Can I share a link that only specific people can open?

Yes. ShareDuo's invite-only access lets you add specific email addresses to an allow-list. Each invited person receives an email with a verification code. Anyone not on the list — even someone who has the link — can't get past the email verification step.

What's the difference between a password and invite-only access?

A password can be forwarded — if your viewer shares both the link and the password, a third party gets in. Invite-only uses email verification, so only the specific addresses you added can view the content, regardless of who has the link.

Does the person I invite need a ShareDuo account?

No. Invited viewers just need access to their email inbox. They enter their email address on the verification page, receive a one-time code, and the content loads. No account, no signup.

Can I remove someone from the invite list after sending?

Yes. Remove any email address from the invite list on the manage page at any time. Their access is revoked immediately — the next time they open the link, their email won't verify.

How does ShareDuo compare to Google Drive for sharing with specific people?

Google Drive lets you restrict a file to specific emails, but recipients must have a Google account to open it. ShareDuo's invite-only uses email verification — viewers just enter their email and get a one-time code, no account required. Google Drive also doesn't run HTML as a live interactive webpage; it previews source or downloads the file.

How does ShareDuo compare to DocSend for invite-only sharing?

DocSend is built for PDFs and sales documents — it excels at per-page read analytics, NDA gating, and watermarking, starting at $10/user/month with no free plan. ShareDuo is built for interactive HTML content (apps, dashboards, prototypes) with invite-only email verification at $4.99/month. If your content is a PDF pitch deck and you need to know which slide someone spent 4 minutes on, DocSend. If your content is interactive HTML and you need email-gated access without a large tool subscription, ShareDuo.

Is invite-only access free?

Invite-only access is a Plus feature on ShareDuo ($4.99/month). Password protection and basic link sharing are free.

How to Share a Link With Specific People Only

A shared link is easy to forward. Send it to one client and it ends up with their colleagues, competitors, or on Slack in a channel you didn't intend. A password helps, but a password can be forwarded too — include it in the same message as the link and you've solved nothing.

Invite-only access takes a different approach: you specify exactly which email addresses can open the link. Everyone else is blocked, even if they have the URL, because the content doesn't load until the viewer verifies their email — and only addresses on your list get a valid verification code.

How it works

From the manage page for your link, switch "Who can view this?" to Only invited users. Add email addresses in the invited users field (comma-separated), then click Send invite.

ShareDuo manage page showing the 'Only invited users' option selected, an email input field, one invited user listed, and a Send invite button — Switch to "Only invited users", add email addresses, and hit Send invite.

Each person on the list gets an email from ShareDuo telling them who shared the link. No ShareDuo account needed on their end — just inbox access.

ShareDuo invite email showing 'You've been invited', the sender's email address, and a View button — The invite email — who shared the link, and a direct View button.

When they click the link, they see a verification prompt. They enter their email address, a one-time code arrives in their inbox, they enter it, and the content loads. If someone tries the same thing with an address that isn't on your list, no code is ever sent — they can't get in.

ShareDuo email verification page showing 'Verify your email to view this artifact', an email input field, and a Send code button — What the viewer sees — enter your email, get a code, content loads. Non-invited addresses get no code.

You can remove anyone from the list at any time from the manage page. Access is revoked immediately on removal.

Invite-only vs a password

A password is simpler for the viewer — just type it, no email step. It's fine when you're sharing with a small group you trust not to forward it. The weakness: once you've sent someone the password, you have no way to take it back without changing it for everyone.

Invite-only is the right choice when you need to control the exact list of who has access — when forwarding is a real concern, when you want to be able to revoke one person without affecting the others, or when you want a clear record of who was invited. You can combine both: enable invite-only and a password on the same link for a two-factor gate.

For a deeper comparison, see how to password-protect a Claude artifact.

How it compares to other tools

When you need to restrict a link to specific people, a few tools come up naturally. Here's an honest look at each.

Google Drive

The most common first instinct. Share a file, switch from "Anyone with the link" to "Restricted", and invite by email. It works well within teams where everyone already has a Google account — but that's the catch. Recipients who don't have a Google account (or aren't signed in) hit an access wall and have to create one to proceed.

For HTML specifically, Drive doesn't run the file as a live webpage. It either previews the source code or prompts a download. If your goal is to share a working interactive prototype, Drive gets you stuck before you start.

Notion

Notion lets you share a page with specific people by email, and they receive an invite link. What the docs make clear: guests must create a Notion account to access the page. There's no way around this. If you're sending a client mockup to someone who doesn't use Notion, they have to sign up before they see anything. Free workspaces cap you at 5 guests.

Notion is also for Notion content — pages, databases. It's not a way to host arbitrary HTML as a running webpage.

Loom

Loom solved the "share with specific people" problem for screen recordings, so it's worth including for context. The specific-people access control in Loom requires viewers to be logged into a Loom account — same friction as Google and Notion, just for a different platform. It's also video-only; it has no concept of hosting interactive HTML.

tiiny.host

The closest direct competitor for HTML hosting. Drag-and-drop upload, instant link, clean interface. Its Access Settings offer three modes: public, password protected, and "Capture Emails". That third option sounds like access control but it's actually lead generation — it prompts visitors to enter their email address before viewing, but it doesn't check that address against any list. Anyone can type any email and get through.

Password protection is on paid plans (Solo: $13/month annual). If a password is enough for your use case, tiiny.host is a solid option. If you need to restrict to specific people, it can't do that.

DocSend

The established tool for confidential document sharing. Its standout feature is per-page read analytics — you can see that an investor spent 4 minutes on slide 6 and skipped slide 9, which is genuinely useful in sales and fundraising. It also has NDA acceptance before viewing and dynamic watermarking that stamps viewer info onto each page. No free plan since 2025; Personal plan starts at $10/user/month.

DocSend is built for PDFs and presentations, not interactive HTML. If your deliverable is a pitch deck and you need engagement data, DocSend is the right tool. If your content is a live prototype or app, it can't serve that.

	Google Drive	Notion	Loom	tiiny.host	DocSend	ShareDuo
Content type	Files, docs	Notion pages	Video	Static HTML	PDFs, decks	Interactive HTML
Restrict to specific emails	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes (Plus)
Viewer needs an account	Yes (Google)	Yes (Notion)	Yes (Loom)	No	No	No
Password protection	No	No	Yes (Business+)	Yes (paid)	Yes	Yes (free)
Link expiry	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes (free)
Per-page / engagement analytics	No	No	Yes (view time)	Basic	Yes (detailed)	View count
Free plan	Yes	Yes (5 guests)	Yes (limited)	No	No	Yes
Starting price (paid)	Free / Workspace	Free / $10/month	Free / $12.50/month	$13/month	$10/user/month	$4.99/month

The pattern across Google Drive, Notion, and Loom is the same: restrict to specific people, but force those people to create an account on your platform first. That's fine internally — your team already has Google accounts. It's friction when you're sharing outward with clients, collaborators, or reviewers who aren't on your stack.

tiiny.host and DocSend avoid that by not requiring viewer accounts, but neither handles interactive HTML. ShareDuo's invite-only sits in the gap: email-verified access with no account creation required, for content that actually runs in a browser.

When invite-only makes sense

The clearest cases: client work you don't want forwarded to a competitor, investor previews before a round closes, internal tools meant for one team, beta access to something you're not ready to open publicly. Anything where "people I didn't invite are seeing this" would be a real problem — not just annoying, but consequential.

If the stakes are lower and you're mostly protecting against accidental discovery rather than deliberate forwarding, a password or even just a short expiry on the link is usually enough.