NudgeHost vs Static.app in 2026, when the link matters more than the hosting
Where the two differ on getting a link at all, on what each free plan holds, and on what it costs to reach an API.
| Feature | NudgeHostFree plan | Static.appFree plan |
|---|---|---|
| Publish before signing up | Yesup to 25MB | Noan account is required |
| What the free plan holds | 10links | 1website |
| API on the free plan | Yesthe v1 REST API | Nofrom Starter |
| MCP server on the free plan | Yesfour tools | Nofrom Starter |
| Link expiry on the free plan | Yeson every link | Nopaid short links only |
| Counting opens on the free plan | Yeson every link | Noanalytics on paid plans |
The short answer
NudgeHost has the stronger free plan. A link works before you make an account, the free plan holds separate links rather than one website, and the API, the MCP server, expiry and a count of opens all work without paying. On Static.app each of those waits for an account or a paid plan.
Summary
| Theme | NudgeHost | Static.app | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|
| A plan or a trial | A free plan with no end date | 7 days to publish a website free | NudgeHost |
| API keys and rate limits | 2 keys at 20 requests a minute on Free, up to 30 at 150 on Studio | No figures published | NudgeHost |
| What you publish | A file at its own link, or a ZIP served as a site | A website | Level |
| Free subdomain and SSL | Every plan, free included | Every plan, free included | Level |
| QR codes | Every account link, free plan included | From the free plan | Level |
Static.app figures from static.app/pricing, verified 5 September 2026.
Getting to a live link
NudgeHost ahead| Feature | NudgeHost | Static.app |
|---|---|---|
| What you need before you start | A file and a browser | An account, required before anything is published |
| What you publish | A file at its own link, or a ZIP with an index.html served as a site at its own subdomain | A website, on their free subdomain or a custom one |
| Free subdomain and SSL | Yes, on every plan, free included | Yes, on every plan, free included |
| A desktop app | None, everything runs in the browser or over the API | A Mac app, included from the free plan |
Static.app is built around a website and NudgeHost around a link, and this section is where that shows. A NudgeHost link can hold a PDF, a Word file or a single page, and a ZIP with an index.html becomes a site at its own subdomain, so you can deploy a React build as a link on the free plan.
A page a model writes is the other case. When it arrives as markup rather than a file, you can paste the markup straight in and it publishes without saving anything.
What the free plan holds
NudgeHost ahead| Feature | NudgeHost | Static.app |
|---|---|---|
| What the free plan carries | 10 links, each with its own address | 1 website, with 50MB of storage behind it |
| Largest file | 25MB a file | 50MB a file |
| A plan or a trial | A free plan with no end date | 7 days to publish a website free, with analytics and short links needing a plan |
Static.app takes the bigger file on its free plan. What decides the section is the shape. NudgeHost gives separate links for separate people, and Static.app gives one website on a trial.
A single large website fits their free plan better. A week of documents going to different people fits ours, because each one gets its own address and its own expiry.
What the money buys
Static.app aheadStatic.app has three paid plans and NudgeHost has two. Theirs cost less, and each step up adds websites and storage.
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 | Static.app |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $12 a month, or $10 a month billed annually | $6 a month, or $5 a month billed annually |
| A year up front | $120 for Pro, $290 for Studio | $60 for Starter, $120 for Medium, $180 for Large |
| File size on the first paid plan | 250MB on Pro | 1GB on Starter and every paid plan above it |
| Custom domains | 1 on Pro, 5 on Studio, for zipped sites | Included from Starter |
| More than one person | One person per account | 1 seat on Medium, 3 on Large, and extra seats at $5 each |
Static.app costs less at every paid step. What its first plan buys is much of what the NudgeHost free plan already carries: an API, an MCP server and a count of opens.
Their plans sell websites by the bundle, and ours sell bigger files and more custom domains. No NudgeHost paid plan limits how many links it holds.
Access control and link management
NudgeHost ahead| Feature | NudgeHost | Static.app |
|---|---|---|
| Link expiry | Every account plan, free included | On their short links, on paid plans only |
| Counting opens | Open counts on every plan, time and country on Pro and Studio | Analytics and short-link click counts on paid plans |
| QR codes | Every account link, free plan included | Included from the free plan |
| Short links | Every link is already short, a slug on nudgehost.com | On paid plans, at stc.ac, counting clicks and taking an expiry date |
Most of the NudgeHost column works on the free plan. Expiry and a count of opens cost nothing here, and on Static.app both arrive with a paid plan.
Passwords are on Pro and Studio. You can lock the link with a password on any file, a PDF included.
For developers and agents
NudgeHost ahead| Feature | NudgeHost | Static.app |
|---|---|---|
| API access | Every plan, free included | Starter and above, from $6 a month |
| MCP server | Every plan, free included, with four tools | Listed on Starter and above |
| API keys and rate limits | 2 keys at 20 requests a minute on Free, 10 at 60 on Pro, 30 at 150 on Studio | Included with the plans that carry the API, with no figures published |
A NudgeHost free account can call the v1 REST API, so a script runs before any money changes hands.
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. A model can publish a page it has written and hand back the link inside one conversation.
Publishing without an account
The whole sequence runs signed out, and nothing in it asks for an email address.
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 Static.app to NudgeHost
Moving from Static.app is a file job rather than a migration. Start from the site's files on your own machine, zip the folder with its index.html, and drop the archive into NudgeHost.
Plan the address before you switch. A NudgeHost link gets a new slug, so if people already have the old address, you can serve a zipped site from your own domain and point that subdomain at NudgeHost. Custom domains are on Pro. Keep the old site running until the new one answers.
Which one to choose
Choose NudgeHost if
- You need a link now, before you make an account.
- You want separate links for separate people rather than one website.
- You want an API or an MCP server without paying first.
- You want links that expire and count their opens on the free plan.
- You want an AI client to publish a page it wrote in one call.
Choose Static.app if
- You want the cheapest paid plan. Static.app's Starter costs half what NudgeHost's Pro does.
- You need files larger than NudgeHost's Pro takes without paying for the top plan. Static.app's first paid plan takes 1GB.
- You run several websites and want seats for other people. Medium and Large include them.
- You manage your sites from a Mac and want a desktop app.
The verdict
NudgeHost is the pick for sharing files and pages. A link works before you sign up, the free plan holds separate links rather than one website, and the API, the MCP server, expiry and a count of opens all work before you pay. Static.app is the cheaper choice once you are paying, and the better fit for someone running several websites.
Try it with a real file. Put up the page or the PDF you would have hosted on Static.app and see how far the free plan goes before it asks you for anything. When you need more, the Pro upgrade adds bigger files, passwords and a custom domain.
Frequently asked questions
Does NudgeHost limit how many people open a link?
No. No NudgeHost plan limits visits or bandwidth. Static.app lists unlimited traffic from its Starter plan up.
Can I keep my files on NudgeHost if I stop paying?
Yes. When a paid plan ends, the account moves to the free plan and nothing is deleted. New uploads pause while it holds 10 links or more, and a custom domain is released 30 days after it stops serving.
Static.app needs an account first. Does a NudgeHost link made without one expire?
Yes, 7 days after it goes up. The file is then deleted in the next daily cleanup, and signing up before that keeps it 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.