Website Hosting Options
Help Me Choose
| Features | Google Sites | Stanford Domains | Stanford Sites | Drupal Hosting on Acquia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended Uses | Small, simple personal websites, project team sites, or portfolio or event websites that are short term. No Stanford branding provided; can be managed with little to no technical skill. | Small, low-traffic personal websites, portfolios, wikis, or prototypes for learning new applications as a student. | Scalable, centrally-managed Stanford-branded website for your group, department or unit websites on Drupal with deep support. | For complex department, unit or school websites using custom Drupal modules and themes. Also good for decoupled applications and/or complex websites with high traffic or storage requirements. |
| Authentication (SSO) & Authorization: Stanford User | Supported | Limited Support Capabilities differ by app | Supported | Supported |
| Authentication (SSO) & Authorization: Workgroup | Supported Must be mapped to Google Groups | Not Supported | Supported | Supported |
| Authentication (SSO) & Authorization: Privgroup (e.g., staff, faculty) | Not Supported | Limited Support Capabilities differ (e.g. Drupal - authentication / authorization, WordPress - authentication only) Not supported in other websites, including HTML sites | Supported | Supported |
| Maintenance: Upgrades/Security | Managed by Google | Vendor-managed security updates for provided applications; self-managed plugin updates | Managed by Stanford Web Services | Self-managed; Stanford Web Services can manage for fee |
| Website Size | Small | Small to medium | Small to large | Large |
| Cost | Free | Free | Free | Varies by requirements. See rates section on service page. |
| Default URL | sites.google.com/stanford.edu/[mysite] | [mysite].su.domain |
| [mysite].stanford.edu |
| Custom URL | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| Stanford Theming Available | Limited Support No official Stanford theme for Google Sites is available. Refer to identity.stanford.edu to get the Stanford signature images and color palette. | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| Drupal/WordPress Modules & Plugins | N/A | Installed and maintained by site owner | Pre-selected and maintained by SWS | Installed and maintained by site owner |
| Disk Space | Based on Google Drive quota | 1 GB (increase upon request); encouraged to use different service for hosting large files | No hard limit but encouraged to use different service for hosting large files | Custom |
| Uptime/Availability | High | High* *non-redundant infrastructure | Highest | Highest |
| Available Apps | Integration with Google Drive and all Google apps | WordPress, MediaWiki, Drupal, Omeka, CGI, static HTML, and more | Drupal only | Drupal; Node.js |
| Available Self-Service Application Support |
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| Available UIT Service Support (UIT-supported service infrastructure and configuration) | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| Fee-based UIT Service Support (Consulting & website building ) | Limited Support Consulting services only | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| Learn more | Google Sites | Stanford Domains | Stanford Sites | Drupal Hosting on Acquia |
Note about AFS-based websites
The AFS-based websites service (on web.stanford.edu) is deprecated and should be used only if your web hosting needs cannot be met through other service offerings mentioned on this page.
For anyone currently using an AFS-based website, please take steps to move necessary content to one of the other services.
This guidance does not apply to AFS-based web sites that are part of the Course Support system. And please note that the recommended learning management system (LMS) for Stanford continues to be Canvas.
