Where to host an app built with AI? Vercel and four alternatives

For most web apps built with AI tools, the simplest choice is Vercel. You connect the code to GitHub, every change gets its own preview, and a release takes about a minute. For business use you need the paid Pro plan, which costs $20 a month, because the free plan is meant for personal, non-commercial projects.

Vercel is not the only good choice. This article explains what hosting has to be able to do, when one of four alternatives is the better fit, and what to sort out before launch whichever provider you use.

Why the "Publish" button in an AI tool is not enough

Lovable, Bolt, Replit and similar tools have publishing built in. One click and the app is online. For a demo or a trial with a few users, that is entirely enough.

For a product with customers, three limits appear.

• Control. The app runs on the tool's account. If the price or the terms change, you have nowhere to go.

• Separate environments. With built-in publishing there is often no clear line between what you are trying out and what customers see. A mistake made while testing goes straight to production.

• Handover. When a developer or an agency takes the app over, their first question will be where the code is and where it runs. "In the tool" means extra work.

The answer is not to replace the tool. Export the code to GitHub, which most of these tools support, and host it on an account that is yours.

What hosting has to be able to do

Five things separate hosting for a prototype from hosting for a product.

• Release from the repository. You save a change to GitHub and the hosting builds and releases it by itself. No uploading files by hand.

• A preview of every change. Each change gets its own temporary address where you check it before users see it.

• Separate settings and secrets. Keys for the database, payments and the AI model are stored in the hosting settings, not in the code, and differ between testing and production.

• Rollback to the previous version. If a release breaks something, one click takes you back to the last working one.

• A choice of region. You know which country the servers run in and where the data is.

Vercel: why it is the right choice for most

Vercel does all five without any setup. You connect the project to GitHub, and from then on every change gets a preview and every approved change goes live. Earlier versions are kept, and rolling back is one click.

This matters especially for apps built with AI. AI makes many changes quickly, and the preview is where you check them before they reach customers. Our own site, cnj.si, runs on Vercel, and we review every change on a preview before release.

It also fits what AI tools most often write. Most of them generate an app in React or Next.js, and Next.js is developed by Vercel itself.

What to watch out for:

• The free plan is not for business use. The Hobby plan is meant for personal, non-commercial projects. For a company's app you need Pro. Current prices are on the official page.

• Cost grows with traffic. Pro includes a set amount of traffic and compute time, and beyond that you pay for usage. Turn on a spending limit so that a successful launch or a bug in the code does not surprise you with the invoice.

• The server side runs in the US by default. For new projects the default region is Washington, D.C. In the project settings, choose a European region such as Frankfurt. The app will be faster for your users and the data will be processed in the EU.

• It has no database. You add a database from a separate provider, such as Supabase or Neon, and connect it through the project settings.

• It is not for long background jobs. Processing that takes several minutes, or processes that run all the time, belong elsewhere.

Four alternatives

Netlify

In the way it works, it is the closest to Vercel: release from GitHub, previews, rollback. It makes sense if the team already knows it or if the app is not built in Next.js. Billing is based on monthly credits, so check the pricing before you choose.

Cloudflare

It is strongest for sites with a lot of traffic and little server logic, because it does not charge separately for data transfer. The server side runs on its Workers platform, which works a little differently from an ordinary server, so setup is more demanding. A choice for teams with a developer, not for the first release of a prototype. The plans are described on their site.

Render

It is closer to a classic server. You get the app, the database and background jobs in one place, and a European region is available. It suits apps that have their own server side, for example in Python, or that need processes running all the time. Free services go to sleep after a few minutes of inactivity, so for a product you need a paid plan.

Railway

It is similar to Render: app and database together, billed by usage. Setup is quick, which makes it popular with smaller teams. Only the trial is free; for regular work you pay for usage according to the pricing.

How to choose

• An app in Next.js or React from tools like v0, Lovable, Bolt or Cursor: Vercel.

• The app is not in Next.js, or the team already uses Netlify: Netlify.

• A mostly static site with a lot of traffic: Cloudflare.

• An app with its own server, database and background jobs: Render or Railway.

If you are not sure which group you are in, start with Vercel. Moving later is possible, because the code is in your repository.

What to sort out whichever provider you use

• An account in the company's name. Not the founder's private email and not the contractor's account.

• The domain with you. Register the domain yourself and only point it at the hosting.

• Secrets in the settings, not in the code. How to check this is covered in Is AI-written code secure?.

• A spending limit and alerts. For hosting, the database and the AI model.

• A region in the EU and a data processing agreement, if the app stores personal data.

• Database backups that you have restored at least once.

Hosting settles where the app runs. It does not settle whether the app is ready for real users. If you do not know, a review before launch makes sense. Our AI project rescue review covers code and security, and also releases, backups and hosting costs. See the AI Project Rescue package for what it covers and what it costs.

Frequently asked questions

Is Vercel free?

For personal, non-commercial projects, yes, on the Hobby plan. For a company's app, or a project someone earns money from, you need the Pro plan at $20 a month, with usage above the included amount billed separately.

Can I move an app from Lovable or Bolt to Vercel?

Yes, if you export the code to GitHub. Vercel then reads the project from the repository. The database stays with the provider it is already on, and you enter the connection details in Vercel's settings.

What does hosting a small business app cost?

Expect a few tens of euros a month for hosting and the database. For apps that use an AI model, the biggest unknown is usually the cost of the model, not the hosting, so work it out per user.

Is the data in the EU with Vercel?

It depends on the settings. For new projects the server side runs in the US by default, and you choose a European region yourself. Where the data is stored is decided mainly by the database provider, so check the region there too.