Guides

Google AI Studio Vibe Coding: Put Your App on Your Own Domain (2026)

Updated November 8, 2026 · We may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. How we make money.

Google AI Studio lets you build a working web app by describing it in plain English. That’s vibe coding. Getting the app onto your own domain, like mybookingapp.com, takes a few more steps. This guide shows all of them.

What you’ll have at the end

• Your AI Studio app live on the web at a free .ai.studio address
• The same app on your own domain, with the padlock (HTTPS)

What you need before you start

• A Google account (a personal Gmail account works best, see below)
• An app you built in AI Studio, or an idea for one
• A domain name, for the own-domain part. Hostinger includes one free for a year with a 24-month VPS.
• About 45 minutes for the whole guide

What is Google AI Studio vibe coding?

Google AI Studio is Google’s free website for building with its Gemini AI. Its Build mode is a vibe coding tool. You type what you want, and Gemini writes a complete app while you watch a live preview.

• What it makes: a web app with a React front end (the part people see) and a Node.js server (the part that runs behind the scenes). It can also make Android apps.
• Extras it sets up for you: a database and “Sign in with Google” through Firebase, Google Maps data, image generation and more.
• Your API key stays hidden. AI Studio keeps your Gemini API key on the server side, so visitors can’t see it.
• Price: building is free to start. Your app’s AI features use your Gemini API usage limits.

How to build an app in Google AI Studio

1. Go to aistudio.google.com/apps and sign in with Google.
2. Type what you want in the box. Example: “A booking page for my dog-walking business with a calendar and a contact form.”
3. Press Enter. Gemini writes the code and shows a live preview on the right.
4. Ask for changes in the chat, like “Make the buttons bigger.” Repeat until you’re happy.

No ideas? Click I’m Feeling Lucky and Gemini suggests one. Or open the App Gallery and click Copy App to remix someone else’s app.

Part 1: Publish your app for free

AI Studio’s free publishing uses Google Cloud’s Starter Tier. It lets you publish up to 2 apps with no billing account. Your app runs on Google’s Cloud Run.

Step 1: Open your app in Build mode

Go to aistudio.google.com/apps. Click the app you want to put online.

What you’ll see: the chat on the left and your app’s preview on the right.

Step 2: Click Publish

Click the Publish button in the top right corner.

What you’ll see: a box about publishing your app.

Step 3: Click Get Started

Click Get Started. This sets up the free Starter Tier for you.

Stuck? If AI Studio asks for a billing account instead, your account isn’t eligible for Starter Tier. See Why can’t I publish for free? below.

Step 4: Pick your free address

In the Custom URL field, type a short name for your app. It becomes your address, like dogwalks.ai.studio.

Names are first come, first served. If yours is taken, AI Studio asks you to pick another.

Step 5: Click Publish App

Click Publish App. Wait a minute or two.

What you’ll see: a link to your live app. Click it. It works for anyone, on any device.

Why can’t I publish for free?

Google says some accounts can’t use Starter Tier:

• You’re signed in with a Google Workspace account (a work or school account, even a free one).
• You have, or used to have, a paid Google Cloud billing account.
• Google doesn’t have enough history on your account yet.

Google’s support team can’t change this. Your choices: sign in with a personal Gmail account, link a billing account and publish the standard way, or host the app yourself (Part 3).

Part 2: Pick how to use your own domain

AI Studio’s Starter Tier gives you an .ai.studio address only. There’s no setting for your own domain. You have 3 ways around that.

Our pick: use A while you’re testing. Use B once the app is a real business, so customers see your name and you own the whole setup. Google says its simplest option for C, Cloud Run domain mapping, is in preview and “not production-ready.”

Way A: Forward your domain

1. Sign in where you bought your domain.
2. Find the setting called Forwarding or Redirect. Most domain sellers have one.
3. Forward your domain to your .ai.studio address. Choose a permanent (301) redirect.

Now anyone who types your domain lands on your app. The address bar shows the .ai.studio address, not yours.

Part 3: Put the app on your own domain with a VPS

A VPS (a computer you rent that stays on all day) runs your app at your own domain. You’ll copy the app’s code to the server, and an AI coding agent sets it up for you.

Step 6: Get a VPS with Codex on it

Follow Steps 1 to 16 of our Codex CLI guide. You’ll buy a Hostinger VPS with Ubuntu, add the free tools Caddy (a web server) and Bubblewrap, and sign in to Codex (an AI agent that can set up your server).

Open Hostinger VPS plans

Then type /quit and press Enter to leave Codex for now.

Prefer Claude Code? It works the same way. Install it instead of Codex.

Step 7: Send your app’s code to GitHub

GitHub is a free website that stores code. Make a free account at github.com if you don’t have one.

In AI Studio, open your app. Open Settings, then the GitHub tab. Create a new GitHub repository (a folder for your code) from your app.

What you’ll see: your app’s files on GitHub. Copy the repository’s address. It looks like https://github.com/yourname/your-app.

Good to know: your Gemini API key isn’t in the code, so a public repository won’t leak it. A public repository is the easiest to copy to your server. If you make it private, Codex can help you connect GitHub to the server.

Step 8: Copy the code to your server

Open your server’s Web Console in Hostinger (Step 8 of the Codex guide). Paste this, but change the GitHub address to yours first:

apt install -y git && git clone https://github.com/yourname/your-app /var/www/aistudio-app && cd /var/www/aistudio-app

What you’ll see: a few lines about cloning (copying). The line now ends in /var/www/aistudio-app.

Stuck? “Repository not found” means the address is wrong, or the repository is private. Check the address on GitHub.

Step 9: Get your own Gemini API key

On AI Studio’s hosting, your app used a key AI Studio set up for you. On your server, you add it yourself.

On your computer, go to aistudio.google.com/api-keys. Click Create API key if you don’t have one. Copy the key.

Treat it like a password. Anyone with it can use your Gemini account.

Step 10: Save the key on your server

In the Web Console, paste this and press Enter:

read -rsp "Paste your Gemini API key, then press Enter: " K && echo "GEMINI_API_KEY=$K" > .env && chmod 600 .env

When it asks, paste your key and press Enter. The key stays hidden while you paste. That’s normal.

This saves the key in a private file called .env. Only the admin account can read it.

Step 11: Point your domain at your server

Find your server’s IP address on the VPS Overview page in Hostinger.

Where your domain is managed, add an A record. Set the name to @ and the value to your server’s IP. If your domain is at Hostinger, go to Domains, then DNS / Nameservers.

DNS changes take from a few minutes to a few hours. You can keep going while you wait.

Step 12: Start Codex in your app’s folder

Paste this and press Enter:

codex

What you’ll see: the box that says Ask Codex to do anything. If Codex asks whether to trust this folder, say yes.

Step 13: Ask Codex to set up your app

Paste this prompt. Change mydomain.com to your domain first:

This folder is an app exported from Google AI Studio. Get it running in production on this server. Read the README and package.json first. Install Node.js 22 if needed, install the dependencies and build the app. Run it with a systemd service on port 3000 that loads the .env file in this folder and restarts after a reboot. Then set up Caddy so mydomain.com goes to localhost:3000, and reload Caddy. Never print the contents of .env.

Codex reads your app, installs what it needs and sets everything up. It takes about 5 minutes.

What you’ll see: Codex asks before it installs things or changes system files. Read each request. If it’s about Node.js, your app or Caddy, choose yes. At the end, Codex sums up what it did.

Check that it worked

Open https://mydomain.com (your domain) in a new tab. You should see your app with a padlock next to the address. Try the AI feature once, like generating something. If it answers, your API key works too.

See Hostinger’s VPS prices

Updating your app later

1. Make changes in AI Studio as usual.
2. Push them to GitHub from the GitHub tab in Settings.
3. In the Web Console, run cd /var/www/aistudio-app && codex and ask: “Pull the latest code from GitHub, rebuild the app and restart its service.”

If something went wrong

AI Studio wants a billing account to publish. Your account isn’t eligible for Starter Tier. Try a personal Gmail account, or skip to Part 3.

AI Studio says you already have 2 apps. Starter Tier allows 2 published apps. Unpublish one, or host the new one on your VPS.

Your domain shows nothing, or an old page. DNS hasn’t caught up yet. Wait an hour and try again. Check that the A record points to your server’s IP.

The app loads, but the AI part fails. The API key is missing or wrong. Do Step 10 again, then ask Codex to restart the app’s service.

“Sign in with Google” fails on your domain. Firebase only allows sign-ins from approved domains. Ask Codex to show you how to add your domain to the Authorized domains list in Firebase Authentication.

How much it costs

One thing to know about Gemini’s free tier: Google’s terms say prompts and responses on the free tier may be used to improve Google’s products. A paid tier keeps them private.

FAQ

Is Google AI Studio vibe coding free? Yes, building is free to start, and you can publish up to 2 apps free with Starter Tier if your account qualifies. Your app’s AI features count against your Gemini API limits.

Can I use a custom domain with Google AI Studio? Not on the free Starter Tier. You get a free .ai.studio name instead. For your own domain, forward it, move the app to a VPS, or use Google Cloud’s domain tools with a billing account.

Can I download my AI Studio app? Yes. You can download it as a ZIP file or sync it to GitHub. You’ll need to add your own GEMINI_API_KEY wherever you host it.

Where does an AI Studio app run when I publish it? On Google Cloud Run. Each published app becomes a Cloud Run service.

Is AI Studio better than Lovable or Replit? It’s free to start and great for apps that use Gemini’s AI. Lovable and Replit have more tools for running a business app. See our list of Replit alternatives.

Next: build an app with Codex CLI on a VPS.

Written by WebHostCompared on November 8, 2026, from Google’s AI Studio, Gemini API and Cloud Run documentation, checked that day. The server steps use the setup we tested in our Codex CLI guide. Hostinger prices were checked live with our referral link that day.

Sources

• Build apps in Google AI Studio, Google, checked Nov 8, 2026
• Deploying from Google AI Studio, Google, checked Nov 8, 2026
• Gemini API billing, Google, checked Nov 8, 2026
• Map custom domains in Cloud Run, Google Cloud, checked Nov 8, 2026
• Hostinger VPS plans, Hostinger, checked Nov 8, 2026 with our referral link