Disclosure: I build dochost, one of the four tools below. I've tried to state its limits as plainly as the others'. Everything was checked against each provider's own docs on Oct 15, 2026.
Ask an AI assistant "how do I put this HTML page online?" and you'll usually get Netlify Drop first, then GitHub Pages. Both are good answers, for a site. For one page you need someone to open today, the details of the free tier matter more than the brand. Here's what actually happens to your link on each.
The part that surprises people
- Netlify Drop without an account is temporary. An unclaimed drop sits behind a temporary password until you claim it, and Netlify's CLI docs say anonymous deploys must be claimed within one hour or they're removed. Claim it with a free account and it stays up, with a free custom domain.
- Tiiny Host's free link has no expiry date, but it has an activity rule. One project stays online as long as you log in at least once every three months. Free uploads are capped at 3 MB and show a Tiiny Host banner.
- GitHub Pages on GitHub Free needs a public repo. So your source is public too. Changes can take up to 10 minutes to go live, and the terms rule out running a business/SaaS on Pages.
- dochost free links expire. Public pages after 7 days, private (link-only) pages after 3 days. Permanent links are a paid feature. What you get in exchange is no account and a paste box: paste the HTML the assistant gave you, publish, send the link.
At a glance
| dochost | Netlify Drop | Tiiny Host | GitHub Pages | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signup to keep the link | Not needed (but link expires) | Yes (claim the deploy) | Yes | Yes (account + repo) |
| Paste HTML directly | Yes | No, drop a file/folder/zip | Yes | Commit a file |
| Markdown rendered | Yes | Needs a build step | Not advertised | Yes, via Jekyll |
| Free link lifetime | 7 days public / 3 days private | Permanent once claimed | Permanent while you log in every 3 months | Permanent |
| Free custom domain | No (Max plan) | Yes | No (Solo plan) | Yes |
| JavaScript runs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Which one, for which job
- Multi-file site (separate CSS, images, scripts): Netlify Drop. Drop the folder.
- Portfolio or docs you'll maintain for years: GitHub Pages if you're fine with Git, otherwise a claimed Netlify Drop site.
- One small page that should stay up for free with no dev tools: Tiiny Host, if the banner is OK.
- One AI-generated page (a quiz, a report) someone needs to see this week: dochost. Nobody signs up, inline JS runs, and the link cleans itself up. If it needs to live longer, that's where the others win.
A practical check before using any single-file publisher: search the HTML for src=" and href=" pointing at local files. A relative path to an image you didn't upload will break on every host above except a full folder deploy.
The full comparison (pricing, password options, an FAQ) is on the original post: https://dochost.io/blog/netlify-drop-vs-github-pages-vs-tiiny-host?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=compare-2026-10
What's your default for "just put this one page online"? I'm curious which trade-off people hit first: the expiry, the account, or Git.
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