# Where should I host my app? An honest guide to which option fits

It depends on where your app lives now and what it needs. An app in a builder can stay there, plain pages suit a free page host, and an app with a database or keys needs a host that runs it, such as a developer host or fline.

Last checked 17 October 2026.

The same page on the web: https://dev.fline.sh/guides/which-option-fits-your-app

There's no single best place to host an app you built with AI. Some people call building this way vibe coding, and whatever you call it, the right home depends on where your project lives now and what it needs to do. I build fline, one of the options here, so read the parts about it with that in mind. Sometimes fline fits. Often it doesn't, and I'll say so. What I say about other companies comes from their own pages, checked on the date above. Plans change, so check again before you rely on them.

## What are my options for hosting an app?

There are four main kinds, and each suits a different kind of app. A host is a place where your app lives online, so other people can open it.

- **An app builder's publish button,** if you made your app in a builder such as Lovable, Bolt, Replit or Base44.
- **A free page host,** for a site made only of pages that look the same for every visitor, with nothing to remember and no keys.
- **A host made for developers,** such as Vercel, Netlify, Render or Railway, for an app that saves things or uses keys, if you're happy doing setup yourself.
- **fline,** for an app built with Claude Code on your own computer that needs a database or keys, when you'd like Claude Code to do most of the setup.

## My app lives in an app builder. Where should I host it?

Use the builder's own publish button. The builder already runs your app, and often its database and sign-ins too. Lovable, Bolt and Base44 each publish your app at an address on their own name to start, like yourapp.lovable.app, and your own web address needs a paid plan at all three. Replit's free Starter plan includes one published app, and Replit says that link goes down after 30 days.

Leave only if you have a reason, such as costs you can't predict or wanting your code in your own hands, and plan it, because your data and users don't come with your code.

fline can't take a project straight from an app builder today, and putting a downloaded builder project online with Claude Code and fline hasn't been tested yet.

## I made it in a chat. Where can I put it online?

Start with the chat app's own way of sharing. On paid Claude plans, a page Claude makes in a chat, called an artifact, can be shared as a link, and Anthropic says the people who open it need a Claude account. OpenAI's ChatGPT Sites, on ChatGPT Plus, Pro and some work plans, can host and share a website or web app you describe in ChatGPT, and can connect a web address you own where that's offered. [Can Claude host my website?](https://dev.fline.sh/guides/can-claude-host-my-website) has more on each.

If the chat gave you a single page saved as a file, a free page host can put it online. Netlify Drop and Cloudflare Drop each take a folder with your page in it, dragged into your browser, and you can try either before you make an account. Until you sign up and claim it, Netlify puts a temporary password on your page, and Cloudflare keeps it live for 1 hour. GitHub Pages hosts sites made of page files from a project on GitHub, which has to be public on GitHub's free plan, and GitHub says Pages isn't meant for running an online business.

fline can't take a project from a chat today. It needs a project folder on your computer.

## My project is a folder on my computer. What kind of host does it need?

If it's only pages, with nothing to remember and no keys, a free page host is enough, and it fits better than fline. On paid Claude plans, Claude Code can also publish a single page, called an artifact, at a link on claude.ai that you can share. If it saves things or uses keys, it needs a host that runs your app.

That means an app that saves sign-ups, bookings or orders, uses a key for payments, email or AI, or does work after the page loads. It needs a host that runs it and somewhere online to keep its data, and there are two main kinds: one made for developers, or fline. For the data part, [do I need a database for my app?](https://dev.fline.sh/guides/database-for-your-app) has a quick test. For keys, see [where your API keys should go](https://dev.fline.sh/guides/claude-code-api-keys) and [what to do if a key leaks](https://dev.fline.sh/guides/api-key-leaked). [Why your app only works on your computer](https://dev.fline.sh/guides/app-only-works-on-my-computer) explains why nobody else can open it yet, and if it breaks once it's online, see [works on your computer, broken online](https://dev.fline.sh/guides/works-on-my-computer-broken-online).

## What about hosts made for developers?

Hosts made for developers suit people who code, or anyone happy doing a few setup steps. Vercel, Netlify, Render and Railway are examples. You create an account, connect your project, and do some setup yourself, such as adding your app's keys and choosing a database. If you ask Claude Code to put your app online, name the host, or it may pick a different one.

Free plans come with conditions. Before your first users arrive, read what happens when you pass the free limits, and whether your app can sleep, stop or lose its data. When I checked on the date above:

- Vercel's free Hobby plan was for personal, non-commercial use only.
- Render put a free web app to sleep after 15 minutes without visitors, its free database expired 30 days after you created it, and Render said not to use its free plan for an app that's live for real users.
- Railway's free plan, after a trial, came with a small monthly credit for usage and no web address of your own.
- Netlify's free plan included your own web address with the [padlock](https://dev.fline.sh/guides/site-says-not-secure), within a monthly usage limit.

## What if my app has to stay online for a business?

If you have paying customers, records you can't lose, or an app that must not go offline, choose a mature host that promises uptime in writing and lets you restore backups, and consider paying someone to set it up and check it. That isn't fline today: during the private beta every fline app runs on one rented machine, with no spare, no uptime promise and no backups you can count on, so keep your own copy of anything you can't lose.

For trying your app with your first users, a developer host or fline can both work. Pick the one whose steps you'd rather do, and go through [a checklist before people use your app](https://dev.fline.sh/guides/checklist-before-your-first-users) either way.

## When should I pick something other than fline?

Choose another host for now if you need any of these, because fline doesn't do them yet:

- things that run on a schedule, like a nightly email;
- to pause your app or switch it off without deleting it;
- one account shared with a team;
- more than 1 processor core, about 1 GB of memory and 8 GB of storage for one project, or a database bigger than 1 GB of memory and room for about 8 GB of data;
- a project bigger than 100 MB once Claude Code packs it up, not counting the add-ons your app downloads when it's built;
- to send your project from a GitHub link, a chat or an app builder instead of a folder on your computer;
- a promise that your app stays online, or backups you can restore.

## So which option fits my app?

It comes down to where your app lives and what it needs.

| If this is you | Try this |
|---|---|
| Your app lives in a builder and works there | The builder's publish button |
| You have one page or a small tool from a chat | The chat app's sharing, or a free page host |
| You have only pages, in a folder | A free page host, or for a single page, a Claude Code artifact on a paid Claude plan |
| You code, or you're happy doing setup steps | A host made for developers |
| You built it with Claude Code, it needs a database or keys, and you'd like Claude Code to do most of the setup | fline, in private beta |
| You have paying customers or records you can't lose | A mature host with uptime and backup promises, and help to set it up |

## Where fline fits

fline is hosting for apps you build with Claude Code on your own computer: your app works there, and now you want people using it. You paste one line from your fline dashboard into your computer's Terminal app, approve fline in your browser, then ask Claude Code:

```prompt
Put this project online with fline.
```

fline works out how to build and run your app, so there are no setup files to write, and [what to say to Claude Code](https://dev.fline.sh/guides/what-to-say-to-claude-code) has prompts for each step after that. What you get:

- a long link you can send, with the padlock, ending in apps.dev.fline.sh;
- a database of your own, which fline can create and run for you;
- your app at a web address you own, like www.yourbakery.com, with the padlock set up and renewed for you;
- passwords and keys typed on a private fline page, not in the chat;
- after launch, Claude Code can see what went wrong, try a fix, or put an earlier version back.

What to know first:

- It's in private beta. We open accounts by hand, a few at a time, as room opens.
- Claude Code, in Terminal or in the Code tab of the Claude desktop app, is tested with fline from start to finish, and so is Codex. Cursor and VS Code have setup steps on your dashboard but aren't tested from start to finish yet.
- The link is public, so give your app a sign-in if it holds private information. fline doesn't check your app's own code.
- It's free during the private beta, with no card. Claude Code's own plan is separate, and its work on your app uses that plan as usual.

[How to get your Claude Code app online](https://dev.fline.sh/guides/put-claude-code-app-online) walks through every step, [the Codex guide](https://dev.fline.sh/guides/put-codex-app-online) does the same for Codex, and [what fline does today](https://dev.fline.sh/facts) has the full list, with a date on it.

Built it with Claude Code, and it needs more than a page? [Ask for early access](#join).

## Questions people ask

### What is the best hosting for an app I built with AI?

There's no single best one: it depends on where the app lives and what it needs. An app made in a builder like Lovable or Bolt is usually best on the builder's publish button, and a site made only of pages on a free page host. An app that saves data or uses keys needs a host that runs it: one made for developers if you're happy doing setup, or fline if you built it with Claude Code on your computer and want Claude Code to do most of the setup.

### Where can I host my app for free?

Plain pages can usually go on a free page host such as Netlify, Cloudflare or GitHub Pages. Hosts made for developers, such as Vercel, Render and Railway, have free plans with conditions, like a rule against commercial use, apps that sleep without visitors, databases that expire, or no web address of your own. fline is free during the private beta, with no card, for apps built with Claude Code on your own computer, but there's no price yet, so nothing says it stays free after the beta.

### Do I need fline for a single page or an HTML file?

No. A single page with nothing to remember and no keys is better on a free page host, or shared as an artifact from Claude Code on a paid Claude plan. fline is for apps built with Claude Code that need more, like a database or keys, and it takes a project folder sent by Claude Code, not a file dropped into your browser.

### Can fline take my app from Lovable, Bolt or Replit?

Not today. fline needs a project folder on your computer, sent by an AI coding app such as Claude Code, so it can't take a project from an app builder, a chat or a GitHub link. Putting a downloaded builder project online with Claude Code and fline hasn't been tested yet. If your app works in its builder, the builder's own publish button is the simplest home for it.

### What's the easiest way to host a web app?

Usually the one closest to where you built it. If you made it in a builder, use the builder's publish button, and for a single page, drop it on a free page host. If you built it with Claude Code on your computer, connect Claude Code to a host and ask it to put your project online. With fline, the few steps that need you, like pasting one line into Terminal and approving fline in your browser, involve no coding.