Where can I host an interactive essay online?
Quick answer
An interactive essay is one of the most engaging things you can put on the web — and one of the most awkward to host, if you reach for the wrong tool. The good news is that most interactive essays are simpler to host than they look.
What counts as an interactive essay?
Prose plus interaction. A data-journalism piece where the chart responds to your region. A science article where you scrub a timeline. A tutorial where a diagram updates as you change a value. The writing carries the argument; the interaction lets the reader test it.
What are the hosting options?
- ArcadeLab — paste a single HTML file, get a URL, no signup
- GitHub Pages — good if the essay is already a repo
- Netlify / Vercel — for multi-file essays with a build step
- Your own site — embed a published essay with an iframe
Why single-file HTML works for most essays
If the interactivity runs in the browser, an interactive essay is just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. A single self-contained file holds all of it with no separate assets to manage. Pasting that one file is the whole publishing step — no repo, no build configuration, no deployment pipeline. For most essays, that is all the hosting they need.
When do you need a full static host instead?
Reach for Netlify, Vercel, or GitHub Pages when the essay spans multiple pages, depends on large image or video files, or needs a custom domain of its own. Those are real reasons to take on a build step. A single-section essay with browser-side interactivity is not one of them.
How do I publish a single-file interactive essay?
Build the essay as one HTML file with everything inline, test it in a browser, and paste it at arcadelab.ai/publish for a permanent URL. If you want to build the interactive pieces with an AI assistant, see how to make an interactive explainer with AI.
Have an essay ready? Publish it at arcadelab.ai/publish.
Ready to publish? Paste your HTML file and get a URL.
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