Protocell compartments used as models for an important step in the early evolution of life on Earth can be made from short polymers. The short polymers, which better approximate the likely size of molecules available on the early Earth, form the compartments through liquid-liquid phase separation in the same manner as longer polymers. Although they have no membrane separating them from their environment, the protocells can sequester RNA and maintain distinct internal microenvironments, in some ways even outperforming similar compartments made from longer polymers.