lovable vs replit vs vercel: what to build on (so you don't regret it later)

By Enzo Sison, Founder of Prism

"Vibe coding" is the most fun the internet has had building websites in a long time.

You can go from "blank screen" to a beautiful, working site (opens in a new tab) in an afternoon. Sometimes in an hour. Sometimes in a weekend.

But there's a catch.

The platform you choose early becomes the foundation you build everything on. And switching foundations later is one of those things that's technically possible... but still expensive, still annoying, and (depending on your growth channel) can be painful for SEO.

I've spent the last few years building sites for clients, rebuilding our own Prism stack, experimenting with the shiny new tools (Replit (opens in a new tab), Lovable, Cursor, Claude Code (opens in a new tab), Codex CLI... all of it), and learning the hard way which "puzzle pieces" stack nicely together -- and which ones fight each other.

This post is the "I wish I knew this a year ago" resource.

It's not a hype piece. It's a trade-off piece.

Because the truth is: there isn't one perfect platform. There's a perfect platform for what you're building and how you plan to grow.

why this decision matters more than people think

Most people pick a vibe coding platform for the same reason they pick a gym:

• it's close
• it feels easy
• it's exciting
• it makes you feel like you're finally "doing the thing"

And honestly? That's not wrong.

The problem is what happens 3--6 months later when you start caring about:

• SEO (or in 2026: SEO + AEO/GEO)
• site speed
• security + spam traffic
• control (redirects, headers, robots, geo-blocking)
• clean architecture that scales with content

At that point, the "easy platform" can become a cage.

Even with AI agents (opens in a new tab) getting insanely good at migrations, moving platforms still costs:

• time + energy (you doing it)
• tokens (agents doing it)
• manual cleanup (it's never truly one-click)

So yes: migrations are easier than ever.

But no: you still don't want to do them often.

first: stop thinking "platform" -- think "stack"

A lot of confusion comes from mixing tools that live at different layers.

Here's the simplest mental model I've found:

Layer 1: how you build (the "agent")

• Cursor
• Claude Code
• Codex CLI

These are the tools that actually help you write and change code.

Layer 2: what you're building with (the framework)

• Next.js (opens in a new tab) (often best for marketing sites)
• Vite/React SPA setups (often best for app-like experiences)

Other frameworks exist, but these two are the "fork in the road" that matters most for most teams.

Layer 3: where it runs (hosting + edge)

• Vercel (opens in a new tab) (especially strong for Next.js)
• Cloudflare (control, security, edge rules)

Others exist, but this combo is hard to beat when you care about distribution.

Layer 4: who can edit it (non-technical workflows)

• v0 (for quick UI edits + PR-based changes)
• a CMS (if you're content-heavy)
• a simple admin layer

When people say "should I build on Lovable or Replit?" they're usually asking a bigger question:

Should my website behave like a web app... or like a marketing asset?

That single question changes everything.

the biggest trade-off: human experience vs crawler experience

Here's the "aha" that took me way too long to fully internalize:

Some stacks are optimized for:

• beautiful UX
• app-like interactivity
• fast prototyping
• shipping features

Other stacks are optimized for:

• speed + performance
• server-rendered or pre-rendered content
• crawlability
• technical control

Both are valid.

But they win in different arenas.

why it matters for seo (and now aeo/geo)

Traditional Google SEO still rewards what it always rewarded:

• fast pages
• clear structure
• content that loads reliably
• pages that are easy to interpret

If your site behaves like a JavaScript-heavy single-page app, it can still work... but you're increasing risk:

• risk that content isn't immediately available
• risk that performance slips
• risk that crawlers (not just Google -- think every bot indexing for AI answers) don't get what they need fast

That doesn't mean "Vite is bad." It means client-side-rendered marketing sites are usually a bad bet if SEO is your primary growth channel.

the story that changed my mind (and cost me time)

I'll be blunt: I fell for the hype.

When ChatGPT-5 dropped, there was a moment where building with Lovable felt like the future arrived overnight. It was fast, it was pretty, it felt like cheating.

I rebuilt a client site in a weekend. The design looked incredible.

But later, when we started asking "why isn't this performing like our Vercel/Next.js sites in search?"... I didn't have a good answer.

For a long time, I thought it was:

• content tweaks
• on-page SEO tweaks
• "just follow SEMrush suggestions"
• small optimizations

But the real answer was more architectural:

We had built something that humans loved... and robots struggled to understand.

And once you're deep in a platform ecosystem, you're not just changing design. You're changing:

• build output
• hosting assumptions
• routing + URL patterns
• control over headers + bots
• security tooling
• edge logic

That's when you realize:

Small SEO tools can't see big architectural trade-offs.

so what do we recommend at Prism now?

If your site is a marketing website and you care about SEO in 2026 and 2027, here's the default bet I'm making:

the "prism default" marketing stack

• Next.js
• deployed on Vercel
• DNS + protection + rules via Cloudflare
• built/maintained with Codex CLI or Claude Code
• optional: v0 so non-technical teammates can make edits via a clean workflow

Why this is the sweet spot:

• Next.js gives you the structure and rendering options that tend to win for marketing sites.
• Vercel makes shipping, previews, and performance optimization straightforward.
• Cloudflare gives you real control (including geo rules, bot filtering, WAF-style protection).
• Codex/Claude give you the "vibe coding" speed -- without locking you into a platform that limits control later.

This is the "have your cake and eat it too" setup:

• fast to build
• strong for distribution
• easy to scale
• easier to protect
• easier to migrate (because you own the repo)

when lovable or replit is still the right move

I'm not here to dunk on Lovable or Replit.

They're awesome.

They just shine in different scenarios.

Use Lovable / Replit when:

• you're building an interactive web app
• you need to prototype fast and validate an idea
• SEO is not the main acquisition channel (yet)
• the "product" is the experience, not the pages

In other words: if you're building something closer to a tool than a brochure.

The move that avoids regret:

If you do use Lovable/Replit, set yourself up from day one to escape later:

• push the code to GitHub
• keep URLs and content structure documented
• treat the initial build as v1, not "the forever home"

Because the regret isn't "using Lovable."

The regret is getting locked in without a plan.

the control problem nobody thinks about until it hurts

Here's a real-world example:

You notice weird traffic spikes -- hundreds of visits from countries you don't serve.

You try to fix it with SEO tools and Search Console tweaks.

But what you actually need is:

• real server/edge control
• the ability to block or challenge traffic at the edge
• clearer separation between "bots we want" and "spam we don't"

Some platforms just don't give you that level of control because they were never designed for it.

Vercel + Cloudflare is designed for it.

That's the difference between:

• a platform designed to build cool stuff
• a platform designed to operate a serious web asset

the simplest decision rule (bookmark this)

Here's the rule I wish someone told me early:

If your website is a growth asset, build like a growth asset.

Ask yourself:

• Is this primarily a marketing site or a product?

  • marketing site -> prioritize SEO + performance + crawlability
  • product/app -> prioritize UX + speed of iteration

• Is search a primary channel?

  • If yes, stop gambling with a stack that treats SEO as an afterthought.

• Do you need serious control?

  • If you need redirects, headers, geo rules, bot filtering, performance tuning -- choose a stack that gives you those knobs.

• Do non-technical people need to edit the site?

  • If yes, solve that with v0/CMS workflows -- not by giving up your architecture.

what i'd do if i were starting today

If I'm starting from scratch in 2026 and I want the highest chance of winning long-term:

For marketing sites:

Next.js + Vercel + Cloudflare + Codex/Claude + v0 (optional)

For app prototypes:

Use Lovable/Replit to get to a working product fast... but keep the code portable, and don't pretend v1 is the final architecture.

For teams that want "easy edits" forever:

Build the foundation right (Next/Vercel), then layer usability on top (v0/CMS).

That's the real unlock:

architecture first, convenience second.

closing: fewer tools, better bets

For a while, we were fragmented:

• some clients on Replit
• some on Lovable
• some on Vercel
• some built straight in Cursor

That's normal in an experimentation season.

But the season we're in now is different:

What do we actually need to do world-class work -- and what's just extra noise?

For us, the answer is clear:

• bet on Next.js for marketing sites
• bet on Vercel as the default deployment target
• use agents (Codex/Claude) to build fast
• use Cloudflare to control and protect
• use v0/CMS so non-technical edits don't bottleneck the business

Less chaos. More compounding.

want help choosing (or migrating) your stack?

If you're a founder or local business and you want:

• a site that actually ranks
• a stack you won't regret in 12 months
• a clean migration plan if you're already locked in

Prism does this every week.

We'll help you choose the right foundation, build it fast with AI, and make sure it's ready for both Google search and the new AI-driven discovery layer.