# 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. ## 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 for a Vercel Drop alternative ### 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. Source: Vercel docs, Deploying with Vercel Drop, page last updated 16 June 2026, read 8 September 2026. Droply: 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. ### 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. Source: Vercel pricing page, read 8 September 2026. Droply: 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. ### 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. Source: Vercel docs, Deployment Protection, page last updated 28 August 2026, read 8 September 2026. Droply: 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. ### 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. Source: Vercel docs, Deploying with Vercel Drop, page last updated 16 June 2026, read 8 September 2026. Droply: 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. ## Droply and Vercel Drop, row by row Vercel is ahead on builds and on network. Those rows are here. - **Account needed to deploy.** Droply: Yes. Every site has an identified owner. Vercel Drop: Yes. The docs say you need a Vercel account and a file or folder. - **Update lands on the same URL.** Droply: Yes, always. A new version, the same address. Vercel Drop: No. Each drop creates a new project and Drop cannot redeploy into an existing one. - **Runs your build for you.** Droply: No, by design. Build locally, upload the output. Vercel Drop: Yes. It detects the framework and builds it. - **Server-rendered routes and functions.** Droply: Not supported at all. Static export only. Vercel Drop: Supported. This is what the platform is for. - **Single HTML file.** Droply: Yes, drop the .html on its own. Vercel Drop: Yes. A file, a folder or a .zip. - **Single .jsx or .tsx, no build.** Droply: Yes, transformed in the visitor browser. Vercel Drop: It would be treated as a project and built. - **PDFs and documents.** Droply: First-class files with an in-browser viewer. Vercel Drop: Servable as static assets, not a product feature. - **Free tier terms.** Droply: No restriction on commercial use. Limits are numbers. Vercel Drop: Hobby is "for personal, non-commercial use". - **Password protection.** Droply: From Starter, included in the plan. Vercel Drop: Enterprise, or a $150 a month add-on on Pro, with a 30-day minimum. - **Expiring links.** Droply: From Starter: six hours, a week, or a date. Vercel Drop: Not offered. - **Security check on every publish.** Droply: Every plan, including free. Vercel Drop: Not offered. - **Entry paid price.** Droply: $5 a month for Starter. Vercel Drop: $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. ## 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. 1. **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. 2. **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. 3. **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. 4. **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. 5. **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. ## Pricing compared The gap here is not really the headline number, it is what the free tier permits and what the password costs. - **Free.** Droply: 1 site, 25 MB, 5,000 visits and 5 GB a month, work or personal. Vercel Drop: Hobby: 1M edge requests, 100 GB data transfer and 4 hours of active CPU a month, for personal, non-commercial use. - **Entry paid tier.** Droply: $5 a month for Starter. Vercel Drop: $20 a month for Pro, plus $20 a month per developer seat. - **Password protection.** Droply: Included from Starter. Vercel Drop: $150 a month add-on on Pro, or Enterprise. Minimum 30 days before it can be cancelled. - **What you are paying for.** Droply: Serving and features. No build runs, so no compute is metered. Vercel Drop: 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. ## 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. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Droply free? Yes. 1 live site, 25 MB of storage, 5,000 visits and 5 GB a month, HTTPS included, no card, and no restriction on commercial use. ### Is Droply a good Vercel Drop alternative? It is if you want updates to land on the address you already shared and you can run your own build. It is not if you want the host to build the project or you need server-rendered routes. ### Does Vercel Drop update an existing site? No, per its own documentation: each drop creates a new project and Drop does not redeploy into an existing one. Connecting the project to Git afterwards is the documented way to get repeat deploys. ### Can I use the Vercel free plan for client work? Vercel's pricing page says the Hobby plan is for personal, non-commercial use, so read that before putting a client site on it. Droply's free plan has no equivalent restriction; it is limited by numbers. ### Can I host a Next.js site on Droply? Only a fully static export. Server-rendered routes, API routes and middleware do not run here, because nothing of yours executes. The Next.js guide says exactly which configuration produces a publishable folder. ### Can I password-protect a site? Yes, from Starter, as part of the plan. On Vercel, Password Protection is an Enterprise feature or a $150 a month add-on on Pro with a 30-day minimum. ### What happens if my folder has no index.html? The site publishes and then tells you, listing the files it did find and what to rename. Vercel Drop asks during the upload instead, and lets you choose no root page, in which case the site root returns a 404. ### Can I roll back a bad upload? Yes, from Pro. Each upload is kept as its own version and rollback repoints the same address in one click, which is only meaningful because the address does not change in the first place. ### What does Vercel do that Droply does not? It builds your project, runs server-side code, hosts functions and middleware, and deploys on every Git push. Droply serves files and executes nothing. ## Other comparisons - [Netlify Drop alternative](https://droply.host/netlify-drop-alternative) - [Vercel alternative](https://droply.host/vercel-alternative) - [Cloudflare Drop alternative](https://droply.host/cloudflare-drop-alternative)