Deploying / Static vs Web Services
Static vs Web Services
Riven runs your apps on one of two tracks — Static Sites or Web Services. They cost differently to run, so splitting them keeps your bill honest. Here's how to know which one your app belongs to.
Why two tracks
A static website and a running server are very different things to host. A static site is just files — cheap to serve, and it doesn'tcost anything to sit idle. A web service is a live process that'salways ready to run your code — which costs more, even when nobody'susing it.
Instead of charging everyone the same, Riven splits the two so you only pay for what your app actually needs. Static sites start free and stay cheap. Web services are priced for the compute they use.
Static Sites
A static site is a frontend that builds into plain files — HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. There's no server running your code after the build. The browser downloads those files and runs everything on theuser's device.
Good fits:
- A Vite + React single-page app.
- A portfolio, landing page, or marketing site.
- A frontend that talks to an API hosted elsewhere.
Static sites are served straight from Riven's CDN, so they're fast everywhere and always available. They don't sleep, because there'snothing to wake up — just files.
Web Services
A web service runs an actual server process — your code stays alive, listening for requests and responding to them. This is anything that runs logic on the server, talks to a database, or exposes an API.
Good fits:
- An Express or Django API.
- A Next.js app using server rendering or API routes.
- Anything that connects to a database or does work on the server.
Web services can scale to zero when idle — Riven puts them to sleep after a period of no traffic, and wakes them automatically on the next request. You don't pay for a service that nobody's using.
Side by side
| Static Site | Web Service | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs | Files (no server) | A live server process |
| Served from | CDN edge | A container |
| Sleeps when idle | No — always available | Yes — scales to zero |
| Can use a database | Only via an external API | Yes, directly |
| Starts at | Free | Free tier, then priced for compute |
Which one am I?
Quick way to tell:
- Does your app run code on a server after it's built? If yes — like an API, a database connection, or server rendering —it's a Web Service.
- Does it build into files the browser just downloads? If yes — a plain frontend with no backend of its own — it's a Static Site.
Not sure? Riven auto-detects your framework when you deploy and picks the right track. If you choose the wrong one, it'll tell you before deploying.
Scale-to-zero (Web Services only)
Web services scale to zero when they're idle — Riven puts them to sleep to save resources, and wakes them on the next request. The first request after sleeping takes a moment longer while the service starts up; after that, it's fast again.
This only applies to web services. Static sites are always available — there's nothing to wake. If you need a web service that never sleeps, higher plans offer an always-on option.
Learn more in Scale-to-Zero.