Shipslides vs Tiiny Host: A Free, Permanent Alternative for HTML Presentations
If you have dragged a single HTML file onto a drop zone to get an instant link, there is a good chance you have used Tiiny Host. It is a clean, popular general-purpose static host, and for a lot of jobs it is exactly the right tool. But if you searched for a Tiiny Host alternative, you probably hit the same wall most people do: on the free tier the link does not stick around. This is an honest comparison of Tiiny Host and Shipslides so you can pick the right one for a slide deck you actually want to keep.
Short version: Tiiny Host is a great general static host, and Shipslides is a purpose-built home for interactive HTML presentations. They overlap, but they are not the same tool, and the differences matter most when you want to host an HTML file for free and permanently.
What Tiiny Host is good at
Tiiny Host is a genuinely nice general-purpose static host. You can drop in a single HTML file, a zipped folder, or even a PDF and get a live URL in seconds, with no git repo, no build step, and no command line. It handles arbitrary static sites, landing pages, and document hosting, and its paid plans add custom domains, analytics, and password protection. If your thing is a generic static site, a PDF you want on the web, or a page you plan to point a branded domain at, Tiiny Host is a solid pick and this post is not trying to talk you out of it.
Two things are worth being clear-eyed about, though. First, the free tier is limited: at the time of writing it allows a single site that expires after 7 days, and keeping the link live moves you onto a paid plan (starting around $15/month at the time of writing). Second, because it is general-purpose, it is not presentation-aware and it does not sandbox untrusted JavaScript -- an uploaded file runs with the normal trust of a static site. Neither is a flaw; they are just consequences of being a broad tool rather than a slides tool.
What Shipslides does differently
Shipslides is narrower on purpose. You upload one self-contained HTML deck and get back a clean /d/<slug> URL plus an embeddable player. Because it only has to do one job -- serve interactive slide decks safely -- it can make guarantees a general host cannot:
- Free and permanent -- public decks stay up for free. The link does not expire after 7 days and does not roll onto a paid tier to stay reachable.
- Strict sandbox-- every deck runs inside a tight iframe with a locked-down Content Security Policy on a separate content origin, so it is safe to open a stranger’s interactive HTML: the file gets no access to your cookies, sessions, or arbitrary network requests.
- Slide-aware -- Shipslides extracts a crawlable text transcript and a slide outline from your deck, so the share page carries real content for search engines and link previews instead of an opaque blob of markup.
- Embeddable player -- drop the deck into a blog post, docs page, or notion-style page with a clean embed rather than a bare link.
That sandbox is the biggest practical difference. On a general static host, an uploaded deck is trusted the same way your own code is, so opening someone else’s interactive HTML is a real risk. Shipslides is built assuming every deck is untrusted -- the full model is on the security page.
Shipslides vs Tiiny Host at a glance
| Feature | Shipslides | Tiiny Host (free) |
|---|---|---|
| Free link permanence | Permanent (public decks) | Expires after 7 days |
| Cost to keep it up | Free | Paid plan from ~$15/mo* |
| Sandboxes untrusted JS | Yes (strict CSP + iframe) | No (served as trusted static site) |
| Slide transcript & SEO outline | Automatic | No (generic static hosting) |
| Embeddable player | Yes | Raw link only |
| Custom domain | No (clean /d/<slug> URL) | Yes (paid plans) |
| Best for | Interactive HTML decks & AI-generated pages | General static sites, PDFs, branded pages |
*Free-tier and pricing details reflect Tiiny Host at the time of writing and can change; check their site for current terms.
When Tiiny Host is the better call
To keep this honest: Tiiny Host wins in a few clear cases. Reach for it instead of Shipslides when you need a custom branded domain, when you are hosting a general static site or landing page that is not a slide deck, or when you want to put a PDF on the web. Those are outside what Shipslides is built for, and forcing them into a slides tool would be the wrong move.
Where Shipslides pulls ahead is the specific job of publishing an interactive HTML presentation you want to keep, share widely, and let others open safely -- for free, on a link that does not expire. That is the “free Tiiny Host alternative” most slide authors are actually looking for.
Where this fits with the other options
Tiiny Host is one of several places developers land when they outgrow SlideShare and PDF hosts. If you are still weighing the field, the roundup of SlideShare alternatives for developers compares the trade-offs across Speaker Deck, GitHub Pages, and more. And if your deck is a Reveal.js project specifically, the guide on hosting a Reveal.js presentation without GitHub Pages walks through exporting to a single self-contained file and publishing it in about 30 seconds.
Frequently asked questions
Is Shipslides really free and permanent?
Yes. Uploading a self-contained HTML deck and getting a public share URL plus an embed is free, and public decks stay up permanently -- the link does not expire after 7 days and does not silently roll onto a paid plan. There is no site count to run down and no billing meter attached to keeping an old deck reachable. That is the core difference behind the "host an HTML file free and permanent" search that brings most people here.
Can I use a custom domain?
Not today. Shipslides serves decks on a clean shipslides.com/d/<slug> URL, and that is deliberate -- a shared slug on a trusted origin is what lets the sandbox and Content Security Policy stay strict. If a branded custom domain is a hard requirement, Tiiny Host supports custom domains on its paid plans and is the better fit for that specific need.
Which should I pick for a Reveal.js deck?
For a Reveal.js, Slidev, or Marp deck you want to keep around and share, Shipslides is the closer fit: it is slide-aware, keeps the link permanent for free, and sandboxes the JavaScript. Tiiny Host will happily serve the same file, but the free link expires after 7 days and it treats the deck as a generic static site. See the walkthrough on hosting a Reveal.js presentation without GitHub Pages for the full export-and-upload flow.
Is it safe to open decks other people uploaded?
That is the whole point of the sandbox. Every deck runs inside a strict iframe with a tight Content Security Policy on a separate content origin, so an uploaded file cannot read your cookies, reach your logged-in sessions, or make arbitrary network calls. A general static host serves untrusted JavaScript with the same trust as your own code, so opening a stranger's interactive HTML there is riskier. The security page has the full breakdown of the isolation model.
Ready to publish your deck?
Upload a single self-contained HTML file and get a free, permanent, sandboxed share link and embed in seconds.
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