The best ways to share an app you built with AI, compared
From emailing the file to standing up a backend, here are the real options for sharing an app you built with AI, what each is good at, where it falls short, and how to choose.
You built an app with Claude or ChatGPT and you want other people to use it. There are several ways to do that, and they’re not equally good for the job. Here’s a clear-eyed comparison of the realistic options, what each is actually good at, and how to choose.
The short answer
If your app is purely something to look at with no login or saved data, a static host (GitHub Pages, Netlify, Vercel) is the simplest free option. If people need to sign in or the app needs to save data, you either assemble a backend yourself (Supabase/Firebase) or use a host that includes sign-in and storage (Backlit). For an app you built in a chat and just want to share, Backlit is usually the least work because your assistant can publish it for you.
The options at a glance
| Method | Gives a link | Sign-in | Saved data | Setup effort | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Email the HTML file | No | No | No | None | Showing, not sharing |
| GitHub Pages | Yes | No | No | Low (Git) | Static pages |
| Netlify / Vercel | Yes | Bring your own | Bring your own | Low to medium | Developer projects |
| Supabase / Firebase | Via a host | Yes (you build it) | Yes (you build it) | High | Custom apps with a backend |
| Backlit | Yes | Built in | Built in | Very low | Sharing finished single-page apps |
1. Emailing the file
The first instinct, and the weakest. The recipient gets a file, not an app. Nothing is saved, anything server-dependent breaks, and there’s no shared state between people. Use it to say “look what I made,” never for “use this.”
2. Static hosts (GitHub Pages, Netlify, Vercel)
These put your file on a real URL, often for free, and they’re excellent at it. If your app is self-contained and stateless (a calculator, a reference tool, a landing page), pick one and you’re done in minutes.
The limit is everything beyond serving files. Static hosts don’t give you sign-in or a place to store per-user data. The moment your app needs a login or a memory, you’re back to assembling those pieces yourself. Great for static; silent on stateful.
3. Backend-as-a-service (Supabase, Firebase)
These can do everything: auth, databases, the works. If you’re building a real, growing application and you (or someone on your team) are comfortable wiring up SDKs, schemas, and security rules, they’re powerful and a good long-term home.
The cost is that you’re now building and maintaining a backend. For a single-page app from a chat, that’s a large, ongoing commitment to support something small. It’s the right tool aimed at a bigger job than most shared AI-built apps actually are.
4. Backlit
Backlit is purpose-built for this exact moment: a finished single-page app that needs a link, a login, and saved data, shared by someone who doesn’t want to run infrastructure.
- No build, no repo, no backend. Hand it the finished app; your assistant can publish it from the same chat over MCP.
- Sign-in included. Magic link, Google, Microsoft, with an allowlist. Private by default.
- Storage included. Per-user silos and shared data, reachable from your HTML. No database to set up, and you can pull it back out from Claude over the same MCP.
- Cheap and predictable. A couple of dollars a month, because there’s no AI running inside the app and it scales to zero when idle.
The trade-off is scope: it’s for single-page apps, not multi-file projects or anything needing custom server code. Within that scope, it’s the least work by a wide margin.
How to choose, in one paragraph
If it’s static and public, use any static host. If it’s a real, growing application with a team to maintain it, a backend-as-a-service is a sound foundation. If it’s the common case (a finished single-page app you built with AI and want specific people to use, with a login and saved data, without a project to manage), Backlit gets you there in the same conversation where you built it.
The worst option is the one most people default to: leaving the app trapped on their screen because every path looked like too much work. At least one of these paths is easy enough that the app deserves to ship. See how it works →
Built an app with Claude or ChatGPT? Get early access to Backlit and share it in seconds.