How to Host an App Built with Claude Code (2026)
Host a Claude Code app on Vercel, Railway, a VPS, or Floot. Floot is fastest: live link, database and login in one step. Pro $25 includes $10 hosting.
To host an app built with Claude Code, you put the code Claude Code wrote onto a host, because Claude Code itself does not host anything. If the app saves nothing, a free static host like Vercel is enough. If it saves data or has logins, you need a server host plus a database, or a platform like Floot that includes both.
The short version
Claude Code writes and runs your app on your computer. It does not give you a live URL.
An app that saves nothing can go on a free static host in a few minutes.
An app that saves data needs a server, a database, and a place to keep secret keys, which on most setups means two or three accounts.
On Floot, Claude Code builds the app directly onto a hosted platform, so the database, logins, and live URL come with the build.
On Vercel, Railway, or a VPS, Claude Code can run the deploy commands for you, but you create the accounts, pick the database, and move the keys.
What Anthropic's docs say Claude Code is
Anthropic describes Claude Code as "an agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands, and integrates with your development tools."
On setup, the docs tell you to start it "in any project" by opening a terminal in a folder on your machine and typing claude.
The web version is described as a way to "Run Claude Code in your browser with no local setup," and the cloud sessions there run on Anthropic's machines while they work.
None of those surfaces gives your app a public address. Claude Code works on code. Hosting is a separate step.
Last checked: Oct 27, 2026 (code.claude.com/docs/en/overview).
Hosting, in one picture
Think of Claude Code as a builder working in your garage. It can make anything, and it all works fine in the garage.
A host is a shop on a real street. It has an address, it stays open when you go to sleep, and strangers can walk in.
Hosting is moving what the builder made from the garage to the shop.
What a host does
A host does the jobs your laptop was doing quietly while you tested.
It keeps the app running, on a computer that never closes its lid.
It gives the app an address (something like yourapp.vercel.app), and lets you point your own domain at it.
It holds your secrets. API keys go into the host's settings, called environment variables, instead of into the code.
It stores the data, if you add a database, either built in or from a service like Supabase or Neon.
It redeploys when you change things. On most hosts, every push to GitHub puts the new version live.
Notice the pattern. Every one of those is something your laptop did for free, and it stops the moment you close it.
Does your app save anything?
Here is the quick test. Ask what happens when someone closes the tab and comes back tomorrow.
If nothing needs to be different, you can skip the server and the database. A landing page, a portfolio, a calculator, and a brochure site all go on a free static host.
If something needs to be remembered (an account, a saved list, a booking, a payment), you need a server and a database. That is the case where most Claude Code projects get stuck.
Vercel vs Railway vs a VPS vs Floot
Prices below were checked on each company's pricing page on Oct 27, 2026. Times are typical for a first deploy of a small app with a database and a login, not a lab benchmark.
| Vercel | Railway | A VPS (e.g. DigitalOcean) | Floot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Frontend and serverless host | Usage-billed app and database host | A rented Linux server you manage | App platform with database, logins and hosting built in |
| Setup | Connect GitHub, add env vars, add a database from the marketplace (e.g. Supabase or Neon) | Connect GitHub, add a Postgres service, wire the connection string | Create server, install Node, a web server, HTTPS, a database, and a process manager | Add the Floot MCP to Claude Code, describe the app |
| Time to a live link | Minutes for a static site; longer once you add a database and auth | Minutes to an hour | An afternoon if you have done it before | Comes with the first build |
| Sign-in (login) | Bring your own (Supabase Auth, Clerk, Auth.js) | Bring your own | Bring your own | Included: Google, Microsoft, email |
| Accounts to make | Vercel + database + auth provider | Railway + auth provider | Server provider + domain/DNS + auth provider | Floot |
| Cost | Hobby $0 (personal, non-commercial only); Pro $20/month per user, plus usage | Free $0 with $1/month of usage; Hobby $5/month; Pro $20/month; usage on top | From $4/month (512 MiB server), plus your time | Pro $25/month, includes $10/month of hosting usage |
| Best for | Static sites and Next.js apps, teams that want control | Developers who want simple full-stack hosting | People who enjoy running servers | People building inside Claude Code who do not want to set up a backend |
What each option makes you do
Vercel. The best home for a static site or a Next.js frontend. Claude Code can install the Vercel CLI and deploy for you, but you log in to Vercel yourself, and the free Hobby plan is for personal, non-commercial projects. For data and logins you add a second service and copy its keys into Vercel's environment variables.
Railway. Closest to "it just runs." You can add a Postgres database in the same project, and billing is by usage on top of the plan. Logins are still yours to build or rent.
A VPS. The cheapest monthly bill and the most work. You own the server, the updates, the HTTPS certificate, the backups, and the 2 a.m. outage. Claude Code can write every command, but it cannot take the pager for you.
Floot. Floot is not a place you deploy to after the fact. Claude Code builds onto it through the Floot MCP, so the app is hosted from the first build. The trade-off is that the app is built on Floot's framework, which is designed for AI to write, rather than whatever stack Claude Code would pick on its own.
The pattern is the same everywhere it goes wrong: the app works on your laptop, then going live sends you off to pick a host, a database, and a place to keep your keys.
Floot hosts the app for you as part of the build, so there is no host to pick. You describe what the app should do, and Claude Code builds it onto Floot: pages for the frontend, small server programs called endpoints for the backend ("create a booking," "list my invoices"), and a Postgres database for what it remembers. The live URL comes with the first build.
Because Floot also includes the database, logins with Google, Microsoft, and email, file storage, email sending, scheduled jobs, and live updates, the pieces you would otherwise rent from a host, a database service, a login service, and an email service are already there. You never sign up for anything else.
On cost: when you build through Claude Code, the AI work is billed by your Claude plan, so there is no second AI bill. Builds through the MCP spend no Floot AI credits. Floot meters building actions, which reset daily, and Pro is $25 a month, includes $10 a month of hosting usage (usage past that is billed; Free gets $3 of hosting once).
How to host it on Floot from Claude Code
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Add Floot as an MCP server in Claude Code (claude mcp add with the Floot server URL, https://mcp.floot.com/mcp), then run /mcp and authenticate.
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Ask Claude Code to build the app on Floot, describing what it should save and who can log in.
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Open the preview link Claude Code returns to check it.
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Ask Claude Code to publish. The app goes live on a floot.app address, and you can add your own domain on Pro.
How to host it on Vercel from Claude Code
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Push the project to GitHub (Claude Code can run the git commands).
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Import the repo on vercel.com, or ask Claude Code to run the Vercel CLI after you sign in.
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If the app saves data, create a database (Supabase or Neon), and put its URL and keys into Vercel's environment variables.
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Add a login provider and its keys the same way, then redeploy.
The one thing that breaks
Secrets. On your laptop, Claude Code reads keys from a local .env file. That file is (correctly) not pushed to GitHub, so the deployed app starts without its keys and fails with a blank page or a 500 error. Every host needs the same keys re-entered in its own settings.
FAQ
Does Claude Code host my app?
No. Claude Code writes and runs code on your computer or in a cloud session, but it does not give your app a public URL. You need a host such as Vercel, Railway, a VPS, or Floot.
What is the easiest way to host a Claude Code app with a database and login?
Use a platform that includes the database and logins with hosting, so you do not wire three services together. Floot does this when Claude Code builds through the Floot MCP. Railway is the next simplest if you want to manage your own stack.
Can Claude Code deploy to Vercel for me?
Yes. Claude Code can install the Vercel CLI, run the deploy, and set environment variables. You still create the Vercel account and sign in yourself, and Vercel's free Hobby plan is for non-commercial use.
Why does my Claude Code app only work on localhost?
Localhost is your own computer. Nobody else can reach it until the code, keys, and database are on a host. If it works locally but breaks after deploy, the missing environment variables are the usual cause.
How much does it cost to host a Claude Code app?
A static site can be free. As of Oct 27, 2026, a full-stack setup starts around $4 to $25 a month: a DigitalOcean server from $4, Railway Hobby $5, Vercel Pro $20, or Floot Pro $25 (includes $10 a month of hosting usage). Usage-based plans rise with traffic.
Do I need a second AI subscription to use Floot with Claude Code?
No. When you build through Claude Code, the AI work runs on your Claude plan. Floot builds through the MCP spend no Floot AI credits; Floot meters building actions per day and hosting.