How to get AI to build a website you’d actually launch
AI can build your site.
But unless you tell it exactly what to build, it won’t be one you’d actually ship.
I’ve spent the last few months experimenting with tools like Bolt, V0, Lovable, Relume, and Manus, trying to figure out how to actually get solid, usable results.
Here’s what I’ve learned.
You’re not designing websites. You’re designing prompts.
This is the mindset shift.
You’re not a designer, or a dev, or a copywriter. You’re the creative director — and your prompt is the brief.
Bad prompt? Bad website.
Clear, structured prompt? Surprisingly good results.
The mistake most people make is asking for something like: “Build me a clean, modern landing page for my AI tool.”
That’s not enough. The tool doesn’t know who it’s for, what makes it unique, what kind of layout you want, or even what your product does.
You need to tell it more. Not necessarily more words — just better ones.
What actually works in a prompt
Here’s what made the biggest difference in my results:
- Be clear about who it’s for. “Freelancers” is more helpful than “everyone.”
- List what should be on the page — and in what order. Literally: hero → features → testimonials → pricing → footer.
- Describe the tone and style. Calm, playful, bold, clean, corporate, minimalist — pick something.
- Say what to avoid. No dark mode. No stock photos. No buzzword soup.
The tools are good. But they can’t read your mind. You have to give them direction.
Quick take: What each tool is good at
Let’s quickly run through the major AI site builders I tested, and what they’re actually best at.
Bolt.new
Fast, easy, and great for one-pagers. Perfect if you need to launch a waitlist, a newsletter page, or validate a product idea.
Works best when you lay out the structure and tone:
“Landing page for a journaling app.
Start with hero: headline, subhead, CTA.
Then: 3 features with icons, 1 testimonial, pricing section, email signup in footer.
Clean design, soft colors, no stock photos.”
If you’re too vague, Bolt defaults to generic everything.
V0
Feels more like working with a frontend dev. Good for SaaS homepages and more interactive layouts.
Best when you describe the flow and experience of the page:
“Design a homepage for a scheduling tool. Hero with CTA, then interactive tabs for key features, then testimonials slider, pricing, and collapsible FAQ. Use calming colors and modern B2B style.”
Weak prompts = flat layouts with filler content.
Relume
Great when you’re starting from scratch. It builds your site map, wireframes, and even your brand style.
Best used to plan a multi-page site before jumping into another builder.
Don’t expect to launch from here — use it for structure and creative direction.
Manus
Not a site builder — a full AI agent.
It shines if you already have content: a style guide, product brief, or marketing doc. You feed that in, and it builds the site for you.
Works best when you first pair it with ChatGPT or Gemini to generate good source docs.
Can be slow, less consistent than purpose-built tools, overkill for simple pages — but impressive when it works.
Lovable
For when you need an actual app — with login, data, search, and real functionality. It can build an MVP for your SaaS.
Think in flows, not just layouts.
Example: “Let users search for SaaS tools, save favorites, view G2 ratings. Use Superbase for backend. Include login/signup, clean dashboard, and mobile-friendly layout.”
It takes more testing — but it can do a lot, fast.
Prompt phrases that helped (steal these)
Here are some phrases I used over and over — they helped shape better results across all tools:
- “Above-the-fold hero with headline, subheadline, and CTA button.”
- “3-column layout with icons, titles, and descriptions for each feature.”
- “Full-width testimonial slider with 3 quotes and names.”
- “Use a minimalist layout with white space and soft typography.”
- “Avoid dark mode. No stock photos. No generic buzzwords.”
Again, you don’t need long prompts — you need clear ones.
When it breaks, tweak. Don’t quit.
AI site builders aren’t perfect. You’ll get layouts that feel awkward. You’ll get sections that don’t quite work.
But the fix is almost always in the prompt.
Layout messed up? Describe the order and structure more clearly.
Copy feels wrong? Write your own short descriptions — the AI will work better around them.
Design feels bland? Add tone cues like “bold colors,” “playful illustrations,” or “modern editorial layout.”
Every iteration gets you closer. And it’s still 10x faster than hiring someone or building from scratch.
So stop waiting. Pick a tool. Write a better prompt. Tweak until it works. You’ll be surprised how far you can get — solo.
The trick is to prompt for sections, not just "make me a website."
A simple block like hero → 3 benefits → steps → testimonial → pricing → FAQ → CTA usually produces something shippable.
Then just check SEO title/description and run a Lighthouse test. If you want to shortcut that whole process, Lideroo is tuned exactly for this kind of workflow.
Claude is awesome.
there's an actual sea of website builders - thanks for highlighting these options! I've found Bolt to be a great option, too.
Writing the perfect prompt to get the perfect outcome is a challenge in itself and it’s something a lot of people struggle with. That’s exactly the problem we’re tackling. At PromptAid, our goal is to boost efficiency, cut down the time spent trial-and-erroring with prompts, and help people get exactly what they want or even more from A.I.
Whether you're building websites, writing content, or coding, PromptAid helps you craft smarter prompts tailored to your task and the best AI model for it. Developers can get real-time suggestions and context-aware improvements right where they work.
We’re currently in development and inviting early supporters to wishlist PromptAid at promptaid.me to get hands-on early access and exclusive perks!
Awesome project — really inspiring!
I actually started learning programming not long ago, using AI to help me understand the basics.
Built my first full-stack backend API for e-commerce (Node.js + PostgreSQL + Docker), and now I’m working on a small indie game 🙂
It’s been super fun and challenging — loving the process so far!
Would love to connect with others on a similar journey!
Useful to know. Too many folks give AI too much credit, thinking it will think for you, or better, have psychic powers and just know what you want. 😂
Great listing. Thank you!!
I like the prompts you included.
I have been able to use Claude to build out a website.
But it didn't start there. I started with ChatGPT, which seemed great at first, but then it wasn't. I switched over to Claude, which allowed me to launch a fully functional site.
nice listing - often use these ais to improve my designs or get a template to work on and this was surprisingly helpful in designing cool frontends
As a solo dev, I used Bolt to prototype my SaaS landing page, your prompt structure (hero → features → CTA) turned a vague idea into a shippable site in hours. The key is treating prompts like briefs, not wishes.
What is your favourite phrase for nailing tone in multi-page sites?
So you are saying that the difference between a good website by AI and a not so good one depends on the quality of prompts given to build it.
Really good insights, which I think are applicable to cursor too. I'm surprised that cursor isn't mentioned more here. I was expecting it to be mainly good for back-end architecture but found that it was surprisingly good at building landing page UIs as well.
Good article, let's add Curos and Trae as both are game changers in the automated development environments.
Cool breakdown — I like how practical this is. I’m building something AI-based too (focused on visual planning), so it’s great to see others actually launching.
I'm a veteran of the IT industry with over 20 years of experience, and I was also a co-founder and CTO of a unicorn company. For the past decade or so, I have mostly been engaged in management work and rarely had the opportunity to write code. However, starting this year, I've fallen in love with programming again. I've used Cursor to develop several websites, an Android app, and a Mac app. In the past two weeks, I've become obsessed with Claude Code, which has once again significantly improved my work efficiency. If you're not a technical person, Lovable and similar tools are good options, but for those with a technical background, Cursor, especially Claude Code, might be a better choice.
Great reminder it's not the tool that matters, but the clarity of the brief. AI executes it's up to us to direct.
I'm a full-stack dev. I build micro-SaaS projects (for myself and clients), and yes I use AI a lot. I can build full websites with it, because at the end of the day, AI is just a tool. It does what you tell it to do.
The problem isn't AI, it's people who ask AI to think for them without even knowing what they want to build. Define the problem first, then use AI to move faster.
I've tried a few of these setups, the build part is fast, but the polish always needs a human touch. Still a time-saver if you know what to fix.
This is incredibly great. So thoughtful of you,im aware you can use AI for researches but not aware you can also use it to build a website. All thanks to you today for this eye opener
Thank you so much! I'm really glad it helped. Yes, AI can definitely help with research and building websites,it's like having a smart helper by your side. Happy to share more anytime!
But dont forget cursor as these tools cant build complete debugged and flourished apps. So you need to tweak them
Very helpful indeed. Appreciate the alternatives you’ve provided.
One of the best articles i've read. I Agree the focus should shift to prompt design.
Regarding vibe coding tools, you missed base44 which is awesome tool
informative
I'm surprised Claude wasn't on your list. I spent two months building a SaaS with Chat 4.1 and just kept hitting rode blocks and bugs as a result of new fixes. One step forward two steps back situation. I then moved to Claude Pro and that day it resolved everything. I was honestly gob smacked at the quality of understanding.
I must add I wasn't giving it a full brief from the outset as described here, I was buidling the site as I went along and adding functionality each step of the way. Probably not the best way to go about it.
Thank you for you prompt tips. Will be using these!
i can make a.i. understand human mind i need partner to make it happen ,i cant spread my info wutever becuz my first one is already all the big tech inserted and using (which is i hav all the evidence and i hav patent processing. first one passed) . too much hacking is goin on thru my mobile and labtop sigh
The idea that you're designing prompts, not just websites, is spot on. Clear, detailed input really makes AI tools shine. Definitely using this approach on my next project!
quite insightful. Thank you for the suggested options.
@aytekin totally, the thing I see is the more context you give it the better the results are going to be. A single line prompt isn't going to cut it.