How to Deploy a React Template to Netlify (Beginner Guide)

Introduction

If you’ve built a React project and want to put it online quickly, Netlify is one of the easiest free hosting platforms. You don’t need to know servers or complicated setups — just connect your project and click deploy.

This guide shows you how to deploy a React template on Netlify step by step.

Why Use Netlify?

Free plan is generous for small projects
Automatic HTTPS (your site will have the secure lock)
Continuous deployment — push to GitHub and Netlify updates automatically
Custom domain support

Step 1: Push Your React Template to GitHub

Make sure your project is in a GitHub repo. If it’s still on your computer:

Code · batchfile

git init 

git add . 

git commit -m "Initial commit" 

git branch -M main

git remote add origin https://github.com/username/my-react-template.git 

git push -u origin main

Now your code is online and ready for Netlify.

Step 2: Create a Netlify Account

Go to Netlify.com
Sign up with GitHub (easiest option)
Netlify will ask for permission to access your repositories

Step 3: Deploy Your Template

Click Add New Site → Import an Existing Project
Choose GitHub
Select your React template repo
Netlify auto-detects React and suggests build settings:

Build Command: npm run build
Publish Directory: build

Click Deploy Site.

Step 4: Preview Your Site

After 1–2 minutes, Netlify gives you a link like: https://my-react-template.netlify.app

Click it - your React app is live.

Step 5: Add a Custom Domain (Optional)

Want your own domain name (like mywebsite.com)?

Go to Site Settings → Domain Management
Add your domain
Update your DNS records with your domain provider

Netlify handles SSL automatically.

Troubleshooting Tips

Build failed? Make sure you have react-scripts installed and "build": "react-scripts build" in your package.json.
404 error on refresh? Add a _redirects file with: /* /index.html 200

Conclusion

That’s it - you just deployed your React template on Netlify. Next, we’ll explore another free option: Render, which is also beginner-friendly and great for static sites.