Deploy WordPress to Netlify: Static Export with Simply Static

This article is a localized edition of the Japanese original. Read the Japanese original

Netlify is a hosting service that serves static files such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. WordPress runs on PHP and a database (MySQL or MariaDB), so you can't put WordPress itself on Netlify and run it there.

To publish a site built with WordPress on Netlify, use one of these two approaches.

The headless approach is covered in Headless CMS comparison. This article explains how to export a site to static files with a plugin and put it on Netlify (based on the official documentation as of November 2026).

What stops working after a static export

A static site has no PHP, so any feature that WordPress processes each time a page is shown stops working. First check whether your site uses any of these.

• Contact form submissions (Contact Form 7 and others)
• Posting comments
• Site search
• Member logins, and carts and checkout for e-commerce (WooCommerce and others)
• Automatic publishing of scheduled posts (not reflected until you export again)

Simply Static's official description also says that in the free version, forms, search, and comments don't work on the static site (Simply Static). Alternatives for forms are covered later.

Step 1: Prepare the source WordPress site

Run the WordPress site you'll export somewhere that isn't public. The easiest option is a local environment on your own computer. To set one up, see How to build a local WordPress development environment.

If you run it on a server, restrict access and keep it updated so that the source WordPress site doesn't get indexed by search engines or attacked. If you restrict it with Basic authentication, check the plugin's settings and documentation to make sure the static export plugin can still fetch the site.

Step 2: Export static HTML with Simply Static

Simply Static is a plugin that crawls your WordPress pages and exports them as static HTML. The free version can export to a ZIP file or to a directory on the server; sending files directly to Netlify and similar services is a feature of the paid Pro version (as of November 2026).

WP2Static, which used to be widely recommended, is not in the wordpress.org plugin directory as of November 2026. Note that wp plugin install wp2static won't install it.

1. Go to Plugins → Add Plugin, search for "Simply Static," then install and activate it.
2. Open Simply Static → General and set "Replacing URLs" to Absolute URLs. Set "Scheme" to https:// and enter the domain you'll publish to in "Host." To publish on Netlify's default domain, use your-site.netlify.app; to use your own domain, enter that domain.
3. Open Simply Static → Deploy, choose ZIP Archive under "Deployment Method," and click "Save Settings."
4. Click "Push" in the left-hand panel to start the export.
5. When it finishes, download the ZIP from the link shown in Simply Static → Activity Log.

Simply Static's official documentation recommends Absolute URLs for sites published on their own domain. Relative Path is for sites placed in a subdirectory, and Offline Usage is for opening the site on your own computer, not for publishing (How to replace URLs, Create a ZIP file). If the plugin is translated into your admin language, the field names may differ.

Step 3: Deploy to Netlify

Option A: Netlify Drop (drag and drop in the browser)

If you'd rather publish without the command line, Netlify Drop is the easiest way (Netlify: Create deploys).

1. Unzip the ZIP from Step 2 so you have a folder that contains index.html. Netlify Drop takes a folder, not a ZIP file.
2. Log in to Netlify, open https://app.netlify.com/drop, and drag the folder onto it.
3. Check the pages, links, and images at the URL that appears (https://〜.netlify.app).

When you update a post, export again as in Step 2 and drag the new folder onto the drop zone at the bottom of the site's "Deploys" page.

Option B: Deploy with the Netlify CLI

If you'll be exporting and publishing repeatedly, the Netlify CLI is convenient (Netlify CLI: Get started). As of November 2026, netlify-cli (version 27) requires Node.js 22.13.0 or later.

# Install the Netlify CLI
npm install -g netlify-cli

# Log in to Netlify in the browser
netlify login

# Publish the unzipped folder (./public here) as a draft
# On the first run, you are asked whether to pick an existing site or create a new one
netlify deploy --dir=./public

# Check the draft URL that is shown, then publish to production
netlify deploy --dir=./public --prod

Running netlify deploy without --prod publishes to a preview URL separate from production. After confirming everything looks right, run it again with --prod.

If you manage the exported files in a GitHub repository, connecting the repository to your Netlify site with netlify init publishes automatically on every push. Git integration and netlify.toml are explained in How to host a static site on Netlify.

Step 4: Custom domain and HTTPS

Add your custom domain to the site in the Netlify dashboard and configure DNS as instructed. Netlify issues and renews the HTTPS certificate automatically with Let's Encrypt (Netlify: HTTPS (SSL)).

After switching to your custom domain, change "Host" in Simply Static to that domain as well, export again, and deploy again. If "Host" still has the old value, canonical and OGP image URLs keep pointing to netlify.app.

If you need forms

On a static site, WordPress form plugins can't accept submissions. There are three main options.

• Use Netlify Forms. Add data-netlify="true" (or netlify) and a name attribute to the <form> tag, and enable form detection under "Forms" in the Netlify dashboard; Netlify then accepts the submissions. Netlify finds forms by reading the HTML at deploy time (Netlify Forms setup).
• Use the form feature of Simply Static Pro.
• Embed an external form service.

The update workflow

Updating a static site means repeating these steps.

1. Write or edit posts in the source WordPress site
2. Export with Simply Static (Step 2, items 4–5)
3. Drag the folder onto Netlify Drop, or run netlify deploy --dir=./public --prod

Clicking "Publish" in WordPress doesn't change the Netlify site until you export and deploy.

FAQ

Can I use the WordPress admin on Netlify?

No. Use the admin on the source WordPress site (local or on a private server), and put only the exported HTML on Netlify.

After exporting, images and links point to the source WordPress URL

Check that "Replacing URLs" is set to Absolute URLs and that "Host" is the domain you publish to, then export again.

Do I still need to secure the source WordPress site?

Static files on Netlify contain no PHP, so they are much less exposed to attacks that exploit vulnerabilities in WordPress core or plugins. However, if you run the source WordPress site on a server, it needs updates and access restrictions just like any other WordPress site.

Summary

• WordPress itself doesn't run on Netlify, so export WordPress as static HTML and put that there.
• In Simply Static, set "Replacing URLs" to Absolute URLs and "Host" to the domain you publish to, export a ZIP, and deploy with Netlify Drop or the Netlify CLI.
• Forms, comments, and search stop working after a static export, so provide alternatives such as Netlify Forms.

Questions about WordPress? The publisher of this site is based in Japan and replies in Japanese. Contact (Japanese)