Publishing a site sounds like the technical part, and it used to be. Now it is genuinely a few minutes: point Vercel at your project, it builds it and hands you a live link, and from then on every change you make can go up the same way. This works for a plain site of files today. An app with its own database needs a bit more, and there is an honest note on that at the end.
To publish your site with Vercel, put your whole project in one folder, make a free Vercel account, then either connect the folder through the Vercel website and click Deploy, or run the vercel command from that folder. Both give you a live link in minutes.
From your computer to a live link
- Get the whole project into one folder. Everything the site needs, the pages, the images, the styles, in a single folder with your homepage file named index.html at the top. Vercel publishes what is in the folder, so if a file is not in there, it will not be online.
- Make a free Vercel account. Go to vercel.com and sign up. Signing up with a GitHub account is the smoothest start, because it sets up the easy path in the next step. The free tier is enough to get a real site live, so there is nothing to pay to begin.
- The easy path: connect it through the website. Put your project folder into a GitHub repository, then in Vercel choose Add New, then Project, and import that repository. Press Deploy and wait a moment for the live link. The bonus: from now on, every time you push a change to that repository, Vercel puts the new version online on its own.
- The fast path: two commands. If you would rather not touch GitHub, open a terminal in your project folder and use the commands in the block below. The first time, it asks a few setup questions and gives you a preview link. When you are happy, one more command makes it live. No repository needed, it sends the folder straight up.
- Check it, then share the link. Open the live link, then open it on your phone too, because a thing that looks right on your laptop can break on a small screen. When it holds up, send it to one person. A custom domain like yourname.com can come later, in the project's Domains settings.
The ship-it checklist and commands
Run through the checklist before you publish, then use the commands for the fast path. Paste them one line at a time in a terminal opened in your project folder.
BEFORE YOU PUBLISH, CHECK: - The whole site is in one folder, and the homepage file is named index.html at the top of it. - Links to your own pages and images work when you open the site locally. - No passwords, API keys or private files are sitting inside the folder. Anything published is public. - You have a free Vercel account at vercel.com. THE FAST PATH, run these in a terminal opened in your project folder: # Send the folder up and get a preview link (the first run asks a few setup questions) npx vercel # When the preview looks right, publish it as the live version npx vercel --prod WHAT YOU GET BACK: - A live link ending in .vercel.app that you can share straight away. - A dashboard at vercel.com where you can add a custom domain later, under the project's Domains settings. IF SOMETHING LOOKS OFF: - Reopen the live link on your phone as well as your laptop. - If an image or a page is missing, it is almost always a file that was not inside the folder, or a link pointing to a file that is not there. Fix the file, then run npx vercel --prod again.
Where the line is
- The honest bit: this is for a site of files. A plain site, the kind AI is good at helping you build, publishes in minutes. An app with its own database or logins needs extra setup that a simple deploy does not cover, so treat that as a separate, bigger job.
- Everything you publish is public. Whatever is in the folder goes online, so keep passwords, keys and anything private out of it. And the free tier is generous for a personal site but not unlimited, so if a project takes off, check Vercel's current pricing rather than assuming.
Put the thing you built online today
You do not need it finished. Take whatever you have built so far, drop it in one folder, and run the two commands, or import it on the website. Getting a real link in your hands, even for a rough draft, changes how you work on it, because now it is a thing that exists rather than a thing on your laptop.
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?
Vercel has a free tier that is generous enough for a personal site or a small project. Heavy traffic or a commercial site can need a paid plan. Prices and limits change, so check Vercel's own pricing page for the current numbers.
Do I need to know how to code to publish a site on Vercel?
No. If your site is a folder of files, you connect it through the Vercel website and click Deploy. The command line is a faster option once you are comfortable, but it is not required.
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.