How to Host a Bolt.new Project
Bolt.new builds your project and hosts it on the same platform. You don't need a separate hosting service to get it live. But Bolt's free plan has limits, and there are cases where hosting elsewhere makes more sense. This guide covers all three options for how to host a Bolt.new project, with verified pricing as of April 2026.
Option 1: Bolt Cloud (built in, works on the free plan)
Every Bolt.new project comes with built-in hosting through Bolt Cloud. When you click Publish inside the Bolt editor, your project goes live on a Bolt subdomain immediately. Nothing to configure, no third-party account needed.
What the free plan includes (verified at bolt.new/pricing):
- Website hosting with up to 333,000 web requests per month
- Public and private project settings
- Unlimited databases
- Bolt branding on published sites
To publish: open your project in Bolt, click the "Publish" button in the top right of the editor, and your site goes live at a Bolt-assigned subdomain URL.
The main limitation on the free tier is that Bolt branding appears on your published site. For a personal project or prototype, that's usually fine. For a client project or anything you want to look professional, it's a reason to consider one of the other options below.
For a custom domain on Bolt Pro ($25/month):
- Upgrade to Bolt Pro.
- Go to your project settings and find the Custom Domain section.
- Point your domain's DNS records to Bolt's servers per the on-screen instructions.
- Bolt handles the HTTPS certificate automatically.
The Pro plan also removes Bolt branding, raises your web request limit to 1 million per month, and adds custom domain support.
Option 2: Export to GitHub and deploy to Netlify (free, no branding)
If you want to host your Bolt project without branding and without paying for Bolt Pro, you can export the code to GitHub and deploy from there. Netlify's free tier doesn't add branding to your site, supports custom domains, and gives you 100GB of bandwidth per month.
- Inside your Bolt project, look for the export or GitHub integration option in the project menu. Connect your GitHub account when prompted.
- Bolt pushes your code to a new GitHub repository in your account.
- Go to netlify.com and sign in with GitHub. Import your newly created repository.
- Netlify runs the build and gives you a live URL at
your-project.netlify.appwithin about a minute.
From that point, your code lives in GitHub and deploys automatically to Netlify on every push. If you make changes in Bolt and export again, pushing the updated code triggers a new deploy.
This path also gives you portability. Your project is no longer tied to Bolt's hosting infrastructure, and you can switch to Vercel, Cloudflare Pages, or any other host later without starting over.
Option 3: Export and upload static HTML directly
For simple projects that are essentially one HTML file, you can export the code from Bolt, extract the HTML, and publish it directly without a build step.
- Export your project from Bolt as a downloadable archive (look for a Download or Export option in the project settings).
- Unzip the archive and find your
index.htmlfile. - Go to htmlpub.com, paste the HTML, and publish.
You'll get a live URL immediately with no account required on the free tier.
This works cleanly for simple static pages. For Bolt projects built with React or other frameworks that need a compile step, the Netlify method in Option 2 handles the build process automatically and is the better choice.
Choosing the right option
Use Bolt Cloud if: You want your project live right now and you're on the free plan. The 333K monthly request limit handles most personal or small launch use cases. Upgrade to Pro if you need custom domain or branding removal.
Use Netlify via GitHub if: You want no branding without paying for Bolt Pro, you need a custom domain on a budget, or you want your code in a portable format you can deploy anywhere.
Use direct HTML upload if: Your project is a simple static page and you want the fastest path to a shareable URL.
Common issues
Traffic limits: The free Bolt plan covers 333,000 web requests per month. For a personal site or small launch, that's substantial headroom. If you're expecting a spike from a Product Hunt launch or a press hit, move to Netlify or Vercel before it happens, since both have more generous free tier limits.
Custom domain on the free plan: Bolt Cloud doesn't support custom domains on the free tier. Your options are: upgrade to Bolt Pro ($25/month) for Bolt's custom domain feature, or use the GitHub and Netlify path which supports custom domains on the free tier.
Site looks different from the Bolt editor preview: This is usually a build configuration issue when deploying outside Bolt. If you export to GitHub and use Netlify, make sure the build command and output directory settings in Netlify match your project's framework. Bolt projects using Vite typically need npm run build as the build command and dist as the publish directory.
What's next
Once your project is hosted, you have a live URL and can iterate from there. If you want to compare Bolt to other AI builders before committing to a workflow, Bolt.new alternatives covers five options with honest tradeoffs. For a direct head-to-head on use cases and pricing, Replit vs Bolt breaks down when each tool wins.
For a broader look at free hosting options, how to host a website for free includes Cloudflare Pages, GitHub Pages, and several others. And to see how the deploy process compares for a different AI builder, how to deploy a Lovable app covers the three main options for Lovable projects.