microsoft Entra ID.
- You want pull request previews from GitHub or Azure DevOps.
Pick artifact.guru if
- You want to share a page, PDF or deck without an Azure subscription, token or pipeline.
- You want to see which invited people opened it, and who hasn’t yet.
- The person sharing isn’t a developer and the file came out of an AI chat.
Azure Static Web Apps and artifact.guru, row by row.
| Question | Azure Static Web Apps | artifact.guru |
|---|---|---|
| Publish from AI agents | SWA CLI deploys with a token; Azure MCP Server lists no Static Web Apps tools | Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Gemini CLI, Grok and any MCP app, over OAuth; no API keys |
| Upload it yourself | Not documented. Deploys come from a Git provider, Azure DevOps or the SWA CLI | Drag in files, or a whole folder for a built site or React app |
| What opens in the browser | Static front ends and framework builds, plus APIs on managed Azure Functions | HTML, React, Markdown, PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, images, diagrams, zipped sites |
| Who can open a link | GitHub or Microsoft sign-in, role invites (25 per app); password in preview on Standard | Private, public or secret code on every plan; email invites (up to 50) on paid plans |
| Who opened it | Application Insights tracks API calls; page tracking needs your own client code | Paid plans: names on email links; counts, sources and devices on the rest |
| Updates and versions | Each deploy updates production in place; pull requests get their own preview URLs | Every change is a new version at the same link; roll back any time (Free keeps 3) |
| Your own domain | Custom domains with free SSL: 2 per app on Free, 5 per app on Standard | Your subdomain for public and secret-code links, from $12 a month |
| Team workspace | Azure role-based access on the subscription or resource; billed per app, not per seat | Team: one workspace, admins and members, a project per client, comments you can assign |
| Price | Free $0 (personal projects); Standard $9 per app per month, billed hourly | Free $0; Individual $12/month; Team $30/month for 3 editors, then $8 each |
Where Azure Static Web Apps is good
- The Free plan includes hosting, auto-renewing SSL, two custom domains and managed Azure Functions APIs.
- Microsoft Entra ID and GitHub sign-in are built in, and route rules can limit any path to roles you hand out by invitation.
- Pull requests get their own preview environments that disappear when the PR closes.
Where artifact.guru is different
- No Azure subscription, deployment token or pipeline. Agents publish over MCP from Claude, ChatGPT (Business, Enterprise or Edu), Codex, Gemini CLI and Grok, or you drag files in.
- Pick who can open each link: Private, Email invites for up to 50 addresses, an 8-character secret code, or Public. Switch any time, same link.
- Email links show who opened it, when and how often, and who hasn’t opened yet.
- PDF, Word and PowerPoint open in the browser next to HTML, React and Markdown, and every edit is a new version at the same link.
Moving over from Azure Static Web Apps
- 1Drag in the built folder you would pass to swa deploy; it becomes one artifact.
- 2Add the people from Role Management as an Email invite on the artifact; they sign in with that address.
- 3On a paid plan, point a subdomain at artifact.guru with two DNS records.
Questions about Azure Static Web Apps and artifact.guru
Can I make an Azure Static Web App private?
Yes. Lock routes to roles and invite people by email or GitHub username, up to 25 per app, or turn on password protection, a preview feature on Standard. Limiting sign-in to your own Entra tenant needs a custom provider on Standard.
How much does Azure Static Web Apps cost?
Free for personal projects. Standard is $9 per app per month, billed hourly, with 100 GB of bandwidth per subscription and $0.20 per GB after that.
Can my AI agent deploy to Azure Static Web Apps?
The SWA CLI deploys a folder with a deployment token, so a coding agent with a terminal can run it. Azure’s MCP Server doesn’t list Static Web Apps tools. artifact.guru agents publish over MCP after one approval in the browser.
Who can sign in to a protected Static Web App?
Out of the box, people sign in with GitHub or a Microsoft account, and invitations go by GitHub username or email. Invite links last at most 7 days. On artifact.guru you invite an email address and the person signs in with that address.
More comparisons
- VercelWeb app deployment platformBest for teams shipping web apps with previews and instant rollbackVercel vs artifact.guru
- GitHub PagesStatic hosting from a GitHub repoBest for public docs, portfolios and project sites that live in GitGitHub Pages vs artifact.guru
- Cloudflare Pages and AccessStatic hosting with Zero Trust accessBest for free global hosting with identity-aware access rulesCloudflare’s docs now tell new projects to start on WorkersCloudflare Pages and Access vs artifact.guru
Sources
What this page says about Azure Static Web Apps comes from its own pages, checked on October 8, 2026. Plans and prices change. If something here is out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it.
- Azure Static Web Apps pricing
- Static Web Apps hosting plans
- Static Web Apps quotas
- Authentication and authorization
- Custom authentication and invitations
- Password protection (preview)
- Route configuration and roles
- Deploy with the SWA CLI
- Preview environments
- Monitoring with Application Insights
- Custom domains
- Static Web Apps overview
- Azure MCP Server tools
- Azure RBAC overview
- Azure updates: Static Web Apps
- Azure MCP Server: Azure Deploy tools