# Codex Sites alternative: hosting that connects to Codex · Stacktree Source: https://stacktr.ee/openai-codex-sites-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 September 11, 2026 alternative # The OpenAI Codex Sites alternative for gated, account-free sharing. ChatGPT Sites, the GA of Codex Sites, can publish to the open internet, connect a custom domain, and since September 2026 invite a named outsider to a private Site, provided they sign in with a ChatGPT account. Stacktree is what you reach for when the page should be neither public nor tied to viewer accounts: a private link anyone can open, a password or email gate with no login, an expiry, published from any agent over MCP. [ Get started free ](https://app.stacktr.ee/?join=1&from=seo_openai_codex_sites_alternative) install npx stacktree-install Copy No card · 3 pages free · about a minute ## What is the best OpenAI Codex Sites alternative? Stacktree, when the page needs gated viewing without viewer accounts. ChatGPT Sites (Codex Sites gone GA) publishes public sites, supports custom domains, and since September 2026 lets you invite a named person outside your workspace to a private Site, but that person must sign in with the ChatGPT account that received the invitation. There is no passcode, no email-domain gate, no expiry, no link-only private mode, and no API or MCP publishing. Stacktree turns any agent's HTML into an unguessable private URL that is itself the credential, with optional gates a client can pass with no account. ## Where Codex Sites genuinely fits Codex Sites is strong, and worth conceding plainly. Invoked with `@Sites` inside Codex, it lets Codex create, save, deploy, and inspect full websites, web apps, dashboards, internal tools, and games hosted by OpenAI. It is backed by a real database (D1 for durable structured data) and object storage (R2 for files), and persistence is supported: every deployment URL is a production deployment. Codex writes the whole app, including server logic and the database, in one place. The showcase makes the intended use obvious: onboarding hubs, enablement libraries, executive KPI dashboards, employee idea boards, launch calendars, event-ops hubs. These are internal team tools for people who are already inside your OpenAI workspace. If you live in Codex plus ChatGPT Enterprise and the audience is your own colleagues, especially for a data-backed dashboard, Codex Sites is an excellent fit and Stacktree does not replace it. Availability moved: on July 9, 2026 Sites went GA as [ChatGPT Sites](/blog/what-is-chatgpt-sites) for paid subscribers, with public publishing, and the docs have since added custom domains (where available, not in Enterprise workspaces at launch) and built-in analytics (unique visitors and page views). On 11 September 2026 OpenAI added named external viewers (a private Site can be shared with a specific person outside the workspace, who must sign in with the invited ChatGPT account), teammate editing, and database inspection, and reported over 5M sites created. The differences that remain are precise: gated viewing without a ChatGPT account (their non-public modes still require a signed-in, invited viewer; no passcode, no email-domain gate, no link-only private mode), expiry, and publishing by API/MCP rather than in a chat. Region is no longer one of them: the EEA, Switzerland, and the UK were excluded at launch, lifted on 20 July 2026 for Plus and Pro. The full arc from workspace-only beta to public GA is in [our Codex Sites explainer](/blog/sites-in-codex-explained); the public-link history is in [the availability post](/blog/can-you-make-a-codex-site-public). ## Where Stacktree differs The sharpest documented difference is now the space between public and signed-in invited accounts. A ChatGPT Site is either published to the whole internet or restricted to signed-in, invited viewers; since September 2026 those viewers can be named people outside your workspace, but the link alone opens nothing unless they are signed in with the invited ChatGPT account, and there is still no gate someone without an account can pass, and no expiry. Stacktree lives in that middle ground: every URL is unguessable and acts as the credential, so anyone you send the link to can open it with no account at all, ChatGPT or otherwise, and you can layer gates on top. - Gated viewing without accounts. Optional shared password or email-domain gate: the viewer proves they own an address at your client's domain via a one-time magic link, no account created. Neither exists in the Sites docs. - Expiry and burn-after-read. Schedule a link to expire or delete after first view, free. No expiry is documented for Sites. - Any agent, over API. The publish primitive is MCP-native and works from Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and Claude.ai. Sites is created in ChatGPT conversations, with no documented API, CLI, or MCP surface. - Your own domain, programmatically. Both products document custom domains now. Stacktree maps them from Solo at $19 a month through Cloudflare for SaaS, re-binds them to any site, and an agent can rent one over x402; Sites connects a domain you already own, where available, and not in Enterprise workspaces at launch. - No subscription to try it. Anonymous first publish for 24 hours, then a free 3-page trial, then flat $19, $79 and $249 plans, never per-seat. ChatGPT Sites needs a paid ChatGPT subscription to create, and usage is included only "up to plan-specific limits" during the beta, with [no documented way to buy more](/blog/chatgpt-sites-usage-limits). - Own and export the infrastructure. Stacktree is source-available and self-hostable on your own Cloudflare (Workers, R2, D1). Export and self-host are not documented for Sites. - End-to-end encryption when you want it. Optional E2E mode where the key lives in the URL fragment and the server stores only ciphertext, free. Be clear about Stacktree's limits too. It hosts static HTML only: no serverless backend, no built-in database for the published app, and no in-browser live editor. Workspace-wide SSO is on the roadmap, with the per-link email-domain gate covering most cases today. If your artifact is a data-backed app that needs server logic, Codex Sites does more out of the box. ## Who should pick which Pick ChatGPT Sites if you are a paid ChatGPT subscriber and want a full app with a database and server logic, whether that is an internal workspace tool or a public site on your own domain. Pick Stacktree if the page is a deliverable that should be gated rather than public (a password or email gate the viewer passes with no account), needs an expiry, or gets published and revised by an agent over API/MCP. ## The two together They are not mutually exclusive. Keep building data-backed apps in ChatGPT Sites, and reach for Stacktree the moment you need to [send a page to a client](/share-html-file-with-client) without making it public and without asking them to sign in. Have the agent render the static view as HTML, publish it to Stacktree, and share the unguessable link, gated if you want, on your own domain, no ChatGPT account required to view. ## Stacktree vs. ChatGPT Sites (formerly Codex Sites) Criterion ChatGPT Sites Stacktree Public link on the open internet Yes, when public publishing is enabled (admin-controlled in Enterprise). Yes, optional public slug. Private viewing without a viewer account No. Named outside viewers can be invited since September 2026, but must sign in with the ChatGPT account that received access. Yes, unguessable URL is the credential. Password / email-domain gate Not documented. Yes, shared password or magic-link email gate. Expiry / burn-after-read Not documented. Yes, free. Custom domain Yes, where available; not in Enterprise workspaces at launch. Yes, from Solo. Cloudflare for SaaS, agent-rentable over x402. Built-in database / server logic Yes, D1 and R2, Codex builds the whole app. No, static HTML only. Publish from any agent (API/MCP) No, created in ChatGPT conversations. Yes, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Claude.ai. Viewer analytics Unique visitors and page views (not for Enterprise-owned sites). Opens and readers from Solo; time, scroll and read-to-end from Studio. Available in the UK / EEA Yes, since 20 July 2026 for Plus and Pro. Yes. Available to individuals / free Paid plans only (all except Free and Go). Yes: anonymous first publish, then a free 3-page trial. Replace-in-place URL Yes, every deployment URL is a production deployment. Yes, update_site, one stable URL. Export / self-host Not documented. Yes, source-available, your own Cloudflare. FAQ ## Frequent questions How do I share a Codex Site with someone outside my company? + Two ways. Since the 9 July 2026 GA as ChatGPT Sites, you can publish the site publicly: the docs list "anyone on the internet, only when public publishing is enabled" among four sharing options. Since September 2026 you can also invite a named person outside your workspace to a private Site; they do not become a workspace member or an editor, but they must sign in with the ChatGPT account that received the invitation. What you still cannot do is share it privately with someone who has no ChatGPT account: there is no passcode, no email-domain gate, no expiry, and no link-only private mode. For that case, publish the HTML to Stacktree, where the unguessable URL is itself the credential and an optional password or email-domain gate needs no viewer account. Does Codex Sites support a custom domain? + Yes, since the ChatGPT Sites GA docs: you can connect an apex domain or subdomain you already own by updating DNS records, where the feature is available; custom domains are not available in Enterprise workspaces at launch. Stacktree also maps custom domains (1 on Solo at $19/mo, 10 on Studio, through Cloudflare for SaaS), re-bindable to any site, and an agent can rent one programmatically over x402. Can I export a Codex Site or use it without OpenAI? + Exporting, downloading the code, or self-hosting is not documented. Community reports at the GA launch described a Wrangler project export, but the docs do not confirm one. Stacktree is source-available: you can run the whole stack on your own Cloudflare account (Workers, R2, D1), so the hosting and the data stay under your control. Is Codex Sites available to individuals? + Yes, as of 9 July 2026: Sites went GA as ChatGPT Sites for paid subscribers on every plan except Free and Go. Free ChatGPT users cannot create sites; the EEA, Switzerland, and the UK were excluded at launch, lifted on 20 July 2026 for Plus and Pro. Usage is included "up to plan-specific limits" during the beta, with no documented way to buy more. Stacktree has an anonymous first publish for 24 hours with no account, a free 3-page trial where pages last 7 days, or once someone else opens one, 30 days after their latest visit, up to 90 days in total, and flat plans at $19, $79 and $249 per month with no per-seat fee. Should I use Lovable, Replit, or Vercel instead of Codex Sites? + Those solve a different problem. Reach for Lovable or Replit to build a full app from scratch, and Vercel to deploy one to a public production URL. They are builders and public hosts. If you already have agent output and only need to send it to someone outside your company on a private link they can open with no account, Stacktree is the lighter fit and keeps the link private by default. Can I move a Codex Site to Vercel or another host? + Moving a Codex Site elsewhere is not documented: no export or code download is in the docs, and the deployment is hosted by OpenAI. The lock-in worry is why people often reach for Vercel or Replit up front. Stacktree sidesteps the question because it is source-available and self-hostable on your own Cloudflare account (Workers, R2, D1). What is the difference between Codex Sites and Stacktree? + ChatGPT Sites (formerly Codex Sites) builds and hosts full web apps with a database and server logic, shareable publicly or with invited viewers who sign in (inside the workspace, or since September 2026 named people outside it), created in a ChatGPT conversation. Stacktree is an MCP publish primitive for static HTML that any agent can call over API, giving you a private link with gates a viewer can pass without an account (password, email domain), expiry, and your own domain. Can a non-Codex agent publish to Stacktree? + Yes. Stacktree is MCP-native and cross-agent: it works from Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and Claude.ai. ChatGPT Sites is created in ChatGPT conversations and has no documented API, CLI, or MCP surface for other agents. If your workflow spans more than one agent, Stacktree gives every one of them the same publish call. Keep reading ## Related guides - [ Our homepage publishes for you now We put a WebMCP publish tool on the public site. ](/blog/agent-publishes-from-the-browser) - [ The MCP publish tool Every verb the publish primitive exposes to your agent. ](/mcp-publish-html) - [ Publish from Codex Wire Stacktree into Codex and share output anywhere. ](/codex) - [ Private HTML hosting Why the unguessable URL is the credential. ](/private-html-hosting) - [ All alternatives Every host compared against Stacktree. ](/alternatives) - [ ChatGPT Sites custom domains, explained ChatGPT Sites supports custom domains, where available: connect an apex or subdomain you own by updating DNS records. ](/chatgpt-sites-custom-domain) - [ Can a Codex Site have a custom domain? No custom-domain support is documented for Codex Sites: a deployed Site renders only at an OpenAI-hosted. ](/blog/codex-sites-custom-domain) - [ How to delete a ChatGPT Site, and whether it frees up usage Deleting a ChatGPT Site takes four clicks and cannot be undone. ](/blog/delete-chatgpt-site-free-usage) References ## Sources and further reading - [ OpenAI: ChatGPT Sites docs ↗ Official docs for the current product: the four sharing options including named external viewers, public publishing, custom domains, and analytics. ](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/sites) - [ OpenAI Help Center: Creating and managing ChatGPT Sites ↗ Plan availability, the 20 July 2026 regional rollout, beta usage limits, and the rule that invited visitors must sign in with the account that received access. ](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001339-creating-and-managing-chatgpt-sites) - [ ChatGPT Sites update: 5M sites, private sharing, custom domains (@ChatGPT) ↗ The 11 September 2026 announcement: invite teammates to edit, invite specific people to a private Site, database inspection, custom domains. ](https://x.com/ChatGPT/status/2098457920291946894) - [ OpenAI: Sites in Codex ↗ Docs for the original @Sites beta: hosting and workspace-scoped access control. ](https://developers.openai.com/codex/sites) - [ OpenAI: Codex Sites showcase ↗ OpenAI examples, all internal team tools and dashboards. ](https://developers.openai.com/showcase/sites) - [ Model Context Protocol ↗ The agent-tool protocol Stacktree exposes to every agent. ](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) ## Share agent output with anyone, gated or public, no viewer account required. Start free. Wire in the MCP server and any agent publishes a private link in one call. [ Sign up free → ](https://app.stacktr.ee/?join=1&from=cta_openai_codex_sites_alternative) install npx stacktree-install Copy Private hosting for the HTML your agents make. 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