Quick answer: ArcadeLab wins when your thing fits in one HTML file under 500KB and you want zero-friction publishing with no account. itch.io wins for monetization and larger multi-file games. GitHub Pages wins when you already have a repo. Glitch wins when you need a backend. CodePen wins for live editing and snippets.
The question of where to publish depends on what you're publishing and what you're willing to do. Here's how the major options compare.
Quick comparison table
| Feature | ArcadeLab | itch.io | GitHub Pages | Glitch | CodePen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Account required | No | Yes | Yes (GitHub) | Yes | For public pens |
| Free | Yes | Yes (paid optional) | Yes | Free tier | Free tier |
| Multi-file support | No (single HTML) | Yes (zip uploads) | Yes (full repo) | Yes | Yes (limited) |
| Backend / server code | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Network requests allowed | No (blocked) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Time to publish | ~30 seconds | 5-15 minutes | 10+ minutes | 5-10 minutes | 2-5 minutes |
| Monetization built in | No | Yes | No | No | No |
When ArcadeLab is the right choice
- You have a single-file HTML game or visualization under 500KB
- You want to publish in seconds, not minutes
- You don't want to create an account
- Your audience is kids, students, or non-developers
- You're iterating quickly with an AI assistant and need fast publish/iterate loops
- You want the URL to be permanent and embeddable in blog posts
When ArcadeLab isn't the right choice
- You want to charge money for your game — use itch.io
- You need a backend or database — use Glitch or your own hosting
- Your game needs to load assets at runtime from a CDN — use itch.io or GitHub Pages
- You're showcasing a tiny snippet for code-sharing — use CodePen
- Your game is larger than 500KB — use itch.io
- You want commenting and rating features — use itch.io or Newgrounds
Why is ArcadeLab so much faster to publish on?
Because it's built around one specific shape: a single HTML file. Every other platform handles many shapes, which means setup steps, configuration, and UI dedicated to choosing among them. ArcadeLab has one path: paste, click, publish. No project pages to fill in, no zip files to upload, no build commands to configure.
Can I use multiple platforms?
Yes. They aren't exclusive. You might publish a polished long-form game to itch.io and publish quick experiments and prototypes to ArcadeLab. The single-file constraint of ArcadeLab makes it especially good for AI-generated content where the entire game often lives in one Claude or ChatGPT response.
This comparison originally appeared at arcadelab.ai/learn/arcadelab-vs-itchio-glitch-github-pages. ArcadeLab is a free no-signup platform for publishing single-file HTML games, visualizations, and interactive content.