Most free AI website builders let you publish a real, live site, but only on the builder's own subdomain, with its branding, and on a tight AI credit allowance. None of the eight we checked includes a custom domain on the free plan. Bolt, Lovable and Base44 are the best free picks if your site needs logins or a database, Webflow and Framer are the best free picks for a designed marketing site, and Wix is the most familiar drag-and-drop option. Two "free" plans don't publish at all: Durable's free plan is a private preview, and Greta.sh's free plan is for building, with deployment starting on Starter. Plans below were checked on each vendor's own pricing page on October 19, 2026.
"Free" on a pricing page can mean four different things: a free plan you can publish on, a free trial that ends, a free preview nobody else can see, or free to build and paid to publish. This page sorts the AI website builders by which one you're actually getting.
How did we test what's free?
For each builder we checked six things on its official pricing page: whether the free plan publishes a live site, what address it lives on, whether the builder adds its badge or branding, whether you can connect a custom domain, how much AI usage the free plan includes, and the cheapest paid plan that adds your own domain. We also noted whether the paid price assumes yearly billing, because several do.
All prices are in US dollars. One limit to be honest about: Wix shows prices localized to the visitor's country and labels its US-dollar figures "for reference only," so we don't quote a Wix price here.
Which AI website builders are actually free?
| Builder | Live site on free plan? | Custom domain on free? | Branding on free | Key free limit | Cheapest plan with your own domain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bolt | Yes, with hosting | No | Bolt branding | 300K tokens a day, 1M a month | Pro $25/mo monthly, $18/mo billed yearly |
| Lovable | Yes, up to 5 lovable.app domains | No | Lovable badge | 5 credits a day, up to 30 a month | Pro $25/mo monthly, $21/mo billed annually |
| Base44 | Yes, per its pricing FAQ | No | Not stated | 25 message credits a month, up to 5 apps | Starter $20/mo monthly, $16/mo billed annually |
| Webflow | Yes, on webflow.io | No | "Made in Webflow" badge | 2 static pages, 1 GB bandwidth | Basic $15/mo billed yearly |
| Framer | Yes, on a free Framer domain | No | Not stated | 500 AI credits to try, 1 GB bandwidth | Basic $10/mo (yearly billing shown) |
| Wix | Yes, on wixsite.com | No | Wix branding | Payments start on Core | Any Premium plan (price varies by country) |
| Durable | No, private preview only | No | Durable branding | 300 AI credits total | Launch $25/mo monthly, $22/mo billed yearly |
| Greta.sh | No, deployment starts on Starter | No | "No Watermark" starts on Starter | 5 credits a day | Starter $5/mo on the welcome offer, normally $20/mo |
Is a free AI website builder really free?
Sometimes. It helps to sort the plans into four kinds.
Free plan, publishable. Bolt, Lovable, Base44, Webflow, Framer and Wix all let you put a site live at no cost. The trade is the address (a subdomain like yoursite.wixsite.com or a webflow.io URL), the builder's badge, and a hard cap on AI usage or pages.
Free to build, paid to publish. Greta.sh's free plan gives you 5 credits a day and a code viewer to build and test; its pricing page lists deployment, custom domain setup and no watermark from Starter.
Free preview. Durable's free plan generates your site, but its comparison table lists the free plan's site as a private preview, with no durable.site subdomain and no domain connection.
Free trial. Hostinger's website builder FAQ says plainly that the builder isn't free and offers a 14-day free trial instead.
None of these is a trick, as long as you know which one you signed up for.
Got an idea? Build it now!
Just start with a simple prompt. No coding required: Greta.sh turns your idea into a working app in minutes.
The free plans, builder by builder
1. Bolt – the most generous free usage
Bolt gives free users public and private projects, 300,000 tokens a day up to 1 million a month, website hosting with up to 333k web requests, and unlimited databases. Sites carry Bolt branding. Pro is $25 a month billed monthly or $18 billed yearly, and removes the branding, adds custom domain support, drops the daily token limit and starts at 10 million tokens a month.
Where it stops: your own domain and a clean, unbranded site.
2. Lovable – free publishing on lovable.app
Lovable includes up to 5 lovable.app domains, unlimited collaborators and Lovable Cloud on its free plan. Free workspaces get 5 build credits a day, capped at 30 a month, plus a monthly grant of 20 Cloud credits. Pro is $25 a month, or $21 billed annually, and adds custom domains, removal of the Lovable badge and 100 monthly credits.
Where it stops: at 30 build credits a month, and at the badge.
3. Base44 – a backend on the free plan
Base44 says its free plan includes all core features, with authentication, database functionality and analytics, for up to 5 apps and 25 message credits a month. Its pricing FAQ says you can ship complete apps on it. Starter is $20 a month, or $16 billed annually, and adds 100 message credits and the option to connect a domain; yearly plans include a free domain for one year.
Where it stops: 25 messages a month is a small budget for anything you plan to iterate on.
4. Webflow – the most designer-friendly free plan
Webflow's free Starter plan publishes to a webflow.io domain with 2 static pages, 1 GB of bandwidth, 50 form submissions, limited CMS and Webflow AI. Its plan comparison marks "Remove Webflow badge" as not included on Starter. Basic is $15 a month billed yearly and adds a custom domain, 300 static pages and unlimited form submissions.
Where it stops: two pages is a test site, not a business site.
5. Framer – a free Framer domain and 500 AI credits
Framer's free plan includes 500 AI credits to try, a free Framer domain and 1 GB of bandwidth. Basic is $10 a month with yearly billing shown, with 1,000 AI credits a month, 30 pages, 50 GB of bandwidth and your own domain; a complimentary domain is included on yearly plans.
Where it stops: your own domain, and the AI credits once the 500 are spent.
6. Wix – the familiar option
Wix lets you build and publish free on a username.wixsite.com address. Its FAQ says a Premium plan is what lets you connect your own domain and remove Wix branding, and most yearly Premium plans include a one-year domain voucher valid only for a new domain bought from Wix. Light is the cheapest Premium plan; Core is the first that lists accepting payments and scheduling. Wix prices vary by location, so check the page in your country.
Where it stops: the branding and the wixsite.com address.
7. Durable – free preview, paid launch
Durable's free plan generates an SEO-ready site with 300 AI credits to try and a CRM for up to 10 customers, but its comparison table lists the free site as a private preview and marks removing Durable branding as paid-only. Launch is $25 a month, or $22 billed yearly, and adds a professional website, bookings, your own domain (or a free one worth up to $20) and 1,000 AI credits a month.
Where it stops: at the preview. You pay to go live.
8. Greta.sh – free to build, paid to deploy
Greta.sh gives free users 5 credits a day, a code viewer, 3 design systems and community support. Deployment, custom domain setup, the code editor, web analytics and no watermark are listed on Starter at $5 a month on the welcome offer (normally $20 a month). It's a builder for apps with real logic behind them, not a free website host.
Where it stops: at deployment. The free plan is for building and testing.
Can you build a whole site on free AI credits?
A simple brochure site, yes. Anything you keep refining, rarely.
Credits aren't comparable across tools, but Lovable publishes useful examples. On its pricing page, "Build me a landing page, use images" cost 1.70 credits and "Add authentication with sign up and login" cost 1.20. With 5 build credits a day and a 30-a-month cap, that's room for a first draft and a handful of edits each day, not a long build session. Bolt's free allowance is measured in tokens, and Bolt notes that most token usage goes to syncing your project's files to the AI, so the larger the project, the more each message costs. Base44's 25 messages a month and Durable's 300 one-time credits are the tightest.
The practical approach: write the whole brief before the first prompt (pages, sections, copy, colours), so each credit buys progress instead of corrections.
Can you get a free AI website builder with hosting and a custom domain?
Hosting, yes: Bolt, Lovable, Base44, Webflow, Framer and Wix all host your site free on their own subdomain. A custom domain, no: none of the eight free plans we checked lets you connect one.
The cheapest path to your own domain is to buy the domain from a low-cost registrar and pair it with the cheapest paid plan that connects it. Of the plans with a published US price, Framer Basic ($10 a month with yearly billing) and Webflow Basic ($15 a month billed yearly) are the lowest, and Greta.sh Starter is $5 a month on the welcome offer (normally $20 a month). Several yearly plans include a first-year domain: Framer, Base44 and most Wix Premium plans say so, and Durable's Launch plan includes one worth up to $20. Budget for the renewal in year two.
Got an idea? Build it now!
Just start with a simple prompt. No coding required: Greta.sh turns your idea into a working app in minutes.
What does it cost to go from free to paid?
Watch the billing period. Webflow's $15 and Base44's $16 are yearly prices; month to month, Base44 Starter is $20. Bolt Pro is $25 monthly and $18 billed yearly, Lovable Pro $25 and $21, Durable Launch $25 and $22. Greta.sh Starter is $5 a month on the welcome offer, normally $20 a month, and the pricing page shows both.
The other cost is credits. Paid plans raise the allowance (Lovable Pro adds 100 credits a month, Framer Basic 1,000 AI credits, Base44 Starter 100 message credits, Greta.sh Starter 100 credits a month), and top-ups are sold separately when you run out.
Do you own your site on a free plan?
You own your content on all of them. Owning the code is a different question. Lovable's FAQ says you own the code and projects you build. Base44 says you own your code and lists GitHub integration from its Builder plan. Greta.sh's free plan includes a code viewer, with the code editor on Starter and version control through GitHub on Pro. Webflow's plan comparison lists code export of HTML and CSS, but says CMS content can't be exported. For Framer, Wix and Durable, check what you can take with you before you commit; their pricing pages don't say.
Before you put real customers on any free site, run through our vendor lock-in and data ownership checklist.
Do you need a website builder or an AI app builder?
If your site is pages, a contact form and maybe a blog, use a website builder. Webflow, Framer or Wix will get you live for free and stay simple. Our comparison of a no-code website builder vs an AI app builder covers that line in detail.
If the site needs logins, a database, a customer portal or payments with real logic behind them, you need an app builder. Bolt, Lovable and Base44 cover that on their free plans, within tight limits. Greta.sh is built for the same job: you describe the app in plain English and it generates the full stack, then deploys it from Starter. Our guide to the best AI website builder for non-technical founders compares these tools on more than the free plan, and there are side-by-side pages for Greta.sh vs Lovable and Greta.sh vs Webflow.
If you're a small business weighing every free option, AI or not, see our breakdown of what a free website for a small business really costs.
Got an idea? Build it now!
Just start with a simple prompt. No coding required: Greta.sh turns your idea into a working app in minutes.
FAQ
Is there a completely free AI website builder?
Yes, if you accept a subdomain and the builder's branding. Bolt, Lovable, Base44, Webflow, Framer and Wix all let you publish a live site for free. None of them includes a custom domain on the free plan.
Can I publish an AI-built website for free?
On Bolt, Lovable, Base44, Webflow, Framer and Wix, yes. Durable's free plan is a private preview, and Greta.sh's free plan is for building, with deployment starting on Starter.
Which free AI website builder lets me use my own domain?
None of the free plans we checked. The cheapest published paid plans that connect a domain are Framer Basic at $10 a month with yearly billing, Webflow Basic at $15 a month billed yearly, and Greta.sh Starter at $5 a month on the welcome offer (normally $20 a month).
What's the easiest free AI website builder for beginners?
For a simple site, Wix or Framer: both are visual editors with a free plan and a free subdomain. If you'd rather describe the site than drag boxes around, Lovable and Bolt build from a prompt and publish on their free plans.
Which AI builder has a free tier for full-stack projects?
Base44's free plan includes authentication, database functionality and analytics for up to 5 apps. Bolt's free plan includes unlimited databases and hosting. Lovable's free plan includes Lovable Cloud grants. All three have tight usage caps.
Which AI tool can build and deploy a website from one prompt?
Bolt, Lovable and Base44 can generate a working site from a prompt and publish it on their free plans. Greta.sh generates from a prompt and deploys with one click from its Starter plan.
Can ChatGPT build a website for free?
ChatGPT can write the HTML, CSS and copy for a page, but it doesn't host or publish it. You'd still need somewhere to put the files and a domain to point at them, which is the part website builders handle.
Start free, then pay for the part you need
Every free plan here is good enough to test an idea. The upgrade you'll eventually pay for is usually the domain and the badge, so compare those prices, not the free tier. If your site needs to do more than display pages, build it as a real app with Greta.sh.
