[](/) [Templates](/#templates)[For work](/work)[Pricing](/pricing)[Sign in](https://charm.ing/auth/login) [Build your first app](https://charm.ing/auth/signup) [Templates](/#templates)[For work](/work)[Pricing](/pricing)[Sign in](https://charm.ing/auth/login) [Build your first app](https://charm.ing/auth/signup) On this page # Where do I host an app I built with AI? Somewhere it keeps working. It depends what you built. A product that will scale belongs on Vercel, Cloudflare, or Google Cloud Run, free at low traffic. A personal app for you and a few people is the wrong fit for that machinery. You do not want to host it. You want it to exist, stay around, and be shareable. Checked 2026-07-22 ## The two worries hiding in "where do I host it" People asking this are usually sitting with one of two feelings. One is "deployment is overwhelming and I just want the thing online." The other is "I do not want a $20 account to turn into a bill I never saw coming." Both are fair. Which one you should listen to depends on whether you built a product or a personal tool. ## The options, side by side Here are the main places an app can live, matched to what you are building. The general-purpose hosts are the right call for a product that will scale, and free at low traffic; Charming is the fit for a personal app. Verify current limits on each provider's pricing page before you rely on a number; this changes often, and a wrong figure is worse than none. Host Best for Free tier, as of mid-2026 Watch out for Vercel Next.js and front-end apps Hobby tier free; pauses at the limit instead of billing Hobby is non-commercial; earning money means the paid Pro tier, which does bill for overage Cloudflare (Workers / Pages) Static sites and small apps, bandwidth-heavy hobby projects Pages: unlimited bandwidth. Workers: 100,000 requests a day Each request gets only a small slice of compute time, and it runs code differently from most hosts Render Full-stack apps that need a database Free web services and a free Postgres, no card required Free instances sleep when idle, so the first hit is slow; the free database now expires 30 days after you create it Google Cloud Run Heavier apps you have packaged up yourself Idles down when unused, so it costs little at rest Billed through Google Cloud with no default spend cap; set a budget A plain VM (DigitalOcean, Hetzner) Full control, predictable flat cost Not free; low-cost servers you run yourself You own updates, security, and uptime [Charming](/) A personal app for you and a few people, with nothing to set up or maintain Free for personal apps Built for personal software, not a full public product you run on your own setup ## Why that machinery is the wrong shape for a personal app For an app that you and a few people will use, the production stack is the wrong kind of overkill. Three things get in the way: **The deploy step is invisible.** The agent hands you an app, not a place for it to live, and if you are not a developer that missing step is a wall. **Cost is opaque.** The surprise is rarely traffic; an audience-of-one app never gets a spike. It is not knowing what a platform will charge, and forgetting that the AI's own usage is metered separately from hosting. **More parts, more rot.** A provider account, configuration, a database, and a deploy pipeline are all things to maintain for an app that never needed them. ## If it is a personal app, you do not want to host at all So skip the host decision and let the app live on [Charming](/). Describe it once and it is up the moment it is built, with a link and a database, no provider to choose, no config files, no deploy. A preview URL expires; this is still there next month, and with far fewer moving parts, less can break. Getting it wired to your agent is covered in the [docs](/docs). ## Frequently asked Is Vercel or Cloudflare actually free for a personal project? Often yes, at low traffic. Cloudflare is generous (Pages static hosting has unlimited bandwidth; Workers give you 100,000 requests a day). The Vercel Hobby tier is free but non-commercial, and it pauses your project at the limit rather than billing you. The scary invoices you read about are almost always the paid Pro tier, not Hobby. Where does my app go after I build it in Claude or ChatGPT? It depends how you built it. A plain chat hands you code with nowhere to live, so you deploy it yourself or use a platform like Charming that hosts it as it is built. ChatGPT is the exception now: its Sites feature hosts what it builds, though only inside ChatGPT. Will I get a surprise bill hosting a hobby app? On a real free tier, no: Vercel Hobby pauses instead of charging, and hosts that sleep when idle cost almost nothing at rest. The horror stories, a $20 account turning into hundreds or thousands, come from usage-based paid tiers with no hard spend cap, where you cannot see the meter until the invoice lands. Know which tier you are on, and remember the AI charges for its own usage on a separate meter from hosting. Do I need to know how to deploy to host an app I built with AI? On general-purpose hosts, usually some: a provider account, some configuration, and a deploy step. If you would rather skip all of that, a hosting platform like Charming removes the deploy step entirely and gives the app a link the moment it is built. What is the easiest way to host something just for me and my family? Skip the production stack. Describe the app to your agent and let Charming host it: it gets a link you can share and a database, with no provider setup, no config files, and no deploy pipeline. Will an app I built with AI still work in six months? A big codebase on a general host can quietly rot as its dependencies age. A small, self-contained personal app has far fewer moving parts, so it tends to keep working. Whatever you pick, make sure the data and the URL are durable, not tied to a chat that expires. ## Related questions * [Can I share a Codex Sites app with people outside my company? Yes, since July 2026. The sharper question is whether other tools can keep using it.](/can-i-share-a-codex-sites-app) * [How to build an app with AI One small job, one prompt, one check, then somewhere for the app to live once the chat ends.](/build-an-app-with-ai) * [How do I share an app I built with friends safely? Invite people to view, use, or edit your Charming app. Private sharing is included on Free.](/share-an-app-with-friends-safely) * [Why did my Lovable bill jump? You pay to run the app, not just build it, and daily use quietly drains one credit balance.](/why-did-my-lovable-bill-jump) ## The collaborative cloud for apps you build. Build and share your first app in a few minutes. [Build your first app](https://charm.ing/auth/signup)Copy prompt [Open Claude →](https://claude.ai/new?q=Read%20https%3A%2F%2Fcharm.ing%2Fdocs%2Fprompts%2Fbuild-your-first-app.md%20then%20help%20me%20create%20my%20first%20app.)[Open ChatGPT →](https://chatgpt.com/?q=Charming%20should%20already%20be%20installed%20in%20this%20ChatGPT%20account.%20Read%20https%3A%2F%2Fcharm.ing%2Fdocs%2Fprompts%2Fbuild-your-first-app.md%20and%20help%20me%20build%20my%20first%20app.%0A%0AIf%20Charming%20tools%20are%20not%20available%2C%20tell%20me%20to%20install%20Charming%20from%20https%3A%2F%2Fchatgpt.com%2Fplugins%2Fplugin_asdk_app_6a56c533cd7c8191b9a16cb7973a65e6%2C%20then%20start%20a%20fresh%20chat%20and%20open%20this%20prompt%20again.) Works with ![](/logos/openai.svg)ChatGPT, ![](/logos/claude.svg)Claude, and more. [](/) The collaborative cloud for apps you build. [System status](https://status.usecharming.com)[support@usecharming.com](mailto:support@usecharming.com) ## Product [How it works](/how-it-works)[Templates](/#templates)[Pricing](/pricing)[Works with](/works-with)[Security](/security) ## For work [Charming for Work](/work)[Finance](/work/finance)[Marketing](/work/marketing)[Recruiting](/work/recruiting)[Consultants](/work/consultants)[IT and security](/work/it)[Internal tools](/work/internal-tools) ## Developers and AI [Docs](https://charm.ing/docs)[AI client setup](https://charm.ing/docs/clients)[MCP reference](https://charm.ing/docs/technical-reference/mcp)[ChatGPT app](https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6a56c533cd7c8191b9a16cb7973a65e6)[Claude connector](https://claude.ai/directory/charming)[llms.txt](/llms.txt)[GitHub](https://github.com/tambo-labs/charming-mcp) ## Company [About](/about)[Blog](/blog)[Guides](/guides)[Contact](/contact-us) ## Legal [Terms](/terms)[Privacy](/privacy)[Fair use](/fair-use)[Subprocessors](/subprocessors) ## Guides All guides (21) ### Building and sharing apps [Does ChatGPT Canvas persist?](/does-chatgpt-canvas-persist)[Do Claude Artifacts save data?](/do-claude-artifacts-save-data)[Can you build an app inside ChatGPT?](/can-you-build-an-app-inside-chatgpt)[Can ChatGPT build and host a website?](/can-chatgpt-build-and-host-a-website)[What personal apps can I build for myself with AI?](/personal-app-ideas)[Which AI tool should I use to build an app?](/which-ai-tool-to-build-an-app)[Claude Artifacts vs Replit vs Charming: which should I use?](/claude-artifacts-vs-replit-vs-charming)[Where do I host an app I built with AI?](/where-to-host-an-app-you-built-with-ai)[Can I share a Codex Sites app with people outside my company?](/can-i-share-a-codex-sites-app)[How to build an app with AI](/build-an-app-with-ai)[How do I share an app I built with friends safely?](/share-an-app-with-friends-safely)[Why did my Lovable bill jump?](/why-did-my-lovable-bill-jump) ### For IT and security [How should IT govern apps employees build with AI?](/govern-ai-built-apps)[What should an AI-built app policy include?](/ai-built-app-policy-template)[How do you stop vibe coding from becoming shadow IT?](/vibe-coding-shadow-it)[Which platform should a company use for AI-built internal apps?](/ai-internal-app-platforms)[Lovable Enterprise vs Charming: which should your company use?](/lovable-enterprise-vs-charming)[Which AI-built apps belong in your code review pipeline?](/which-ai-built-apps-need-code-review)[How many hosting accounts hold company apps right now?](/ai-app-discovery-checklist)[Does an enterprise AI subscription govern the apps employees build?](/does-enterprise-ai-govern-the-apps)[How do you give a team answers from company data without granting warehouse access?](/give-answers-not-warehouse-access) [Guides hub](/guides) © 2026 Charming [](https://x.com/usecharming)[](https://www.linkedin.com/company/usecharming)[](https://github.com/tambo-labs/charming-mcp) [Build your first app](https://charm.ing/auth/signup)