The technical part is the bit that scares people off, so this hands it to Claude. What stays yours is small and only yours to do: making the two accounts, and clicking Authorise when the browser asks, because Claude cannot sign in as you. Everything in between, the tools and the deploy, Claude handles while you watch. The prompt to hand it is below.
To put your website online free with Vercel, make a free Vercel account and a free GitHub account, then ask Claude in a terminal to install the GitHub and Vercel command-line tools, approve the two logins in your browser when it asks, and Claude pushes your folder to GitHub and deploys it live on Vercel.
First, what these two things are
Vercel is the service that hosts your site for free and gives it a real link. GitHub is where your project's files live online: think of it as a Google Drive for your code folders, one that also keeps a history of every change. You need both because the smooth setup puts your files on GitHub, then points Vercel at them, so every future change can go live on its own.
The whole path, start to finish
One thing to have ready first: this uses Claude in a terminal, called Claude Code. If you already have that set up, you are good to go. If not, sort that first, because it is the piece the rest depends on.
- Make a Vercel account. Go to vercel.com/signup and choose Continue with GitHub. That signs you up and links your GitHub login in one step, which makes everything after it smoother. The free plan, called Hobby, is enough to get a personal site live.
- Make sure you have a GitHub account. If Continue with GitHub above sent you to create one, you are done. If not, sign up free at github.com/signup. Use the same account you just linked to Vercel.
- Hand Claude the prompt. Open Claude in a terminal (Claude Code) in the same folder as your site, and paste the prompt below. Claude checks whether the two tools are installed, installs them if not, and tells you what it is doing before it does it.
- Approve the two logins. This part is yours. When Claude runs the login commands, a browser opens or a short code appears. You click Authorise, on the account you just made. Claude cannot log in for you, so it waits here until you say you are done.
- Let Claude push and deploy. It puts your folder into a new GitHub repository, then deploys it to Vercel and hands you a live link ending in .vercel.app. Open it on your laptop and your phone, and if it holds up, send it to one person. If the link opens to a 404 or a list of files instead of your site, your homepage file is probably not at the top of the folder: tell Claude the deploy is showing a 404 and it will fix the setup. From then on, every change Claude pushes can go live on its own.
The prompt to hand Claude
Paste this into Claude in a terminal, in the folder your site is in. It does the work in order and stops for you at the one step that has to be yours, the logins.
I have a website in this folder and I want it live on Vercel, free. I have already made a Vercel account and a GitHub account. Do this with me, and stop and tell me clearly whenever you need me to click something. First, ask me two things and wait: - The name I want for the project. - Whether anything in this folder is private (passwords, keys, personal files) that must not be published. Then work through it, telling me what you are about to do before each step: 1. Check whether the GitHub CLI (gh) and the Vercel CLI are installed. If not, install them the standard way for my computer: Homebrew or the official installer for gh, npm for the Vercel CLI. Tell me before you install anything. 2. Log me in to both. Run gh auth login and vercel login. When a browser opens or a short code appears, tell me plainly to click Authorise, and wait. You cannot log in for me. Pause until I say I have done it, and remind me to use the account I just created. 3. Put this folder into a new GitHub repository: git init, a first commit, then gh repo create and push. Show me the repository name before you push. 4. Deploy it live: run the Vercel CLI to get a preview link, and once I confirm the preview looks right, publish the production version. 5. Give me back the live link ending in .vercel.app. Rules: never delete a file. Do not commit anything I flagged as private. If a step needs a decision, ask me one clear question instead of guessing. At the end, confirm in one line what you deployed, that you pushed nothing private, and that you deleted nothing.
No terminal? The browser way
If you would rather not open a terminal at all, you can do it from the Vercel website: once your files are in a GitHub repository, go to Vercel, choose New Project, pick that repository, and press Deploy. The catch is the first bit, getting a plain folder into GitHub without a terminal means using GitHub's own web upload or the GitHub Desktop app, which is a separate tool to learn. That is exactly the fiddly part the prompt above hands to Claude, which is why the Claude route is the smoother one for most people.
Where the line is
- The accounts and the Authorise click are yours. Claude types the commands, but it cannot create your accounts or sign in as you. When a browser opens to approve a login, that is your step, and it is a good thing: it means you always hold the keys to your own GitHub and Vercel.
- The free plan is for personal sites. Vercel's free Hobby plan covers a personal site or portfolio. Its own rules limit it to non-commercial use, so a business site is meant for a paid plan. Prices and limits change, so check Vercel's pricing page before you rely on it.
- Everything you publish is public, and this is for a site of files. Whatever goes into the repository goes online, so keep passwords, keys and private files out, which is why the prompt asks you first. A plain site publishes in minutes. An app with its own database or logins needs more setup, so treat that as a separate, bigger job.
Put the thing you built online today
You do not need it finished. Take whatever you have built so far, make the two free accounts, and hand Claude the prompt. Getting a real link in your hands, even for a rough draft, changes how you work on it, because now it exists.
Built it with AI and want to make it feel like yours? Try teaching Claude your taste profile so the next version matches your eye.
A couple of quick questions
Is Vercel free?
Yes, on the Hobby plan, which is enough for a personal site or portfolio. Its rules limit it to non-commercial use, so a business site is meant for a paid plan. Prices and limits change, so check Vercel's own pricing page for the current numbers.
What is GitHub, in plain words?
Think of it as a Google Drive for your code folders, one that also keeps a history of every change. Vercel reads your site from GitHub, so once your files are there, every update can go live on its own.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. You make the two accounts and click Authorise when asked. Claude runs the commands and does the deploy, so you do not type any of them yourself.
How do I put my own domain on it?
Once the site is live, open the project on vercel.com, go to its Domains settings, and add the domain you own. Vercel walks you through pointing the domain at it.