VERCEL DROP ALTERNATIVE
Vercel Drop alternative that updates the same URL
Vercel Drop will detect your framework and build it, which is more than we do. Its own documentation also says every drop creates a new project and that Drop cannot redeploy into an existing one, so the second version of your site is at a second address.
Free plan, free SSL, no credit card.
- 1
- addresses a site keeps, however many times you republish
- 96
- file types accepted, in 7 groups
- 5,000
- visits a month on the free plan, no card
- 23
- framework build guides with the exact output folder
Who should not switch
Vercel Drop does one thing this product deliberately does not, and if you need it, none of the rest matters.
- You want the host to build your project. Drop detects your framework and builds it. Droply never runs a build: you run it locally and upload the output.
- The site is a Next.js app with server-rendered routes, API routes or middleware. Those need Vercel or another Node host. Only a fully static export can be published here.
- You are going to connect the project to Git afterwards anyway. Then the new-project-per-drop rule below stops being a problem after the first push.
Why people look
Why people look for a Vercel Drop alternative
Every point below is taken from Vercel Drop's own documentation, with the page and the date it was read. Nothing here is a guess about how the product behaves.
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Every drop is a new project, so every update is a new URL
The limitations in Vercel's own Drop documentation are direct: "Each drop creates a new project. Vercel Drop doesn't redeploy into an existing project." Version two of the site is therefore at a different address from the one you already sent to a client.
Vercel docs, Deploying with Vercel Drop, page last updated 16 June 2026, read 8 September 2026.
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The free tier is for personal, non-commercial use
Vercel's pricing page says "Our Hobby plan is for personal, non-commercial use." A client preview, a freelance deliverable or a company landing page is commercial by any ordinary reading, which puts it on Pro at $20 a month plus $20 per developer seat.
Vercel pricing page, read 8 September 2026.
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Password protection costs $150 a month on top of Pro
Vercel's deployment-protection docs put Password Protection on the Enterprise plan, or on Pro as part of the Advanced Deployment Protection add-on at $150 a month, with a 30-day minimum before it can be cancelled. On Hobby, Standard Protection leaves the production domain publicly accessible.
Vercel docs, Deployment Protection, page last updated 28 August 2026, read 8 September 2026.
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A folder with no index.html gets an interview
For a static site with no index.html at the top of the folder, Drop asks which page should be the root, and choosing "No root page" makes the site's root return a 404 while each file still resolves at its own path. That is a reasonable design, and it is a question at the exact moment you wanted a link.
Vercel docs, Deploying with Vercel Drop, page last updated 16 June 2026, read 8 September 2026.
Our answer
How Droply handles each one
One answer per point above, in the same order.
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Every drop is a new project, so every update is a new URL
Re-uploading publishes a new immutable version and points the same address at it. The URL never moves, so links you already sent, bookmarks and printed QR codes all keep resolving to the current version.
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The free tier is for personal, non-commercial use
The free plan is limited by numbers rather than by what the site is for: 1 site, 25 MB, 5,000 visits and 5 GB a month. Our acceptable use policy governs what you may publish, not whether it is work.
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Password protection costs $150 a month on top of Pro
Password protection starts on Starter as part of the plan, with no add-on and no minimum term, and the check runs at the edge before any file is served.
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A folder with no index.html gets an interview
A missing index.html is reported after publishing, with the file list we actually found and what to rename, rather than as a modal in the middle of the upload. The site is live either way.
Side by side
Droply and Vercel Drop, row by row
Vercel is ahead on builds and on network. Those rows are here.
| Droply | Vercel Drop | |
|---|---|---|
| Account needed to deploy | Yes. Every site has an identified owner. | Yes. The docs say you need a Vercel account and a file or folder. |
| Update lands on the same URL | Yes, always. A new version, the same address. | No. Each drop creates a new project and Drop cannot redeploy into an existing one. |
| Runs your build for you | No, by design. Build locally, upload the output. | Yes. It detects the framework and builds it. |
| Server-rendered routes and functions | Not supported at all. Static export only. | Supported. This is what the platform is for. |
| Single HTML file | Yes, drop the .html on its own. | Yes. A file, a folder or a .zip. |
| Single .jsx or .tsx, no build | Yes, transformed in the visitor browser. | It would be treated as a project and built. |
| PDFs and documents | First-class files with an in-browser viewer. | Servable as static assets, not a product feature. |
| Free tier terms | No restriction on commercial use. Limits are numbers. | Hobby is "for personal, non-commercial use". |
| Password protection | From Starter, included in the plan. | Enterprise, or a $150 a month add-on on Pro, with a 30-day minimum. |
| Expiring links | From Starter: six hours, a week, or a date. | Not offered. |
| Security check on every publish | Every plan, including free. | Not offered. |
| Entry paid price | $5 a month for Starter. | $20 a month for Pro, plus $20 a month per developer seat. |
Vercel figures come from its own documentation and pricing page, read on 8 September 2026: the Vercel Drop guide (page last updated 16 June 2026), the Deployment Protection guide (28 August 2026) and the pricing page. Product plans can change.
Migration
How to move a site from Vercel Drop
Vercel built the site for you, so the thing to move is the build output rather than the drop. Do this once and the address stops moving.
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Run the build Vercel was running
On your own machine, run the framework's build. The framework guides give the exact command and output folder for 23 frameworks, including the static-export flags Next.js needs.
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Check for anything that was never static
API routes, middleware and server-rendered pages do not come across, because nothing executes here. The build will tell you: a static export fails or drops those routes rather than silently half-working.
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Drop the folder on Droply
Sign up, then drag the folder, the ZIP or the single HTML file onto the upload area. Nothing is repackaged and no build runs: the files you upload are the files served.
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Check what the security pass found
Every publish is read for things that should not be public: a committed .env, a .git directory, a private key, an API key in a bundle. Old exports carry these more often than fresh builds do, so read it before you send the link anywhere.
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Point your domain at it, if you had one
From Pro at $15 a month you move the DNS record to Droply and the certificate is issued for you. Change the record last, once the Droply URL already renders what you expect, so there is no window where the domain resolves to nothing.
Price
Pricing compared
The gap here is not really the headline number, it is what the free tier permits and what the password costs.
| Droply | Vercel Drop | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 1 site, 25 MB, 5,000 visits and 5 GB a month, work or personal. | Hobby: 1M edge requests, 100 GB data transfer and 4 hours of active CPU a month, for personal, non-commercial use. |
| Entry paid tier | $5 a month for Starter. | $20 a month for Pro, plus $20 a month per developer seat. |
| Password protection | Included from Starter. | $150 a month add-on on Pro, or Enterprise. Minimum 30 days before it can be cancelled. |
| What you are paying for | Serving and features. No build runs, so no compute is metered. | Compute, bandwidth and platform features, metered per usage. |
Vercel prices from its own pricing page and Deployment Protection documentation (page last updated 28 August 2026), read 8 September 2026. Droply prices are read live from the plans table on this page. Product plans can change.
No card required
What you get without paying anything
One address per site, on a free plan with no restriction on whether the site is for work.
- 1 live site on a 25 MB account, with no card and no trial clock.
- Up to 25 MB per upload, and up to 25 publishes a day.
- 5,000 visits and 5 GB of traffic a month.
- HTTPS with a real certificate, issued and renewed for you.
- The same URL on every re-upload, so a link you already sent keeps working.
- 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.
- The same URL on every republish, so a link you already sent never goes stale.