A small business or a local club does not need a big, expensive website - it needs a clear, fast one that is cheap to run and easy to keep current. The usual options push you toward a monthly subscription builder or a heavyweight CMS you have to maintain. There is a lighter way that costs almost nothing and stays simple.

What a small site actually needs

• The basics done well - who you are, what you offer, opening hours, how to get in touch.
• A contact or enquiry form - so people can reach you without an email address exposed to spam.
• Easy updates - prices, events, hours change; updating them should take seconds.
• To be found - on Google and in AI answers when someone searches locally.
• Low cost - ideally the software is free and hosting is a few pounds a month.

Why file-based fits perfectly

A file-based site engine covers all of that with almost no overhead:

• Free and open-source software, hosted on a tiny, cheap server - or free hardware.
• A built-in enquiry form that delivers to your inbox, with spam protection - no third-party form service.
• Easy updates - the content is plain text, and an AI assistant can make changes for you ("update the opening hours to 9-5", and it is done).
• Found by search and AI - fast, clean pages with the right metadata, a sitemap and an llms.txt.
• A members' area if you need one - for a club's private notices or a shop's trade prices.

For a club or community group

Committees change, and so do the people who "look after the website". Because the site is just files with per-user, revocable access, you can hand a volunteer a scoped login - or let an AI agent keep it current - without anyone needing to be technical. No one is locked out when the last person with the password moves on.

Put yours online

lazysite is a free, self-hosted engine that suits exactly this - cheap to run, easy to update, and built so a non-technical owner (or their AI assistant) can keep it current.

• See who it is for.
• Read about adding a contact form with no backend.
• Or get started.