Export a v0 project to your own hosting
v0 generates React code fast. But vendor lock-in slows you down. Here's how to take your project and run it anywhere: your servers, your cloud account, your control.
v0 by Vercel is an AI-powered UI generator. You describe what you want: a dashboard, a form, a checkout page. It writes React components for you, styled with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui primitives, ready to run.
The projects it generates are standard Next.js applications. They export as source code. That means you own the files. You can run them anywhere: Vercel (1-click), Northflank, Coolify, Hetzner, AWS, your own data center.
The friction comes later. If you stay on Vercel, you pay platform fees. If your app grows, those fees grow faster than you expected. If your company needs EU data residency or air-gapped hosting, Vercel won't work. That's why teams export.
Why export v0 to your own hosting?
Export gives you three things platform lock-in takes away.
Control your stack
Your code lives in your Git repo. Your data lives in your cloud account or servers. Vercel sees nothing. No surprise feature changes. No account suspensions. No API limits on your own infrastructure.
Flat, predictable costs
Northflank charges $24/mo for a solid development instance. Coolify self-hosted costs nothing. Hetzner VPS starts at 2.99 EUR/mo. None of these scale with vanity metrics. You pay for compute, not for being popular.
Exit whenever you want
Your project is Next.js. It runs on Docker. It's not locked to one platform. Move from Coolify to Northflank, or Northflank to your own bare-metal cluster. Same code, different host.
Built for teams who need reliability
How to export and deploy
The process has four stages. Most teams finish in under 2 hours if they know the steps.
Choose Your App
Select an app to get started.
Export from v0
In the v0 IDE, click Export. Choose GitHub (recommended—creates a repo with your project code) or ZIP (download the files). GitHub sync lets you keep editing in v0 and pull the latest code.
Build locally
Clone the repo. Run npm install. Test locally with npm run dev. The v0 docs list any environment variables you'll need. Confirm the app runs on your machine first—it always runs better when you catch issues early.
Choose your host
Northflank (pay-as-you-go, $24/mo typical), Coolify (free on your infra, $5/mo cloud), or a VPS (Hetzner, DigitalOcean, AWS). Each has different tradeoffs. See the comparison below.
Deploy and monitor
Push to the host. It detects Next.js, builds the image, and runs it. Set up logs. Point a domain. You're live. Updates flow through Git—push new code, the host rebuilds.
v0 hosting options: cost, effort, and features
Three paths. Each wins for different teams.
Pricing as of August 2026. Northflank most-popular plan (nf-compute-100-2). Coolify self-hosted assumes your own Hetzner/VPS costs.
Self-hosting brings real security benefits
Vendor lock-in isn't just a cost problem. It's a security problem.
Your data stays in your region
Coolify running on a Hetzner machine in Germany keeps your data in Germany. Northflank BYOC (Bring Your Own Cloud) does the same. Vercel? Your data lives wherever Vercel's infrastructure is.
No surprise suspensions
Your code runs on infrastructure you control (or co-control with Northflank). No mysterious account lockouts. No "your app violated the ToS" after the fact.
Encrypted at rest and in transit
Use standard Docker, SSL, and database encryption. You choose the tools. You audit the logs. Vercel handles this, but you have to trust their setup.
Compliance by default
Self-hosted on EU infrastructure = GDPR compliant. No data transfer agreements needed. Your audit trails stay with you.
Common questions about exporting v0
v0 is Vercel's AI UI generator. You describe a design, it writes React code. Most teams export because they hit Vercel's pricing, need their own data residency, or want to avoid platform lock-in. Export is built-in: click one button and get your source code with full GitHub integration. The v0 docs confirm export works on every project.
Want hosted v0 without the ops burden?
Self-hosting saves money. But it trades cost for operational overhead: monitoring logs, managing updates, scaling when traffic spikes. If that's not your focus, managed hosting handles it. Ship hosting gives you deploy-and-forget simplicity with full control over your data.