Netlify, Lovable, Base44, Vercel, and dayzero.run.
These five names show up in the same chat, usually after someone says “just deploy it.” They do not do the same job. Pick from the job you actually have, not from whichever logo the agent mentioned first.
Start with where the app comes from
Lovable and Base44 are builders. You describe an idea in their product, and they generate the app there, including a place for it to live. Lovable’s own comparison with Vercel puts it plainly: Lovable turns a description into an application, and hosting on a lovable.app address is part of that product. Base44 describes the same shape from its side: plain language in, a working app out, with backend, auth, and hosting already inside the platform, and no separate deploy step.
Vercel and Netlify are hosts for code that already exists. You connect a repository, they build it, and they put the result on a global network, with a preview URL for changes. That workflow assumes a project a developer can push: a framework, a build command, and git. It is a strong fit when the app is already a real codebase and you want previews, a custom domain, and room to grow into server functions.
dayzero.run is the infrastructure under an app a coding agent already built in Claude, Cursor, or Codex. It does not generate that UI. The offer on the site is four parts, and the agent can run all of them from the same chat:
- A shareable link. The project goes live on an HTTPS address in seconds, without a cloud account, DNS, or a certificate you manage.
- Virtual data tables. The app keeps its own state. Schema is applied for the project, and the page reads and writes rows with a public site key. There is no database server to set up.
- Public or private access. The same URL can be open, or kept behind a short access code, without a second upload.
- A virtual runtime. The app stays online without a backend you operate. While you are still editing, a tunnel can point that same URL at your laptop. When the tunnel stops, the last published version is still there.
That is a different job from a builder, and a different job from a git host. The coding agent launches it. The link, the tables, the access rule, and the runtime stay up after the chat ends.
The same question, five answers
| Tool | You bring | It is for |
|---|---|---|
| Lovable | A description of the app | Building a full-stack app in Lovable, then hosting it there or moving the synced code later |
| Base44 | A description of the app | Building and hosting inside Base44, with its backend, auth, and publishing included |
| Vercel | A repository that builds | Deploying an existing app, especially a framework project, with previews and a CDN |
| Netlify | A repository that builds | Deploying an existing site or app from git, with previews, forms, and room for functions |
| dayzero.run | An app your coding agent already built | A live link, virtual data tables, public or private access, and a virtual runtime, launched from the agent |
What you can take with you
Portability is the part worth slowing down for, and the public writeups do not fully agree on Base44, so treat the fine print as something to check on the day you export.
Lovable’s documented path is a codebase you can sync to GitHub and deploy on Vercel, Netlify, or another host. That matters if you expect an engineer to take the project over. Comparisons in 2026, including The GTM Directory and Base44Devs, describe Base44’s backend as staying on Base44: you can version the project, and moving the data layer off the platform means rebuilding it. Figment’s read of the docs is a bit more open on exporting code, and stricter on the database: Base44’s store stays Base44’s, while Lovable can sit on Supabase you control. If leaving later matters, read the export page before you save real users there.
Vercel and Netlify are already “somewhere else.” The repository is yours. Leaving is a build setting and a DNS change, plus whatever serverless features you adopted on that host. The setup cost is the git project, the account, and the build. For a one-file page an agent just wrote, that cost can be the whole evening.
dayzero.run keeps the account token in the terminal and lets the page use a public site key for table rows. The virtual runtime is what keeps the project available after the laptop closes, and the tables are the app’s state, not a database project you administer. It is not a git-connected build platform, and it is not a prompt-to-app studio. When a product needs that kind of pipeline, or the larger infrastructure on the pricing page — more projects, custom domains, and for enterprise teams managed retrieval and GPU — that is a later size. The job dayzero.run is built for is the four parts above, done from the coding agent, without opening a cloud account first.
Which one matches the afternoon you are having
- You have an idea and no project folder. Lovable or Base44. You want something generated and hosted in the same place. Choose Lovable when you care about taking a normal codebase to another host later. Choose Base44 when you want its backend and hosting included and you are content to live there.
- You have a framework app in git. Vercel or Netlify. You want previews, a custom domain, and a build pipeline. Pick the one your framework and your team already know.
- An agent already built the app, and it needs to live online. dayzero.run. You get the link, virtual tables for the app’s data, a public or private door, and a runtime that keeps it up without a server you run. You do not connect a git host first, and you do not switch into a builder to recreate the UI.
Prices and plan limits move. This note does not rank them. Check each vendor’s pricing page on the day you start, including dayzero.run’s, and match the plan to the app you have today. A builder, a git host, and an agent-launched runtime are three different purchases. Using all three at once is how a small idea inherits a stack it does not need yet.