GitHub Pages remains the best free static site host for developers in 2026. The catch: the built-in Jekyll builder is limited to a small set of allowed gems. The solution is a GitHub Actions workflow that builds Jekyll with full plugin support and deploys the output to GitHub Pages. This guide walks through the complete setup, from a blank repo to a custom domain served over HTTPS via Cloudflare.

Prerequisites

• A GitHub account with a repository for your Jekyll site
• A custom domain (optional but recommended)
• A Cloudflare account (free tier is sufficient)
• Ruby ≥ 3.1 and Jekyll ≥ 4.3 installed locally for testing

Step 1: Configure Jekyll for Production

Ensure _config.yml sets the correct URL:

# _config.yml
url: "https://yourdomain.com"
baseurl: ""
plugins:
 - jekyll-feed
 - jekyll-sitemap
 - jekyll-seo-tag

Add a Gemfile:

source "https://rubygems.org"
gem "jekyll", "~> 4.3"
group :jekyll_plugins do
 gem "jekyll-feed"
 gem "jekyll-sitemap"
 gem "jekyll-seo-tag"
end

Step 2: Create the GitHub Actions Workflow

Create .github/workflows/deploy.yml:

name: Deploy Jekyll to GitHub Pages

on:
 push:
 branches: [main]
 workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
 contents: read
 pages: write
 id-token: write

concurrency:
 group: "pages"
 cancel-in-progress: false

jobs:
 build:
 runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 steps:
 - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 - uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
 with:
 ruby-version: '3.3'
 bundler-cache: true # Caches gems for faster builds

 - name: Configure GitHub Pages
 uses: actions/configure-pages@v5

 - name: Build with Jekyll
 run: bundle exec jekyll build --destination ./_site
 env:
 JEKYLL_ENV: production

 - name: Upload artifact
 uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v3

 deploy:
 needs: build
 runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 environment:
 name: github-pages
 url: ${{ steps.deployment.outputs.page_url }}
 steps:
 - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
 id: deployment
 uses: actions/deploy-pages@v4

This workflow uses the official upload-pages-artifact + deploy-pages pattern, the recommended approach since 2024 that avoids pushing to a gh-pages branch.

Step 3: Enable GitHub Pages in Repository Settings

1. Go to Settings > Pages
2. Under Source, select GitHub Actions (not a branch)
3. Save

Push to main, the workflow runs automatically and your site deploys within ~2 minutes.

Step 4: Configure a Custom Domain

4a. Create the CNAME File

Add a CNAME file to the root of your repo (no extension, plain text):

yourdomain.com

Commit and push it. GitHub Pages reads this file to know which custom domain to serve.

4b. Set the Domain in GitHub Pages Settings

In Settings > Pages > Custom domain, enter yourdomain.com and save.

Step 5: Configure DNS (Cloudflare)

In the Cloudflare dashboard for your domain, add these records:

These are GitHub's current (2026) IP addresses. The old addresses from 2016 (192.30.252.x) are deprecated.

Step 6: Enable HTTPS

Once DNS propagates (usually minutes with Cloudflare):

1. In Settings > Pages, check Enforce HTTPS ✔
2. In Cloudflare SSL/TLS, set mode to Full (not Full Strict)
3. Add a Cloudflare Redirect Rule: www.yourdomain.com → https://yourdomain.com (301)

Step 7: Cloudflare Performance Optimizations (Free Tier)

In the Cloudflare dashboard, enable:

• Speed > Optimization > Auto Minify: HTML, CSS, JS
• Caching > Configuration > Browser Cache TTL: 4 hours
• Speed > Optimization > Brotli: on

Verify Everything Works

# Check DNS resolves to GitHub Pages IPs
dig yourdomain.com A +short

# Verify HTTPS and response headers
curl -I https://yourdomain.com
# Look for: strict-transport-security, cf-ray (Cloudflare edge hit)

The Result

Your Jekyll site is now fully production-grade: CI/CD deploys on every push, TLS is enforced, and Cloudflare caches assets at 300+ edge nodes worldwide.