Solo Dev Ditches Discord and Google Drive for Zero-Cost Google Sites Portal

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A solo developer shares how relying on a pinned Discord channel and shared Google Drive folder to distribute builds to playtesters quickly became unmanageable as their project grew toward a public release. Discord proved effective for small alpha groups but created onboarding friction, lacked discoverability, and felt unprofessional as a public-facing hub. After testing several distribution options including OneDrive and self-hosted SSH servers, the developer settled on the Google Drive API for file delivery due to its reliability and easy access control. With the distribution pipeline already tied to Google's ecosystem, Google Sites emerged as the logical zero-cost alternative to SaaS website builders that typically charge $15–$30 per month. However, the developer soon encountered limitations when attempting custom HTML embeds, as Google Sites sandboxes all third-party code inside restricted iframes.

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