Where Should Your Web App Live? App To Page vs. Netlify, Vercel & a WordPress Subfolder
You built a web app — now where do you put it? A plain comparison of Netlify/Vercel, FTP into a subfolder, rebuilding as a theme, and serving it from WordPress with App To Page — and when each one makes sense.
You’ve got a built web app — a dist folder, a browser game, something an AI tool made. It runs great
locally. Now you have to answer the annoying question: where does it actually live so other people
can use it?
There are a few real options, and the right one mostly depends on one thing: do you already have a WordPress site? Let’s walk through them honestly, then I’ll tell you when each makes sense.
The options
1. A static host (Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare Pages)
These are excellent products. You connect a repo, they build and serve your app on a global CDN, and you get preview deploys and custom domains. If you’re comfortable in that world, they’re hard to beat.
The catch is that it’s a whole separate stack for one app: a new account, a new domain (or a
something.netlify.app subdomain), DNS to point around, and a deploy pipeline to understand. If you
already pay for a WordPress site, you’re now running your app somewhere else entirely.
2. FTP it into a WordPress subfolder
You can drop your files into a folder next to WordPress over FTP/SFTP and reach them at
your-site.com/app/. It works, but you need FTP credentials, you’re hand-managing files on your
server, and updates mean re-uploading over FTP every time. It’s fiddly and easy to get wrong.
3. Rebuild it as a WordPress theme or block
You can rewrite your app to live inside WordPress as a custom theme, template, or block. For a real front-end app this is a lot of work, and you often fight the theme’s styles and scripts the whole way. Rarely worth it just to publish something you already built.
4. Serve it from WordPress with App To Page
App To Page is the “third door”: you keep your existing WordPress site and serve your built app at
a URL on it. Upload a .zip (or pull from GitHub), pick a URL, publish. No new host, no FTP, no
rebuild — and it runs standalone, with no theme wrapping it.
Side by side
| Netlify / Vercel | FTP subfolder | Rebuild as theme | App To Page | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Need a separate host | Yes | No | No | No |
| Need FTP / server access | No | Yes | Sometimes | No |
| Uses your existing WordPress | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom domain setup | New DNS | Already yours | Already yours | Already yours |
| Updating the app | Git push | Re-upload via FTP | Redeploy code | Upload zip / pull from GitHub |
| Coding required | Some | Some | A lot | None |
| Cost | Free tier, then paid | Your hosting | Your hosting | Free |
So which should you use?
- Use Netlify or Vercel if you don’t have a WordPress site, or you want a full CI/CD pipeline, edge functions, and preview deploys — and you’re happy managing a separate stack.
- Use App To Page if you already have a WordPress site and just want your app online at your own URL without standing up anything new. This is the common case for WordPress owners and people publishing an app an AI built for them.
- Skip FTP and the theme rewrite unless you specifically need them — they’re more work and more ways to break things than either option above.
The honest summary: static hosts are the right tool if you’re building a whole front-end operation. App To Page is the right tool if you already have WordPress and want one small app (or ten) live in a minute.
Frequently asked questions
Is App To Page a replacement for Netlify or Vercel?
For most use cases where you already have a WordPress site, yes — it serves your built app at a URL without a separate host. For full CI/CD, edge functions, or server-side rendering, a dedicated platform is still the better fit. App To Page hosts static build output.
Can I host a web app on WordPress without FTP?
Yes. App To Page uploads through the WordPress dashboard — you drop a .zip, and it serves the app.
No FTP or server access needed.
Do I need a separate domain for my app?
No. Your app lives on your existing WordPress domain at a path you choose, like
your-site.com/your-app.
Is it really free?
Yes. App To Page is free, and you can host as many apps as you like.