# How to Deploy Your Lovable Website to Your Own Domain (Complete Tutorial)

**Category:** Technical Guides  
**Date:** Jan 28, 2026  
**Author:** Keyona Meeks  
**Read Time:** 15 min  
**URL:** https://rerev.io/blog/how-to-deploy-lovable-website-to-own-domain

Go from Lovable prototype to professional website on your own domain. We'll walk you through connecting GitHub, building with Netlify, and deploying to any hosting service. Plus, you'll learn how to fix the critical file naming and routing issues that stump most beginners.

## What You'll Need

- A Lovable account (Pro recommended, $25/month)
- A GitHub account (free)
- A Netlify account (free)
- A file-based hosting account (Hostinger, SiteGround, Bluehost, DreamHost, etc.)
- A registered domain

## Before You Begin Checklist

- Domain purchased and pointing to your hosting's nameservers
- Hosting account activated and accessible
- Basic familiarity with your hosting control panel (cPanel, Plesk, etc.)
- Your domain's DNS is properly configured

**Time required:** 1-2 hours for initial setup, 10-15 minutes for future updates

## Why This Method vs. Netlify Hosting

While Netlify offers excellent free hosting, this method gives you:

- **Full control** on your own hosting with no vendor lock-in
- **Consistent pricing** (no surprise limits on builds or bandwidth)
- **All-in-one management** (email, databases, and website in one place)
- **Professional independence** (your site isn't on a "free tier" that might change)

## The Deployment Pipeline

```
Lovable (Design) → GitHub (Code Storage) → Netlify (Build Process) → Your Hosting (Public Files)
```

## Step 1: Build Your Website in Lovable

1. Open Lovable and create a new project
2. Use the chat interface to describe what you want your website to do

**Pro tip:** Be specific about your target audience, main call-to-actions, pages you need, and any special features.

## Step 2: Connect Lovable to GitHub

1. In Lovable, look for the GitHub icon in the top-right corner of your project
2. Click it and follow the prompts to connect to GitHub
3. Lovable will create a new repository (or connect to an existing one)

## Step 3: Connect GitHub to Netlify

1. Go to netlify.com and sign up (free, use GitHub sign-in)
2. Click "Add new site" → "Import an existing project"
3. Select GitHub as your Git provider
4. Find and select your repository
5. Build command: `npm run build`, Publish directory: `dist`
6. Click "Deploy site"

## Step 4: Download the Built Files from Netlify

1. Go to Deploys in the left sidebar
2. Click the most recent successful deploy
3. Options → "Download deployed files"
4. Extract the ZIP file completely

## Step 5: Upload Files to Your Hosting Provider

Upload the **contents** of the extracted folder (not the folder itself) to your hosting root directory (`public_html/`, `www/`, or `htdocs/`).

## Step 6: Fix File Capitalization Issues

Netlify builds on Linux (case-sensitive). Windows/Mac downloads may lowercase filenames. Check browser console (F12) for 404 errors and rename files to match exact capitalization.

## Step 7: Fix React Routing & Enable SSL

### Fix React Routing

Create a `.htaccess` file in your root directory:

```apache
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
  RewriteEngine On
  RewriteBase /
  RewriteRule ^index\.html$ - [L]
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
  RewriteRule . /index.html [L]
</IfModule>
```

### Enable SSL/HTTPS

Enable Let's Encrypt SSL or Auto SSL in your hosting control panel.

## Step 8: Test Everything

- Test in multiple browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
- Test on mobile devices
- Click through all pages, test forms, check images

## Updating Your Site

1. Make changes in Lovable (syncs to GitHub automatically)
2. Netlify rebuilds automatically
3. Download new files from Netlify
4. Upload to hosting (delete old contents first, keep .htaccess)
5. Check capitalization again

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*Published by ReRev Labs — https://rerev.io*