How to use Netlify Drop: is it free, and what happens after 1 hour

ChatGPT or Claude wrote you a page and said "drop it on Netlify." Netlify Drop does that: you drag the file into your browser and get a link. What the answer often leaves out is what happens next. A drop made without an account is locked behind a temporary password, and you have 1 hour to claim it.

This guide covers the 4 steps, what the Free plan includes, how long a drop lasts, and how to update the same link. Every Netlify fact comes from Netlify's own docs, pricing page, or blog, read on October 20, 2026. No file was dropped for this guide, so it doesn't name the buttons on the claim screen.

What is Netlify Drop

Netlify Drop is a page at app.netlify.com/drop that turns "a folder, zip file, or single HTML file" into a website. You need no Git repository, and you can drop before you have an account. The site gets an address that ends in netlify.app.

Netlify launched Drop in August 2018. Its quickstart calls it "a popular choice for publishing projects from AI code generation tools." Since the summer of 2026 you can also drop a project that still needs a build step, such as an Astro or Next.js folder, but Netlify only builds it when you're signed in.

How to use Netlify Drop in 4 steps

1. Open app.netlify.com/drop

Go to app.netlify.com/drop. To put the project straight into your team, log in first. You can also drop without an account and sign up afterwards.

2. Drag your file, zip, or folder onto the page

Drop one HTML file, a .zip, or a folder with your site's files. The quickstart says deploys under 50 MB work best, and a single file over 10 MB may get the deploy stuck. When the upload ends, you get a link that ends in netlify.app.

3. Log in or sign up to claim the project

If you dropped without signing in, the link stays behind a temporary password until you claim the project with an account. Netlify's blog says the claim window has been 1 hour since January 2022. The sign-up page takes a Google, GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket account, or an email address.

4. Make the project public and send the link

On teams created on or after July 28, 2026, new projects start private. Open the project and select Make public, which works once the project has one successful production deploy. Then open the link in a private browser window. If no password or "no access" screen shows, send it.

Is Netlify Drop free

Yes. The Drop page says you can "drop projects and keep them on the free plan for as long as you like."

A claimed project runs on your account's plan. The Free plan costs $0 and includes 300 credits a month. A production deploy costs 15 credits, so 20 new versions use the whole month before any bandwidth counts. When one project reaches the limit, Netlify pauses every project on the account until the next billing cycle. Personal is $9 a month with 1,000 credits.

Is Netlify free? works through what 300 credits cover, with examples.

Does a Netlify Drop site expire

A claimed site doesn't expire on Free. An unclaimed one does.

The 13-year story of Netlify Drop, Netlify's blog post of July 27, 2026, gives the history. Drop launched with 24 hours to claim an anonymous site. In January 2022 Netlify cut that to 1 hour and allowed 3 anonymous sites per IP address. After a 2024 wave of scam sites, most of them drops, Netlify put a password on anonymous sites until someone claims them. A retention policy then suspended unclaimed sites and deleted them a week later. A guide that says "24 hours to claim" was written before 2022.

Password and forms on Netlify Drop

A password. Netlify's visibility docs say a public project behind a shared password is "only available on Pro." Pro starts at $20 a month. The temporary password on an unclaimed drop isn't one you set; it goes away when you claim the project.

A form. Netlify Forms stores what people send, and Netlify says its forms service is "free and unlimited for all credit-based plans" (how credits work). It doesn't work on its own: you turn on Enable form detection for the project and add data-netlify="true" to the <form> tag (forms setup). A form ChatGPT wrote has no data-netlify attribute, so its entries go nowhere until you add it, turn on detection, and deploy again.

How to update a Netlify Drop site at the same URL

Open the project's dashboard on Netlify. Under Production deploys, drag your updated folder onto the drop area. If the files work, the new version goes live at the same netlify.app address.

Each production deploy costs 15 of the Free plan's 300 monthly credits.

Alternatives to Netlify Drop

Netlify Drop suits a folder, a zip, a site that needs a build, or a bare domain like example.com. When your page is one HTML file and you want a form that keeps entries, a password, or a count of who opened the page, Convika does the same drop-a-file job.

Drop your .html file in the box above, or switch to Paste code, and select Get my preview link. You get a private preview link for 3 minutes with no account. The preview turns off scripts and forms, so it shows how the page looks, not how it works. Select Keep this page — free, no card and sign up, and the page moves into your account with its scripts on.

From the dashboard, select Publish. The first time, Choose how to publish your page offers Free, the 1-year Pro pass at $29 once, or Pro monthly at $12 a month. Pick Free and the page goes live at an address like yourpage.convika.page. A Free page is Public: anyone with the link can open it, and it may show up in search results and in Convika's gallery. To keep it out of both, choose Private link (Pro or pass) when you publish.

How Convika differs from Netlify Drop:

• A form that keeps entries. Add a form to my page puts in a form with email only, name and email, or name, email, and message. Each entry lands under Forms and in your inbox, and exports as a CSV. Free shows 50 entries a month across all forms; entries past that are saved, and Pro shows them.
• Visit counts. The dashboard shows visits, referrers, UTM campaigns, devices, countries, and button clicks for the last 90 days.
• No credits per publish. Free includes 10,000 page views a month, and publishing a new version uses no credits.
• The same link after an edit. Upload as a new version makes the next version of the page at the same address, and visitors see it once you publish it.
• A password comes with Pro ($12 a month) or the 1-year pass.

Free also includes 1 published page, 1 custom subdomain such as www, and a small Convika bar at the bottom of each page.

Not a fit for: a folder, a zip, a site with a build step, or a bare domain like yourbrand.com. Convika takes one .html or .htm file up to 2 MB, or pasted code.

Netlify Drop alternatives compares 7 hosts for the same job, and free HTML hosting compared covers 11.

Frequently asked questions

What is Netlify Drop?

Netlify Drop is Netlify's page at app.netlify.com/drop that publishes a folder, a zip file, or a single HTML file you drag onto it. It needs no Git repository and no account to start. The site gets an address that ends in netlify.app. Without an account, the link has a temporary password until you claim it.

Is Netlify Drop free?

Yes. Dropping is free, and Netlify's Drop page says you can keep dropped projects on the Free plan "for as long as you like." Free includes 300 credits a month, and each production deploy costs 15. When one project uses up the credits, every project on the account pauses until the next billing cycle.

How do I update a site deployed with Netlify Drop?

Open the project's dashboard on Netlify and drag the updated folder onto the area under Production deploys. The new version goes live at the same netlify.app address, and each production deploy costs 15 of the Free plan's 300 monthly credits.

Does Netlify Drop work with a single HTML file?

Yes. The Drop page takes "a folder, zip file, or single HTML file," and its FAQ gives a single index.html as the example. Netlify's docs don't say whether a single file with another name opens as the home page. If yours doesn't show, rename it index.html and drop it again.

Sources

• Netlify Drop page and FAQ (checked October 20, 2026)
• Netlify Docs: Netlify Drop quickstart (checked October 20, 2026)
• Netlify Docs: Project visibility (checked October 20, 2026)
• Netlify pricing (checked October 20, 2026)
• Netlify Docs: How credits work (checked October 20, 2026)
• Netlify Docs: Forms setup (checked October 20, 2026)
• Netlify blog: The 13-year story of Netlify Drop (checked October 20, 2026)