Guide
How to Move Your App Off Lovable (Export & Rebuild Guide)
People move off Lovable for predictable reasons: the monthly cost of a finished app that no longer changes, credits gone before the fixes are, or simply wanting to own the thing outright. The good news is that Lovable — to its credit — doesn't lock you in: your project syncs to GitHub as real code.
This guide covers both exits: taking the exported code and self-hosting it, or rebuilding on a platform you prefer. Neither requires being a developer, but the first one benefits from not being scared of one.
- 1
Export while everything still works
In Lovable, connect GitHub and sync your project — you now have a repository with your app's full source code (typically a React + Vite project). Do this while your subscription is active and the app is in a working state. A repo snapshot of a working app is your insurance policy regardless of what you do next.
- 2
Understand what you exported — and what you didn't
The repo contains your app's code. It does NOT contain your database (that usually lives in Supabase, under your own account — it stays put), your custom domain routing, or any platform services. List what your app actually uses: database, logins, payments, forms. That's your rewiring checklist.
- 3
Route A — self-host the exported code
A React/Vite repo deploys free on Vercel or Netlify: import the repo, set the environment variables (your Supabase URL and keys), deploy. Cost drops to $0/month for hosting. The trade: future changes mean editing code or pasting the repo into an AI tool — you've left the friendly chat interface behind.
- 4
Route B — import it into another builder
If you want to keep building conversationally, import instead. Appy Club imports either the GitHub repo directly or clones from your live URL — you get an editable project you can keep evolving by chat, deployed at your own link. Expect a faithful clone of pages and design; dynamic wiring (database, logins) gets reconnected in the new home rather than teleported.
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Rewire the moving parts
Whichever route: reconnect the database (if your data is in your own Supabase, both routes can point at it), re-test every form, re-connect Stripe/Razorpay in the new environment, and click through the app like a customer — booking, buying, logging in. Migration bugs live in the wiring, not the pages.
- 6
Move the domain last
Keep the old app live while the new one is tested. Then update your domain's DNS to the new host, watch it propagate, and only then cancel the old subscription. A weekend of overlap costs a few dollars; a broken domain during a busy week costs customers.
Skip the setup — describe it, get it built
Appy Club turns a plain-English description into a real, live app — free to start, no credit meter.
Import your app freeCommon questions
GitHub sync is part of Lovable's product — check your plan's current terms. Once the code is in your GitHub, it's yours: Git repos are portable by design, and no platform can retroactively take the export back.
The pages and design, yes. The wiring — database connections, logins, payment webhooks — needs reconnecting and testing in the new home. Budget an afternoon for rewiring, not just the ten minutes of importing.
Self-hosted: typically $0/month on Vercel/Netlify free tiers plus your existing database plan. On Appy Club: $299 once for lifetime hosting and the AI builder, with further AI edits on your own key at provider cost. Both beat a rolling subscription for an app that's mostly done.