Keep Your Site Online

Playcode hosts your site for you. When you click Publish, your site goes live on the internet with no separate hosting account, no FTP, and no devops. Here is exactly how it works, and why the $25 minimal plan is all you need to keep a site online for years.

Credits and subscription are two different things

This is the most important thing to understand, and the most commonly confused:

• Credits pay for AI editing your site.
• Subscription pays for hosting your site.

They are separate. Running out of credits never takes your site down. Cancelling your subscription is what changes your hosting. Keep them distinct in your mind.

The three hosting states

1. Active subscription → full hosting

Any active Playcode subscription (the minimal plan is $25 per month) gives you full hosting:

• Your own custom domain
• No PlayCode branding on the page
• Globally distributed, fast, reliable

There is no "full hosting" tier above the minimal plan. The minimal plan already gives you real production hosting. That is the whole point.

2. Active subscription, zero AI credits → site still stays up

What if you use up all your AI credits for the month? Your site still stays hosted. The subscription is the key, not the credits. You just cannot make more AI changes until you top up, but the live site keeps running for your visitors exactly as before.

3. No subscription → still hosted, with a catch

Even without a subscription, your site still gets hosted on Playcode. But:

• A small "Made with PlayCode" banner shows at the top of every page.
• Custom domains are not allowed. Your site lives at a PlayCode-provided URL.

This is perfectly fine for sharing a link with friends, testing with early users, or collecting feedback before you commit. For anything customer-facing, the $25 plan removes both restrictions.

The recommended workflow: build once, host for years

1. Active development sprint: you are building, the AI is doing heavy lifting, credits flow. This is the expensive phase.
2. Site is done: active development ends. Drop to the minimal plan. Your site is live on your own domain, fully reliable, no banner.
3. Support phase: small edits here and there, minimal AI spend. Your $25 subscription keeps everything running for years.

Common questions

"Will my site stay hosted if I am not subscribed?"

Yes, with the two restrictions above (the PlayCode banner and no custom domain). If either of those matters to you, the minimal plan is the answer.

"If I cancel and resubscribe later, is my site still there?"

Yes. The project and its files stay in your account. When you resubscribe, your custom domain and clean hosting come back.

"Do I need to buy AI credits to keep my site online?"

No. Credits and subscription are different purchases. If you have an active subscription but zero AI credits, your site stays online. You simply cannot make new AI changes until you top up.

Need help?

Reach out through the chat button in the bottom right with any hosting questions. A human will reply.