# Share a client website preview link A client website preview is a real browser preview instead of a ZIP, a screenshot or a local address only you can reach. Upload the built files, share one URL, and let the client click what is wrong and type what it should say. ## What is a client preview link? A temporary public address for a site that is not finished, so the person reviewing it can open the real thing in their own browser. It exists because the two obvious alternatives both distort the review: a screenshot cannot be scrolled, clicked or opened on a phone, and a local development address only resolves on your machine. The property that makes a preview link work is that it is stable while the content behind it is not. You send the address once, at the start of the review, and every revision after that lands at the same place. Nobody has to be told "ignore the old link", nobody comments on a version from four days ago, and the link in the calendar invite for the review call is still correct when the call happens. The second property is that the feedback comes back attached to the page. A review link carries a bar the client did not install and does not need an account for: they approve the version, ask for changes, or click any heading, paragraph or image and type what should be different about it. Each of those lands in your dashboard naming the element in its own words, which is the difference between "the headline should mention our new hours" and a screenshot with a circle drawn on it. The third is that it is not public in the sense that matters. Unfinished work should not be indexed or forwarded outside the project. Review addresses are served noindex and no-referrer, a password is one field, and the link can be set to close on its own once the round is over. The pricing page lists which tier carries which allowance. ## How it works 1. **Upload the build.** Drop the finished HTML or ZIP that your workflow produced. What the client sees is exactly what you uploaded, on their own device and browser. 2. **Send it for review.** A review link opens on any device, with a bar the client uses to approve the version or click the thing that is wrong and say what it should be. 3. **Answer and republish.** Each comment arrives on the element it names, so the fix is aimed rather than guessed. Publish, and the address they already have shows the new version. ## What you get ### The address stays put while the site changes A review is several versions long. Everything else about the process assumes the link is constant, so that is the property the product protects. When the review ends in a handover rather than a launch, see static hosting for freelancers. - Publishing a revision swaps the content behind the same address, atomically. - No visitor ever sees a mixture of the old and new build. - From Pro, going back to the version the client commented on is one click. ### Not findable, not forwardable Unfinished work leaking is a real cost, and "nobody will guess the URL" is not a control. Three that are: - Password protection from Starter, checked at the edge, so assets are covered and not just the landing page. - Free sites are served noindex, so a preview cannot appear in a search result. - Expiring links from Starter: 6 hours, 1 day, 7 days, 30 days, or a date you set. The link flips to an expired page and can be restored later. ### They comment on the page, not about it The review bar is served by us, from our domain, onto your page. Nothing to install, no account for the reviewer, and every comment is recorded against the element it was left on. Client review is the feature in full. - Approve the version, ask for changes, or pin a comment to any element on the page. - A comment can go straight to the AI builder with the element already selected. - The client is told a comment is done once a version has gone live carrying it, never before. - A link shows one version, so approving version twelve can never be read as approving thirteen. ## What the free plan includes A single preview runs on the free plan indefinitely. The controls that make a preview private start one tier up. - 1 live site on a real free plan, not a trial of a paid one, and no card to start. - Up to 25 MB per upload and 25 MB of storage across the account. - 5,000 visits and 5 GB of traffic a month. - HTTPS with a real certificate, issued and renewed for you. - Up to 15 publishes a day, so you can iterate without asking permission. - The deploy-time security check, which reads what you published and warns about a stray .env file, a .git folder, a private key or an API key left in your JavaScript. - A small Droply badge in the corner of the page. Removing it starts on Starter. - Free sites are served noindex, so search engines do not list them. Search visibility starts on Starter. ## Compared with Netlify Drop Netlify Drop is the fastest way to get a folder online at a large host and a reasonable choice for a one-off look. These rows matter once the preview has to last through a review. - **Is the link yours straight away?.** Droply: Yes. Publishing needs an account, so there is nothing to claim afterwards. Netlify Drop: No. An anonymous drop creates a temporary project you have one hour to claim. - **Same address after a revision.** Droply: Yes. Publishing replaces the content behind it, atomically. Netlify Drop: Yes. An updated folder publishes as the latest production version of the same project. - **Password protection.** Droply: From Starter, enforced at the edge before any file is served. Netlify Drop: From its Pro plan. An unclaimed drop gets a temporary password of its own, which is not the same thing. - **Expiring preview link.** Droply: From Starter: 6 hours, a day, a week, a month, or a date you pick. Netlify Drop: Not offered. An unclaimed drop expires in one hour whether you want that or not. - **Rollback to a reviewed version.** Droply: From Pro, in one click. Netlify Drop: Yes. Publishing a previous deploy is instantaneous and does not rebuild. - **Size guidance.** Droply: 25 MB per upload on free; substantially higher on paid tiers. Netlify Drop: Deploys under 50 MB work best, and individual files over 10 MB may cause the deploy to get stuck. Larger projects are told to use the CLI. - **Account needed to view.** Droply: No. The client opens a link. Netlify Drop: No. - **What the product is for.** Droply: Publishing finished files, previews included. That is the whole product. Netlify Drop: The on-ramp to a Git-based platform. Netlify Drop details come from Netlify's own documentation, checked 8 September 2026: the Netlify Drop quickstart (drag-and-drop shapes, the temporary password on an unsigned-in drop, the 50 MB and 10 MB size guidance, redeploying to the same project), the create-deploys page (\"a temporary project with a live URL that you can claim within one hour\"), the password-protection page and the manage-deploys page. Product features can change. ## When Droply is the wrong choice A preview link is a viewing surface, not a review tool or a staging environment. If the process needs more than "look at this", something else fits better. - You need threaded discussion, assignees and due dates on each comment. The comments here are a queue you work through, not a project tracker. - The site under review is a dynamic application that needs a database or a login to behave correctly. A static preview will not represent it. - You need per-reviewer access control and an audit log of who saw what. One shared password is the level of control available here. - You need a database, a login system, or code that runs on the server. Droply serves files; it does not execute your application. - You want a build to run on every push to a repository. Droply has no Git integration and no CI: you build locally and upload the result. - You are running WordPress or another PHP application. A static export of it can be hosted here, but the application itself cannot. ## Frequently asked questions ### How do I create a client website preview link? Upload the finished HTML or ZIP of the site, pick a name and publish. You get an HTTPS address in seconds that you can send to the client, and republishing keeps that same address. If the site came out of a framework, the deploy guides name the build command and output folder first. ### Can I password-protect a client preview? Yes, from Starter. The password is checked at the edge before any file is served, so images, scripts and stylesheets are protected too, not only the first page. ### Can the preview link expire on its own? Yes, from Starter. Choose six hours, a day, a week, a month, or a specific date. When it lapses the address shows an expired page rather than breaking, and you can restore it later. ### Will the preview show up in Google? Not on the free plan: free sites are served with a noindex header. On paid plans indexing is allowed, so if a preview must stay out of search, keep it on a free site or add a password. ### Can I update the preview after feedback? Yes, and that is the point of the workflow. Publish the revised build to the same site and the link the client already has now shows the new version. ### Can the client leave comments on the preview? Yes, on every plan including free. A review link carries a bar they use to approve the version or click an element and say what should change. Each comment arrives on the element it names. ### Can they approve it without me being there? Yes. The bar records an approval or a request for changes against that exact version. A draft on a plan that has drafts can even be set to publish itself the moment it is approved, provided the link carries a password. ### Can I go back to the version the client approved? From Pro, yes, in one click. The free plan keeps only the current version, which is enough to publish but not to roll back. ### Is this a staging environment? No. It serves static files. An application that needs a backend, a database or server-side routes needs a real staging environment that runs the application. ### How do I know whether the client opened it? A review link records whether it has ever been opened and when it was last seen, on every plan. For a published site rather than a review link, visitor analytics from Pro answer the same question. ## Related - [Static Hosting for Freelancers](https://droply.host/static-hosting-for-freelancers) - [Host a Static Site from ZIP](https://droply.host/host-static-site-from-zip) - [HTML to URL](https://droply.host/html-to-url)