NudgeHost vs GitHub Pages in 2026, when a repo is overkill
Where the two differ on getting to a live link, on what each one publishes as a limit, and on what the terms let you put there.
| Feature | NudgeHostFree plan | GitHub PagesFree plan |
|---|---|---|
| Publish before signing up | Yesup to 25MB | Noan account and a repository first |
| What you need first | A fileand a browser | A repositoryan account and a commit |
| Build step | Nonelive when the upload lands | Yestiming out at 10 minutes |
| Visitor cap | Noneon any plan | 100 GBa month, as a soft bandwidth limit |
The short answer
NudgeHost is the shorter road from a file to a link. The link works before you make an account, and nothing has to be committed or built first. On GitHub Pages an account, a repository and a commit come first, and a build runs before the address answers.
Summary
| Theme | NudgeHost | GitHub Pages | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Builds | None to queue or rebuild | A soft limit of 10 an hour | NudgeHost |
| Keeping something private | A password on Pro and Studio | Their docs advise against sensitive transactions | NudgeHost |
| Replacing a file | Every account plan, same link and view count | A new commit and a fresh build | NudgeHost |
| Where the file lives | In your account, at its own link | In a repository, public ones on GitHub Free | Level |
| API and MCP server | Both, on every plan | Both published | Level |
GitHub Pages figures from docs.github.com, verified 5 September 2026.
Getting to a live link
NudgeHost ahead| Feature | NudgeHost | GitHub Pages |
|---|---|---|
| What you need before you start | A file and a browser | A GitHub account, a repository and a commit |
| How you publish | Drop the file in, and the address answers once the upload lands | Commit, then Jekyll or an Actions workflow builds and deploys it |
| Where the file lives | In your account at its own link. A ZIP serves as a site at its own subdomain | In a repository. Public ones on GitHub Free, public and private on Pro, Team, Enterprise Cloud and Enterprise Server |
| Sites per account | 10 links on the free plan, each at its own address | One user or organisation site per account, and one project site per repository |
Four things have to exist before a GitHub Pages site answers: an account, a repository, a commit and a build. Each one is a step somebody can stall on, and on NudgeHost the file is the only thing that has to exist.
That gap matters most when the file is the whole job. A scanned contract going to one client needs no version control around it, and you can turn a PDF into a short link without creating anything first.
The limits each side publishes
NudgeHost aheadGitHub Pages gives a site more room than the NudgeHost free plan, at no cost. Its other limits sit around the build and the traffic, and NudgeHost has no build, and no cap or charge on traffic.
Free
$0
No subscription
- 25MB a file
- 10 live links
- 2 API keys, 20 requests a minute
- No custom domain
Pro
$12 a month
or $120 a year
- 250MB a file
- Unlimited live links
- 10 API keys, 60 requests a minute
- 1 custom domain
Studio
$29 a month
or $290 a year
- 1GB a file
- Unlimited live links
- 30 API keys, 150 requests a minute
- 5 custom domains
| Feature | NudgeHost | GitHub Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Size of a published site | 25MB a file on Free, 250MB on Pro, 1GB on Studio | No larger than 1 GB |
| Source size | No repository involved | 1 GB recommended for the source repository |
| Visitor caps | None on any plan | A soft bandwidth limit of 100 GB a month |
| Build limits | No build, so nothing to queue | A soft limit of 10 builds an hour, lifted for a custom Actions workflow |
| Deployment timeout | None. An upload lands or is refused as you drop it in | 10 minutes |
The two size rows go to GitHub Pages. A large static site fits there at no cost, and on NudgeHost a file that size needs the top paid plan.
The other three rows describe what waits between a change and a live page. A build with an hourly allowance and a timeout is something to plan around, and an upload has neither.
What you are allowed to put on it
NudgeHost ahead| Feature | NudgeHost | GitHub Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial use | Not addressed in the terms, apart from a ban on reselling the service | Not for running an online business, an e-commerce site, or a site mainly for commercial transactions or commercial software as a service |
| Keeping something private | A password on Pro and Studio, and link expiry on every account plan | Their docs say a Pages site should not be used for sensitive transactions such as sending passwords or card numbers |
| Replacing a file at the same link | Every account plan, keeping the link, the view count and any password or end date | A new commit, which re-runs the build |
The first row is GitHub's own wording, so read it against what your site is for. The NudgeHost terms do not address commercial use beyond a ban on reselling the service.
The other two rows follow from what each product is for. A document on its way to a client can carry a password and an end date here, and you can swap the file without changing the URL when the figures in it move.
For developers and agents
NudgeHost ahead| Feature | NudgeHost | GitHub Pages |
|---|---|---|
| What one API call does | Returns the address a file is reachable at, in two calls with the upload between | Commits to a repository, which has to be set up to publish before an address exists |
| API access | Every plan, free included | A REST API that reaches repositories and Pages |
| MCP server | Four tools, on every plan | Yes, GitHub publishes one |
| Rate limit | 20 requests a minute on Free, 60 on Pro, 150 on Studio | Rate limits may apply, answering 429 |
| Between the call and a live page | Nothing. The address answers once the file is stored | The Pages build |
Both products publish an API, so the difference is where one call ends. A NudgeHost free account can call the v1 REST API, and the upload below ends in a live address.
curl -X POST https://www.nudgehost.com/api/v1/uploads \
-H "Authorization: Bearer nh_sk_REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_OWN_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"filename": "report.pdf",
"contentType": "application/pdf",
"fileSize": 182734
}'The first call returns the slug, the address and a URL to PUT the file to. A second call to /api/v1/uploads/{id}/complete finishes the upload.
The MCP server gives an AI client these tools against your account: share_text, create_upload_url, complete_upload and list_links. An agent that has just written a page can publish it and hand back the link in one conversation, and our agent hosting comparison puts the same question to other platforms.
Publishing without an account
The whole sequence runs signed out, and nothing in it asks for an email address or a repository.
Drop the file in
On the home page, signed out. A quick browser check runs first and asks you nothing, and a file over 25MB is refused before the upload starts.
Take the link
It is live as soon as the file lands. A ZIP with an index.html gets its own nudgehost.site subdomain instead.
Send it
You can keep 3 links like this at once, each live for 7 days. HTML pages, sites and Word files carry a small NudgeHost bar, and PDFs, images and media carry nothing extra.
Sign up to keep it
A free account takes over the files from your browser, clears the 7-day end date and drops the bar. The links stay the same.
Moving from GitHub Pages to NudgeHost
Moving from GitHub Pages is a file job rather than a migration. Start from the built output on your own machine, zip the folder with its index.html, and drop the archive into NudgeHost. It serves at its own subdomain with client-side routing working, and no workflow file is needed.
Plan the address before you switch. A github.io address you have already shared will not follow the site, so point a subdomain of yours at the new copy and use your own domain from then on. Custom domains are on Pro, and the old site can stay up until the new one answers.
Which one to choose
Choose NudgeHost if
- You have a file rather than a repository, and you want the link now.
- You want to publish before making an account, and claim the link later if you keep it.
- You want a password, an end date or a new file at the same address, with no commit involved.
- A script or an AI client needs one call that ends in a live address.
Choose GitHub Pages if
- The site already lives in a repository and is built from it. Publishing from where the code is makes sense, and Jekyll and Actions workflows are part of their platform.
- You need a large static site hosted at no cost. GitHub Pages gives a site far more room than the NudgeHost free plan.
- You want the site kept in a repository beside the code that builds it.
The verdict
NudgeHost is the pick when the thing you have is a file and the thing you need is a link. Nothing has to be created first, and the link works before you sign up. GitHub Pages is the better home for a site that already lives in a repository, and it gives a large site more room at no cost.
Try it with the file you would have committed. Put it up signed out and see how far the free plan goes, and when a file outgrows it, the Pro and Studio plans take up to 250MB and 1GB.
Frequently asked questions
Can a site built from a private GitHub repository move to NudgeHost?
Yes, as its built files. Zip the output and upload it, and nobody needs access to the repository. The NudgeHost link is public to anyone who has it unless you add a password, which Pro and Studio can set. A password-protected site doesn't serve on a custom domain, so pick one or the other.
Does NudgeHost keep earlier versions of a file, the way a repository keeps commits?
On Pro and Studio it keeps the most recent ones. Replacing a file keeps the link, the view count and any password or end date, and Pro keeps the last 10 earlier versions of each link and Studio the last 30, ready to download or restore. On Free the previous file is deleted once the new one is live. A repository keeps every change, so if you need all of them on record, keep the source in one and publish the output here.
Is a link I publish without signing up removed if I never make an account?
Yes. It stops answering 7 days after it goes up, and the file is deleted in the next daily cleanup. Make an account before then and the link stays at the same address.
More comparisons
Try the free plan with a real file
25MB a file, 10 live links and no banner. The first upload needs no account.