# here.now alternative for client work: who read it, sign-offs, MCP · Stacktree Source: https://stacktr.ee/here-now-alternative [Skip to content](#main) PFrom Product Hunt? Your first pages are free, no card. Code `PRODUCTHUNT` takes 50% off your first month of Studio.[Start free →](https://app.stacktr.ee/?join=1&from=producthunt) × A Stacktree customer sent you. Your first month is 50% off on any plan, taken off at checkout. [Start free →](https://app.stacktr.ee/?join=1&from=referral) × [Stacktree](/)[Developers](/developers)[Agents](/agents)[Docs](/docs)[Use cases](/use-cases)[Pricing](/pricing)[Blog](/blog)[Dashboard](https://app.stacktr.ee)[Sign in →](https://app.stacktr.ee) By [ Steve Smith ](/about) · Founder, Stacktree · Last updated October 8, 2026 alternative # The here.now alternative that is MCP-native and private by default. here.now is fast, inexpensive agent hosting: passwords, email allowlists and site analytics, published by API key. Stacktree is built for the moment the page goes to a client: a named link per person, who opened it and how closely they read, comments and sign-off, a portal on your domain, published through MCP. [ Get started free ](https://app.stacktr.ee/?join=1&from=seo_here_now_alternative) install npx stacktree-install Copy No card · 3 pages free · about a minute ## What is the best here.now alternative? Stacktree, when the agent should publish through MCP and the output should be private the moment it exists. here.now is a strong agent-first host with two products, Sites and Drives, but it exposes no MCP server and authenticates with bearer API keys. Stacktree is MCP-native, uses OAuth, and makes every URL unguessable by default with deeper gating on top. ## Why people look for a here.now alternative here.now is genuinely built for agents, so the reasons to look elsewhere are specific rather than general. The three that come up most: - No MCP server. here.now installs through the agent-skills ecosystem and authenticates with a bearer API key. Its own agent card declares MCP is not a supported surface. If your stack is built around MCP tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Claude.ai), you want a host the agent calls as a native tool, not a skill wrapping an API key. - No OAuth. here.now uses an email-code flow to mint an API key, then a long-lived bearer token. Teams that want a standard OAuth authorization grant rather than a copied key prefer that flow. - A readable address by default. A here.now Site lives at {slug}.here.now, open to anyone with the link until you configure otherwise. Some teams want the opposite default: an unguessable URL from the moment the page exists. ## They are priced for a different job The clearest signal is the price list. here.now sells storage: $4 a month for 500 GB, $20 for 2 TB and unlimited sites. Stacktree sells client delivery: Solo is $19 for twenty-five live pages, a client space and your own address. If you are looking for somewhere to put a lot of agent output, they are cheaper per gigabyte and always will be. If the output is going to a named client who should not see anyone else's work, that is what a client space is for. ## Where here.now genuinely wins This is the closest competitor on the market, and it does things Stacktree deliberately does not. Be clear about them: - Drives. here.now ships private cloud storage for agents: memory, context, plans, assets, and agent-to-agent handoff via scoped share tokens. Stacktree hosts static HTML only and has no durable storage layer. If your agents need persistent state or to pass files between runs, here.now is the better fit. - Proxy routes. A here.now static Site can proxy to an external API. Stacktree serves static HTML with no proxying. ## What client work needs that here.now does not do here.now's analytics count traffic to a site. Client work asks a narrower question: did this person read it, and what did they say? As of October 2026 here.now's docs describe none of these: - A named link per person. Send Maya her own link and every open comes back with her name: "Read by Maya Cole · 24 min over 8 visits". - How closely they read. Reading time and scroll per reader, with your own previews left out, so you know the deliverable landed before the follow-up call. - Comments and sign-off. The client comments on the page itself and signs it off, and the record stays with the page. - A client portal. Everything you have sent one client, newest first, behind one passcode on your own domain. ## Where Stacktree differs Stacktree starts from a different premise on access and identity. The agent is the author, the link is the credential, and the controls live one tool call away. - MCP-native. A real MCP server, so the agent calls publish_html as a native tool and update_site to replace in place. No skill wrapper, no copied API key. - OAuth. Standard authorization grant rather than a long-lived bearer key. - An unguessable URL by default. A Stacktree link is a random token that acts as the credential. A here.now Site is a readable {slug}.here.now address, which anyone with the link can open and a determined person can guess. Both offer passwords and domain restriction on top; the difference is only what you get before you configure anything. - Email-domain gate. Restrict a link to verified addresses on a domain via magic link. here.now added the same thing: its docs describe restricted access with an email allowlist and a domain allowlist, so treat this as parity rather than a reason to move. - End-to-end encryption. Optional AES-GCM in the browser with the key in the URL fragment, so the server only ever stores ciphertext. - Replace-in-place. One stable URL per artifact across every revision, so the link you shared yesterday shows today's version. ## Workspaces and client spaces are not the same shape here.now added Workspaces in July 2026, and it is the feature closest to what Stacktree calls a client space. Both group the artifacts your agents produce under one named address instead of leaving them as a pile of unrelated links. The difference is who the container is for. - A Workspace is for your team. It lives at acme.here.now, takes up to 50 members on the free tier, and access is granted to everyone on your organisation’s email domain or person by person. It is somewhere colleagues put things. - A client space is for one client. It has no members, because the client never makes an account. That is the entire point: they open the address, type a passcode once if you set one, and stay in for 30 days. Nobody is invited to anything. - The gate sits at a different level. here.now protects a site with a password you switch on per site. A Stacktree space carries the gate, and every page filed under it inherits that gate, including ones you publish next month. A page can still override with its own. - A client space has a front door. Bind a hostname and the space serves a generated portal at the root: every deliverable listed, newest first, on your own domain. A Workspace gives its sites an address but nothing at the root that collects them. Both can sit on a domain you own, so that is not the dividing line. The dividing line is whether the person opening the work is a colleague you can add as a member, or a client you should never ask to sign up for anything. ## Who should pick which Pick here.now if your agents need durable storage and handoff (Drives), or if you want to proxy a static site to an external API. Those are real capabilities Stacktree does not have. Pick Stacktree if the agent should publish through MCP rather than an API key, if you want OAuth instead of a bearer token, and if the artifact should be private the moment it exists, gated by unguessable URL, password, email-domain, or end-to-end encryption. ## Switching from here.now The move is partial by design, because the two products overlap on hosting but not on storage. - What transfers: your static Sites and your custom domains. Export the HTML and republish via publish_html or the dashboard, then point the domain at Stacktree on Solo or above (Cloudflare for SaaS). - What you gain: an MCP server, OAuth, the magic-link email-domain gate, and optional end-to-end encryption, plus replace-in-place URLs. - What is different: you do not get here.now Drives or proxy routes. If your agents rely on durable storage or handoff today, keep here.now for that layer and use Stacktree for the gated-publish layer. ## Stacktree vs. here.now Criterion here.now Stacktree MCP server No. Agent-skill install plus API key; MCP is not a supported surface. Yes. Native MCP server, publish_html. Auth model API key (bearer), minted via an email code. OAuth authorization grant. Default URL Readable {slug}.here.now, open to anyone with the link. Unguessable token that acts as the credential. Password and domain gates Yes: password, email allowlist, domain allowlist. Yes: passcode, magic-link domain gate. Who read it, by name Site analytics; no per-person reading data documented. Named links, opens, and reading time per person. Comments and sign-off Not documented. Yes, on the page, kept with it. End-to-end encryption No. Yes. AES-GCM, server sees ciphertext. Replace-in-place URL Yes. Republish to the same Site. Yes. update_site, one tool call. Anonymous first publish Yes. 24 h temporary Sites. Yes. 24 h, no card. Agent storage / Drives Yes. Durable storage, memory, handoff tokens. No. Static HTML only. Proxy routes Yes. A static Site can proxy to an external API. No. Static HTML only. Pricing Free (500 sites, 1 domain), Hobby $4, Developer $20. Free trial, then flat $19/$79/$249, never per seat. FAQ ## Frequent questions What is the best here.now alternative for AI agents? + Stacktree, when the page is going to a client. here.now is agent-first static hosting with Drives storage, passwords and site analytics, published by API key. Stacktree adds what client work needs: a named link per person, who opened it and how closely they read, comments and sign-off, and a client portal, all published through MCP. Does here.now have an MCP server? + No. here.now installs through the agent-skills ecosystem (npx skills add heredotnow/skill) and its agent card declares MCP is not supported; agents use a bearer API key. Stacktree exposes a real MCP server, so agents call publish_html as a native tool in Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or Claude.ai. Is here.now private by default? + Not by default, though it can be. A Site publishes to a readable {slug}.here.now address that anyone with the link can open; here.now then offers password protection and restricted access by email or domain allowlist. Stacktree starts at the other end: the URL itself is unguessable and acts as the credential, with a password, a magic-link domain gate and optional end-to-end encryption on top. What does here.now do that Stacktree does not? + Drives, here.now's private cloud storage for agent memory, context, plans, and agent-to-agent handoff via scoped share tokens. here.now also supports proxy routes from a static Site to an external API. Stacktree hosts static HTML only, with no durable agent storage or proxying. How do here.now Workspaces compare with Stacktree client spaces? + They are the same shape aimed at different people. A here.now Workspace is a container for your team: it lives at `acme.here.now`, holds up to 50 members on the free tier, and grants access by your organisation's email domain or by invite. A Stacktree [client space](/client-spaces) is a container for one client: it has no members at all, because the client never creates an account. They open the address, type a passcode once if you set one, and that unlock covers every deliverable in the space for 30 days. Two other practical differences: a Stacktree space serves a generated portal at its root that lists the work newest-first, so the client has one page to bookmark, and the gate is set on the space and inherited by every page rather than switched on per site. Can I move my here.now sites to Stacktree? + Yes. Static sites and custom domains transfer cleanly: export the HTML, republish via publish_html or the dashboard, then point your domain at Stacktree on Solo or above. You gain MCP, OAuth, named recipient links with reading data, sign-offs, and end-to-end encryption. You give up here.now Drives and proxy routes. How does pricing compare? + here.now is cheaper for hosting: Free gives 500 sites, a custom domain and analytics; Hobby is $4 and Developer $20 a month. Stacktree is flat and never per seat: Solo $19, Studio $79, Firm $249 a month, after a free 3-page trial. The price difference buys the client layer: who read it, sign-offs, portals. Keep reading ## Related guides - [ The MCP publish tool Every verb the Stacktree MCP server exposes. ](/mcp-publish-html) - [ All Stacktree alternatives How Stacktree compares across the agent-hosting market. ](/alternatives) - [ Private HTML hosting Unguessable URLs, password, email-domain gate, E2E. ](/private-html-hosting) - [ Agent-loop hosting Why replace-in-place beats a new link per run. ](/agent-loop-hosting) - [ Static.app alternative Another agent-host comparison, on the human-first side. ](/static-app-alternative) References ## Sources and further reading - [ here.now ↗ The product this page compares against. ](https://here.now) - [ here.now llms.txt ↗ here.now's own machine-readable description of Sites, Drives, auth, and supported surfaces. ](https://here.now/llms.txt) - [ here.now pricing ↗ Plans and limits as of October 2026. ](https://here.now/pricing.md) - [ Model Context Protocol spec ↗ The protocol Stacktree implements and here.now does not expose. ](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-11-25) - [ OAuth 2.1, authorization framework ↗ The authorization model Stacktree uses in place of bearer API keys. ](https://oauth.net/2.1/) ## Publish agent HTML through MCP, private the moment it exists. Wire in the MCP server and your agent publishes in one call. Permanent pages and your own domain from $19 a month. [ Sign up free → ](https://app.stacktr.ee/?join=1&from=cta_here_now_alternative) install npx stacktree-install Copy Private hosting for the HTML your agents make. [](https://betalist.com/startups/stacktree?utm_campaign=badge-stacktree&utm_medium=badge&utm_source=badge-featured)[Featured on](https://devhunt.org/tool/stacktree)[](https://buildlist.io)[Get started free](https://app.stacktr.ee/?join=1) ## Product - [Page video](/page-video) - [Ask this page](/ask-this-page) - [Client spaces](/client-spaces) - [Templates](/templates) - [Example deliverables](/examples) - [Custom domains](/custom-domains) - [Client feedback](/client-feedback-loop) - [One-time links](/one-time-view-links) - [See how pages get read](/page-engagement) - [Made with Stacktree](/made-with) - [Security](/security) - [Watch the demo](/demo) ## Agents - [All integrations](/agents) - [Claude Code](/claude-code) - [OpenAI Codex](/codex) - [Cursor](/cursor) - [Claude.ai connector](/claude-ai-connector) - [Claude Cowork](/what-is-claude-cowork) - [Meta Muse](/muse) - [MCP server](/mcp-publish-html) - [Deploy from Claude Code](/deploy-html-from-claude-code) - [Skills](/skills) - [Slack app](/slack) - [n8n node](/n8n) - [Agent payments (x402)](/x402) ## Alternatives - [All comparisons](/alternatives) - [Head-to-head comparisons](/compare) - [Tiiny Host](/tiiny-host-alternative) - [GitHub Pages (private)](/github-pages-private-alternative) - [Vercel](/vercel-alternative-for-agents) - [ngrok](/ngrok-alternative-for-html) - [Display.dev](/display-dev-alternative) - [Static.app](/static-app-alternative) - [OpenAI Codex Sites](/openai-codex-sites-alternative) - [here.now](/here-now-alternative) - [Shippage](/shippage-ai-alternative) - [Best private hosting](/best-private-html-hosting) ## Use cases - [All use cases](/use-cases) - [Share with clients](/share-with-clients) - [Send a file to a client](/share-html-file-with-client) - [Share Claude artifacts](/share-claude-artifacts) - [Share Jupyter notebooks](/share-jupyter-notebook-html) - [Host Storybook privately](/host-storybook-privately) - [Architecture diagrams](/share-architecture-diagrams) - [AI-generated reports](/host-ai-reports) - [Internal HTML tools](/internal-tool-hosting) - [Private HTML hosting](/private-html-hosting) - [Vibe-coded page hosting](/vibe-coding-hosting) - [Leave a website builder](/website-builder-migration) ## Learn - [Blog](/blog) - [Glossary](/glossary) - [FAQ](/faq) - [Where AI output should live](/where-ai-output-lives) - [Agent-loop hosting](/agent-loop-hosting) - [Why agents need a publish primitive](/blog/why-agents-need-a-publish-primitive) - [MCP servers explained](/blog/mcp-servers-explained-for-developers) - [What changed in the 2026-07 MCP spec](/blog/mcp-2026-spec-changes) - [Sites in Codex explained](/blog/sites-in-codex-explained) - [Private-by-default hosting](/blog/private-by-default-html-hosting) - [An agent paid us $1 (x402)](/blog/agent-paid-to-provision-itself) - [When a loop hits a paywall](/blog/loop-engineering-paywall) - [Pricing](/pricing) - [Self-host (new)](/self-host) - [Changelog](/changelog) - [Docs](https://stacktr.ee/docs) - [About](/about) © 2026 Stacktree · stacktr.ee [Privacy](/privacy)[Terms](/terms)[Security](/security)[Dashboard](https://app.stacktr.ee)[npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/stacktree-mcp)[Sitemap](/sitemap.xml)[llms.txt](/llms.txt)[API spec](/openapi.json) --- Full markdown summary of the Stacktree marketing surface: https://stacktr.ee/llms-full.txt