Blog · Updated 19 September 2026

How to deploy a Lovable app to Vercel (and the three things that go wrong)

Quick answer. Connect your Lovable project to GitHub, import that repository in Vercel, and click Deploy. It works, but expect three snags: older Lovable projects show a 404 when you refresh a sub page until you add a rewrite rule, images added inside Lovable are missing because they are not in the repository, and Vercel's free plan does not allow commercial sites.

What are the steps?

  1. In Lovable, click the GitHub button and connect your account. Lovable creates a repository and keeps it in sync with your project.
  2. In Vercel, choose Add New, then Project, and import that repository. Give Vercel access to it when GitHub asks.
  3. Leave the detected settings and click Deploy. After a minute or two you get a vercel.app address.
  4. To use your own domain, buy one, add it under the project's Domains settings and enter the DNS records Vercel shows you at your registrar.

Problem 1: pages show 404 when refreshed

Older Lovable projects are single-page apps built with Vite. Every address is handled by one index.html file, but a host does not know that. Add a file called vercel.json to the repository with a rewrite that sends every path to /index.html, then redeploy.

Problem 2: newer projects are not plain static sites

Current Lovable projects are server-rendered apps built on TanStack Start. Their build is set up for Lovable's own hosting and targets Cloudflare by default. On Vercel the build notices where it is running and switches itself to Vercel's format, which we confirmed by building a real Lovable export. If you override the build command or output folder you can break that, so leave them alone.

Problem 3: images are missing

Images you add inside Lovable are stored on Lovable's servers. The repository only contains small pointer files ending in .asset.json, and the page asks for the image at an address starting with /__l5e/. On Vercel nothing answers at that address, so the image breaks. The fix is to download each image and put it in the public folder at the same path. See why Lovable images do not load after export.

Is it really free?

For a personal site, yes. Vercel's free Hobby plan is for non-commercial use only, so a business site needs their Pro plan at about $20 a month. If you would rather not deal with GitHub, rewrites, images and DNS at all, Lovely Hosting does this for you: drop the zip from Lovable's Download codebase button, pick a domain and pay $9.00 a month.

Try it free

Drop the zip from Lovable's Download codebase button. It is in your Downloads folder. No account, no card, online in about a minute.

Drop your Lovable zip hereIt is in your Downloads folder. Or click to choose it.

Common questions

Do I need GitHub to deploy a Lovable app to Vercel?

For Vercel's normal flow, yes. Vercel deploys from a Git repository. Lovable's GitHub connection is free and takes one click.

Will my site update when I edit in Lovable?

Yes, if you deployed from GitHub. Lovable pushes each change to the repository and Vercel redeploys automatically.

Does a Lovable backend keep working on Vercel?

The front end is what moves to Vercel. A database or login built on Lovable Cloud or Supabase stays where it is, and the site needs the same environment variables set in Vercel to reach it.

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