How to build a website with Claude
Yes, you can build a complete website with Claude, even if you can’t code. There are four ways: in chat, where Claude writes the page and shows it to you straight away (this works on the free plan too); with Claude Design, to design it visually; with Claude Code, which builds a real project on your computer or in the browser; or with a service built on Claude that also publishes it for you. The main difference is how much of the work after the code — putting it online, connecting a domain, receiving messages — is left to you.
The four ways, compared
Underneath it is always Claude, Anthropic’s model. What changes is where you work, what you get at the end and who puts it online.
1. In chat, with artifacts
claude.ai or the Claude app, including the free plan
How it works. Describe the website in the conversation: Claude writes the page and shows it next to the chat, already working, in what it calls an artifact. Ask for changes in plain words until you like it. The Publish button gives you a public link anyone can open, even without an account; or you download the file and put it online wherever you want.
Who it’s for. Anyone who wants to try it in ten minutes, or needs a simple page: a one-page profile, an invitation, a menu.
The catch. The published link is a Claude address, not your domain, and an artifact you unpublish can’t be published again. A contact form won’t send emails on its own, and you have to add your real photos yourself.
2. With Claude Design
paid plans (Pro and up), in research preview since April 2026
How it works. It’s Anthropic’s tool for designing visually: start from a description, a document or your existing site, and adjust directly on the page with comments and sliders for spacing, colour and layout. You can export the result as HTML, PDF or to Canva, or hand it to Claude Code to turn it into a real website.
Who it’s for. People who care a lot about the look and want to see and tweak the design before building.
The catch. It designs, it doesn’t publish: getting the site live on your own domain takes an extra step, by hand or with Claude Code.
3. With Claude Code
paid plans; from the terminal, the Claude desktop app or the browser at claude.ai/code
How it works. Claude works in a project folder: it creates the website files, opens the site, tests it and fixes it on its own. When it’s ready you put it online with a hosting service — Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare Pages and GitHub Pages all have free plans for simple sites — and connect your domain. Claude Code can walk you through every step and do many of them for you.
Who it’s for. Anyone who wants a site that’s entirely theirs, with several pages or custom features, and doesn’t mind a folder, a hosting account and a few commands.
The catch. It’s a developer tool: when something doesn’t add up, working out why is on you. Forms that send, bookings and analytics each have to be connected to an outside service.
4. With a service built on Claude
createforme and other tools that use Claude for you
How it works. You describe your business, typed or spoken, and the service builds the site with Claude. You preview it, fix it by clicking on the part you want to change and publish it in one click, with the address ready. Forms, bookings and WhatsApp work without connecting anything.
Who it’s for. Business owners who want the result, not to learn the tool.
The catch. You pay a subscription while the site is online, and you can do what the service allows. On createforme, from the Starter plan up, you can still download all the code.
What it really costs
Claude free is enough to create and publish a page with artifacts, with a message limit that resets after a few hours. Claude Code and Claude Design aren’t included.
Claude Pro costs $20 a month, plus VAT or sales tax where it applies, or $17 a month if you pay for the year. It includes Claude Code and Claude Design. The Max plan, from $100 a month, is only for people who use it for hours every day. Prices as of October 2026: check claude.com/pricing.
Hosting and domain for a site made only of pages, the free plans of Netlify, Cloudflare Pages or GitHub Pages are enough. A .com or .co.uk domain usually costs 10 to 20 a year. Forms that send emails or bookings need outside services, often free up to a limit.
With createforme you can create and preview your first site for free, no card needed. To publish it, the Starter plan costs €22.90 a month with hosting, address and forms included; your own domain is included in the Agency plan.
The prompt to write to Claude
Claude doesn’t know your business: it only knows what you tell it. And when a fact is missing, it tends to fill the gap with something plausible. A good prompt gives it the real facts and tells it what to do when it doesn’t have them.
Too vague
“Make me a website for my café.”
The one that works
“Build a one-page website for my café, The Little Kettle, 14 Gloucester Road, Bristol. We opened in 2015 and we’re open Monday to Saturday, 8am to 4pm. We serve breakfasts, homemade cakes and speciality coffee, and we do cakes to order. I want: the name and a call button (0117 000 0000) at the top, then our menu with prices, our story, opening hours, a map and an email button for cake orders. Warm style, cream and dark green. Write everything in a single HTML file with the styles inside, and make sure it looks good on a phone. Only use the information I gave you: where something is missing write [TO FILL IN], no made-up reviews or numbers. At the end, explain how to put it online for free.”
What makes the difference with Claude:
- Ask for a single file — one HTML file with the styles inside opens with a double click and can be published by dragging it onto a hosting service.
- Give it the real facts — address, hours, prices, what sets you apart — and ask for placeholders where they’re missing, not inventions.
- Add the photos yourself — Claude can read the images you attach, but to show them on the site they have to sit in a file next to the page or online. Ask it where to put them and what to name them.
- One change at a time — “move the menu up”, then “make the button bigger”: small, precise requests break less.
- Save the good versions — download the file every time you like a version, so you can go back.
The most common mistakes
- A contact form that sends nothing. A site made only of files can’t send emails: the form looks like it works, but the messages reach nobody. Connect it to a form service, or use a WhatsApp button or an email link.
- Thinking the published link is your website. A published artifact lives on a Claude address: fine for showing a draft, not for being found under your name on Google. For that you need your own domain and hosting.
- Leaving made-up text and figures. Sample names, reviews and numbers must be replaced before you publish: a made-up review on a real website is misleading advertising.
- Using photos found online. Images have an author: use your own, or ones from libraries with a free licence, and check what the licence asks.
- Forgetting what the law requires. In the UK a limited company must show its registered name, number and office on its website, and in the UK and EU you need a privacy notice if you collect personal data — even through a contact form — plus consent for non-essential cookies. In the US, California requires a privacy policy on commercial websites that collect personal information from its residents.
Or let createforme do it
Tell us what you do here, in your own words: we build the site with Claude and you see it in a few minutes. You can create and preview your first one for free.
More guides
Websites by trade
What the website needs, trade by trade, with a real example:
Frequently asked questions
Can you build a website with Claude for free?
Yes: on the free plan Claude writes the page in chat, shows it to you and lets you publish it with a public link. The limits are the number of messages, an address that stays on Claude, and no Claude Code or Claude Design, which need a paid plan.
Can Claude put the website online by itself?
Partly. A published artifact is already online, on a Claude link. To have it on your own domain you need hosting: Claude Code can prepare everything and guide you step by step, but the hosting account and the domain are in your name. A service like createforme publishes it in one click.
Do I need to know how to code?
Not for the chat or Claude Design. With Claude Code you don’t write code, but it helps to know what a folder, hosting and a domain are, because that’s where the work happens, and when something gets stuck you’re the one who has to find where.
Is Claude or ChatGPT better for building a website?
Both write a website’s code, and both have a preview in the chat and a tool for real projects: with Claude these are artifacts and Claude Code. For a simple site the prompt matters more than the model: real facts, what visitors should do, and no room for invention.
Do I own a website built with Claude?
In its terms Anthropic assigns you whatever rights it has in the generated content. Photos and text taken from elsewhere still belong to their authors. On createforme the sites you create are yours, code included.
What’s the difference between using Claude yourself and using createforme?
Claude writes the site either way. With createforme you don’t have to think about the rest: preview, click-to-edit, publishing with the address ready, forms and bookings that actually arrive. On your own you pay less and have more freedom, but every step after the code is yours.