What works today, what doesn't, and how Webstead compares to running the IC yourself.
-e KEY=VALUE)A blockchain that runs full applications, including HTTP servers, at smart-contract level. Your assets live in an 'asset canister' — a small program with its own state and HTTP handler — replicated across a global subnet of nodes. No origin server, no CDN.
Yes. During the beta Webstead is the controller on your canisters and pays their cycles, but nothing is locked in: we transfer control to a principal you own on request (support-mediated today; one-click self-custody is on the GA roadmap). Your canister ID + recipe version is on /account/export any time, and every canister ID links straight to dashboard.internetcomputer.org so you can verify it independently.
Fleek and Spheron also host on IC, but Webstead is opinionated about a Vercel-style UX: connect a repo, auto-detect the framework, push-to-deploy, custom domain wizard, monthly top-up budgets, build env vars. If you'd rather hand-craft icp.yaml and manage cycles yourself, use the icp CLI directly — we just package the boring parts.
Yes, via the Internet Computer's official custom-domain support. Add your domain, copy the DNS records we generate, click 'Check setup'. We check the records and flip the badge to active when they resolve. Multiple domains per site supported, with one marked as primary.
Set VITE_API_URL, NEXT_PUBLIC_*, or any KEY on the Environment tab of any site. Values are AES-256-GCM encrypted at rest and injected into the build container via -e KEY=VALUE. They're build-time only (asset canisters don't have a runtime to read env vars at request time).
We do, during beta. Each site has a monthly top-up budget that caps how many cycles we'll add to it per month — when it's reached, top-ups pause (your canister keeps serving) until the month resets or you raise it. Your plan's included-cycles quota protects the shared cycle pool. When billing ships you'll either fund cycles yourself or stay on a paid plan where we cover them.