AI builds a website in minutes. Getting it live is the real work.
There are four ways to build a website with AI: ask a chatbot to code it, use an AI app builder, press the AI button in a site builder, or use a service that builds and maintains it. They differ less in the building than in what is left for you afterwards.
How do you build a website with AI?
Describe the site you want to an AI tool and it writes the pages for you, often in under two minutes. What you get from a chatbot is a file, not a website. Hosting, a domain name, a contact form that delivers, a privacy notice and a place in Google are separate jobs. How much of that you do yourself depends on the route.
We did not want to guess how big that gap is, so we tried it. Below is what happened, followed by the four routes with prices taken from each vendor's own pricing page.
What happened when we asked Claude to build a hair salon website?
On 16 October 2026 we gave Claude a single prompt and no follow-ups: build a complete website in one HTML file for a hair salon in Zwolle, the Netherlands, with opening hours, a price list, an appointment request form, the address with a map, and a layout that works on a phone. The salon is made up; the prompt was in Dutch.
It took 100 seconds and produced one 29 kB file. The result looked tidy: a page title and description for search engines, a price list, opening hours, a mobile layout, and a REPLACE note wherever real details still had to go. Building was not the problem. So we went through the file and listed what stood between it and a live website.
What was missing to go live
Somewhere to live. It is a file on your laptop. You need hosting, plus an SSL certificate so it loads over https.
A domain name. The email address in the code points at a domain nobody has registered yet. You register it yourself at a registrar of your choice.
A form that delivers. The appointment form opens the visitor's own email app with a prefilled message. If they have none set up, nothing reaches you. Claude itself suggested connecting a form service.
Privacy and cookies. The words privacy and cookie do not appear anywhere in the file, yet it loads a map from Google. If you collect personal data through a form or load third-party embeds, check the rules where you operate; in the EU that means the GDPR and the ePrivacy rules on cookies.
Your own photos. The photo is hotlinked from a stock photo site. For a real business you want your own photos, hosted on your own server.
A place in Google. No Search Console, no sitemap, no structured data for a local business. Google says it can take a few weeks to notice a new site (Google Search Central, Get your website on Google, updated 10 December 2025).
Every change after launch. A new price or a holiday closure means opening the file, finding the text, editing it and uploading it again. Or asking Claude again and comparing the new version with the old one.
What the test showed: the build took 100 seconds. What comes after is not AI work but upkeep, and that is exactly where the routes differ.
HTML from Claude next to FWRD
The right column is what we measured on 16 October 2026. The left column is what FWRD does for every site by default; we did not build the salon there.
| FWRD | HTML from Claude | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting and https | Included, also on Free. | Your job. |
| Own domain | Connect it from Grow; you buy the domain at your own registrar. | Register it and point it at your host. |
| Contact form | Submissions land in your inbox, spam filtered. | Opens the visitor's email app. |
| Privacy and cookie policy | Generated automatically. | Missing. |
| Search Console and sitemap set up automatically, from Grow. Free is not indexed. | Submit it yourself, write your own sitemap. | |
| Changes after launch | Ask in plain language, or edit it in the editor. | Edit the file and upload it again. |
FWRD Free is €0 and not indexed by Google. Grow is €29 per month billed annually (€43.99 billed monthly). Prices as of 16 October 2026, current prices on /pricing.
Route 1: have ChatGPT or Claude write the code
You describe the site in a chat and get code back, as in the test above. Claude Pro costs $20 a month, or $17 a month billed annually (claude.com/pricing); ChatGPT Plus costs $20 a month (OpenAI, ChatGPT plans overview). Both have a free tier, which is often enough for a single page. What you get is a file. Everything on the list above is yours to sort out, plus a domain name at a registrar, which is a yearly fee. Prices read on 16 October 2026, excluding tax where the page says so.
Route 2: Lovable, v0 or Bolt
Lovable, v0 and Bolt do not write a single page but a web application, and they host it for you. Bolt Pro is $25 a month, $18 billed yearly (bolt.new/pricing); v0 Plus is $30 per user per month, shown next to a struck-through $90, so possibly a promotion (v0.app/pricing); Lovable Pro is €25 a month on its European pricing page, about €21 billed annually (lovable.dev/pricing). Read on 16 October 2026. Free plans publish on the vendor's subdomain; a custom domain needs a paid plan on Lovable and Bolt, and v0 deploys through a separate Vercel account. Still on you: a form that delivers, privacy and cookies, and understanding the code when something breaks. These tools are built for apps with logins and a database. For a five-page site about your business, that is a lot of machinery.
Route 3: the AI feature in Wix, Hostinger or Framer
Here the AI drafts a first version inside a site builder's editor. Hosting and https are included, a custom domain on the paid plans. Wix Light is $17 a month billed annually, excluding tax (wix.com/plans). Framer Basic is €15 a month or €10 billed yearly on its European pricing page (framer.com/pricing). Hostinger's Website Builder price depends on how many months you pay up front and renews at a higher rate (hostinger.com). Read on 16 October 2026. After that first version it is a regular site builder: you keep the copy current, handle the SEO settings and set up the privacy notice and cookie banner yourself. The AI does the start, the upkeep stays with you.
Route 4: a service that builds and maintains the site
With FWRD you describe your business, the AI builds the site and the platform puts it online with hosting, https, working forms, a privacy notice and a cookie policy. After launch the system keeps watching: it proposes improvements based on real visitors, and you approve them. What is left for you: keeping your domain at your own registrar and connecting it.
It has limits too. FWRD does not build web shops, blogs or multilingual sites. The Free plan is deliberately kept out of Google; being found starts at Grow, €29 per month billed annually (€43.99 billed monthly, as of 16 October 2026).
Which route should you pick?
If you enjoy tinkering and know what hosting is, route 1 is the cheapest and teaches you the most. If you are building an app or a tool with logins and a database, route 2 is made for that. If you want to keep editing in a visual editor and do not mind the upkeep, pick route 3. If you want a site for your business that is online, findable and not your weekend job, route 4 fits.
Not sure what an AI website builder actually is? The glossary entry below explains the term and the three generations of builders.
Still curious? Talk to us.
Feel free to send your question our way, or join the community and ask around. We're happy to help.
Can I build a website with AI for free?
Building it can be free: the free tiers of ChatGPT and Claude write HTML too, and most AI builders have a free plan. A site on your own domain that people can find in Google costs money on every route, if only for the domain name.
Can ChatGPT build a whole website for me?
ChatGPT and Claude write the code for a complete page, but they do not put it online. You get a file. Hosting, a domain, a form that actually delivers and a privacy notice are still up to you.
Will Google index a website made with AI?
Google does not care who wrote the code. A new site does need to be online, discoverable and useful. Google itself says it can take a few weeks to notice a new site; Search Console and a sitemap help it along.
Who maintains a website that AI built?
On the first three routes, you do: every price change, holiday closure or new service is an edit you make yourself. On FWRD you ask for the change in plain language, and the system proposes improvements that you approve.
Built in minutes, and taken care of after.