away from lovableYou are here when
You want to try every change on a preview address before it goes live, or you want the hosting on an account you control: a client or an investor asks, or you want it off Lovable’s credits.
What usually goes wrong at this stage
- A 404 or a blank page after the first deploy. Usually Vercel is missing your app’s
VITE_settings, an older app is missing a one-file rewrite, or a newer app has an old build package (Lovable docs, Vercel docs). Each is one setting or one file, and people still lose days to it (r/lovable, May 2026). More: 404 or blank page on Vercel. - The Publish button stops protecting you. Once Vercel follows your repository, “every change you make in Lovable syncs to GitHub and triggers a new deployment on Vercel” (Vercel docs).
- Logins break on the new address. On Lovable Cloud, Lovable only adds addresses it hosts to your login settings; on your own Supabase it adds none (Lovable docs). The new address has to be added, or sign-in and password-reset links break (Supabase docs).
- Server changes still go through Lovable’s chat while Lovable runs your database (Lovable docs).
What it costs: an hour or two, plus waiting for DNS if a domain moves. Vercel’s free plan is for “non-commercial, personal use only” (Vercel docs), so an app that earns money needs a paid plan. While your data stays on Lovable Cloud, Lovable still bills its use.
What this stage gets you
Hosting in an account you control, a preview address for every change your agent makes before it goes live, and the settings your app runs on, written down where you can see them. Lovable’s own docs confirm the backend can stay in place while the site moves (Lovable docs).
When to move on
You need to open your database yourself, or leave Lovable completely: stage 5.
Short answers for this stage
The full stage, step by step with the agent prompts, is in the paid guide that comes with the kit.