Alternative · ChatGPT Sites
A ChatGPT Sites alternative for what happens after you share it
Codex Sites are bound to your OpenAI workspace, with no anyone-with-link mode.
That aged like milk. OpenAI shipped public publishing in 9 July 2026, so we've struck it rather than hidden it.
Honestly? We assumed they'd get there — and they'll keep getting there. "Can you share it" was never the interesting question. "What happens after you share it" is: who opened it, when it stops working, whether you can lock it to one client instead of everyone, and whether anything checked page 3 for a live API key.
Credit where it's due: Sites is the most capable thing in this comparison — a real hosted app with a database, object storage and custom domains, plus built-in visitor analytics. What it doesn't do is the delivery part: analytics are aggregate (unique visitors and page views, not *who* opened it), there is no documented link expiry, invited viewers must sign in with an OpenAI account so you cannot gate a link to an arbitrary client email, and nothing scans the output for credentials — the docs just tell you to be careful. Public publishing is also unavailable in the EEA, Switzerland and the UK. freo.cloud is the delivery layer instead: it takes what your AI agent makes — reports, dashboards, HTML pages, PDFs, images, whole static sites — and gives it a link exactly the people you choose can open, with no account required. You pick the access level per document (public, an unguessable link, email-verified, or a named allowlist) and change it later without changing the link. You can see which person opened it and when. Links retire themselves on a schedule. Every publish is scanned for leaked credentials and blocked before the link exists. And freo isn't tied to one vendor — it publishes from ten coding agents (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, opencode, Antigravity and more) and from chat apps like Claude.ai and ChatGPT over MCP.
“…A public Site is available without ChatGPT workspace access.”
freo.cloud vs ChatGPT Sites, side by side
| freo.cloud | ChatGPT Sites | |
|---|---|---|
| Gate a link to one outside person | ✓Yes — email-verified, or a named allowlist | Partly — invited viewers must sign in with an OpenAI account; no arbitrary email allowlist |
| Scans for leaked credentials | ✓Yes — the publish is blocked before the link exists | No — docs advise "keep secret values out", but nothing checks |
| Viewer needs an account | ✓No — at most a one-time email code | No for public Sites; invited access needs an OpenAI account |
| Per-document access control | ✓4 tiers: public · unique link · email-verified · named allowlist | Admins · named users/groups · whole workspace · public |
| View tracking | ✓Per viewer — who opened it and when | Yes, but aggregate — unique visitors + page views (not per Enterprise-owned Site) |
| Auto-expiry / dormancy | ✓Yes — hard TTL + inactivity auto-private | Not documented |
| Works across agents | ✓10 coding agents (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf…) + Claude.ai & ChatGPT via MCP | ChatGPT / Codex only |
| Content types | Markdown, HTML, PDF, images, multi-file site bundles | Hosted apps / sites — real backend, D1 + R2, custom domains |
| Plan required | ✓Any freo account — free during early access | All paid plans except Free and Go |
| Vendor lock-in | ✓Cross-vendor; export any time | OpenAI-hosted (no export / self-host path documented) |
ChatGPT Sites details reflect OpenAI's published documentation as of July 2026; “not documented” means OpenAI publishes no detail, not that the feature is confirmed absent.
Why freo is the alternative
Nothing leaks by accident
Standard publishes are scanned for API keys and credentials and blocked before the link exists — text, PDF text and image metadata, on every publish path. OpenAI does not check at all.
Locked to one person, not one org
Email-verified or a named allowlist reaches a client who isn't in anybody's directory — and you can change it later without changing the link.
Any agent, not one vendor
Ten coding agents — Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, opencode and more — plus Claude.ai & ChatGPT over MCP. Same link, same controls.
When ChatGPT Sites is the better choice
We're not pretending ChatGPT Sites is bad — for the right job it's the path of least resistance. Reach for it when:
- →The audience is your own workspace, for an internal tool or dashboard.
- →You need the page to run a real backend — database and storage — not just static content. freo does not do this at all.
- →You want a custom domain on it today.
- →You're on a paid OpenAI plan and want it included, with nothing to install.
And they complement freo: build the work in ChatGPT Sites, then export it and publish through freo when you need an external, access-controlled, tracked link.
Questions
Can I make a ChatGPT Sites page public?
Yes — OpenAI added public publishing in 9 July 2026, and anyone with the link can open it without signing in. This page used to say otherwise; we've struck that above rather than deleted it. What you still can't do is point that link at one person outside the org, see who opened it, or have it expire — which is where freo comes in.
Does ChatGPT Sites check for leaked API keys before publishing?
No. OpenAI's docs advise you to “keep secret values out” of Site content, which is guidance rather than a check, and Anthropic documents nothing here either. freo scans every standard publish — text files, PDF text, and image EXIF metadata, including inside multi-file bundles — and blocks it by default on every publish path, showing you exactly what was found so you can fix it. (Opt-in end-to-end-encrypted documents are the one exception, and for an honest reason: we receive ciphertext we cannot read.) To be straight about the wider market: we are not the only tool that scans. Stacktree does too, though it blocks by default only on its MCP path. And Netlify and GitHub both scan — but their gate is a build or a git push, so uploading an already-finished PDF or prebuilt folder, which is exactly what an agent hands you, sails straight past it. Agents paste real credentials into example blocks and logs constantly; that is the failure mode we built for.
Does the person I share with need an account?
With freo, no. Public and unique-link documents open with no sign-in at all; email-protected and allowlist documents use a one-time email code — never a password or a new account.
Do I have to switch agents to use freo?
No. freo is cross-agent — paste one setup prompt into any of the ten supported agents (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, opencode and more) and it publishes from whichever you already use. And you don't need a terminal at all: Claude.ai and ChatGPT connect to the same account over the MCP server with one-click OAuth.
Comparing the other one too? freo.cloud vs Claude Code Artifacts → · See every supported agent →
Publish your agent's work where anyone can see it
Connect your coding agent in one prompt — or your chat app in one click — and share a link you control: public, private, or locked to named people. Free during early access.
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