Browser and Cloud projects

A browser project is a static site: its preview runs in your browser tab, and it publishes pages on playcode.site. A Cloud project is a Cloud app: it runs on its own computers that Playcode operates, with a backend, a database and stored files, and it publishes on playcode.run. These docs say static site and Cloud app; the agent calls a Cloud app a full-stack app.

On this page

Ask the agent

Turn this project into a full-stack app with a database.

Ask in Playcode

It converts the static site into a Cloud app after you agree; the change is one-way and needs a Pro or Max plan.

Side by side

	Static site	Cloud app
Marked on the project card on Home	Static	Cloud
Where it runs while you build	In your browser tab	On a development computer
What it can have	Pages, styles and code that run in the visitor's browser	All of that, plus a backend, a database, stored files and background work
Published at	An address on `playcode.site`	An address on `playcode.run`
Terminal	No	Yes: see Use the terminal
The agent checks its work in a browser	No: it cannot see the preview	Yes
Undo from here	Yes	No: restore a checkpoint instead
A checkpoint holds	The project's files	One computer: code, installed packages, database and files
Plans	Every plan	Pro or Max: 3 Cloud apps per workspace on Pro, 10 on Max

When you need a Cloud app

A static site cannot keep data on a server. Choose a Cloud app when the project needs sign-in, data that stays when visitors come back or switch devices, uploads, payments, email from the app, or work that runs on a schedule. The agent suggests the switch when a request needs it.

On Pro or Max, the agent turns a new project into a Cloud app at the start of its first build, unless you ask for something static or the workspace has no Cloud app left. It says so in the chat.

How to tell which one you have

The project card on Home says Static or Cloud.
A published static site ends in .playcode.site; a Cloud app ends in .playcode.run.
The project menu of a Cloud app has Terminal; a static site's has Console instead.

Turn a static site into a Cloud app

Open the project menu (☰ and the project name), choose Project, then Add backend (Cloud). The app asks "Turn into a full-stack app": "This will set up a permanent computer, copy your project files into it, and switch this project to full-stack mode. The page will reload when finished." Choose Continue. Or ask the agent: it converts the project after you agree.

It stays the same project, with the same chats and files. Three things to know first:

There is no way back: a Cloud app cannot become a static site again.
Domains connected to the static site are released, not moved: "You can attach them again after publishing the full-stack app."
It needs a Pro or Max plan and a free Cloud app place in the workspace. At the limit, the app says how many Cloud projects you have and offers a larger plan. Archived Cloud apps do not count.

Only the project's creator, or an Admin of the project or its workspace, can convert a project. Code playgrounds for languages other than the web, like Python, cannot become Cloud apps: "it runs entirely in your browser and has no web page to host."