What Can an AI Website Builder Build, and What Does It Need From You?

Reviewed by Product Specialist at thinQit. Updated 28 October 2026.

An AI website builder creates websites and web apps from a description of what you need, instead of from a blank template. It asks questions, proposes a plan, builds a first version you can preview, and publishes it once you approve.

This article explains what such a builder produces, what it needs from you before it starts, how you review the result, and how publishing works. It uses Codex, the thinQit website and web app builder, as the worked example.

What does an AI website builder actually produce?

An AI website builder produces a working site or web app: pages, layout, copy placement, styling and, for apps, the data behind the screens. The difference from a template editor is that you describe the outcome and the builder makes the structural decisions, which you then review.

Codex distinguishes two project types. Websites are landing pages and marketing sites, from one page to many, in the style you describe. Web apps are interactive and backed by a database, such as an ordering app, a client portal or a dashboard. You choose the type when you start a project, and every project stays in Codex so you can return and keep building.

What does the builder need from you before it starts?

The builder needs to know what the business does, who the site is for and which pages or screens are required. That is the minimum context: without it, the builder fills gaps with guesses, and guesses become decisions you have to undo later.

In Codex you tell Cody what the business does and who it is for. You can add a logo, photos or a PDF. Cody then asks a few focused questions and writes a plan covering pages, style and colours. For a web app the plan also covers the screens and the data. You can change the plan as often as you like, and the build starts only when you say it looks right.

The guide on the minimum context an AI website builder needs to start goes deeper on what to write down and what to leave out.

How do you build a site with an AI website builder, step by step?

The process has three stages: describe, preview and publish. Each stage ends with a decision from you, which keeps the builder from running ahead of your intent.

1. Choose a website or a web app and describe the business and its audience.
2. Add any logo, photos or PDF you want the builder to use.
3. Answer the builder's questions and read the plan it writes.
4. Adjust the plan until it matches what you want, then approve it.
5. Review the first version in the live preview and ask for changes in plain words.
6. Publish on a free thinqit.site address, or connect a domain you own.

The article How Does an AI Website Builder Turn a Brief Into a Build? describes how the brief is converted into reviewable work in the second and third steps.

How do you review what the builder made?

You review the build in a live preview and request changes in ordinary language. Reviewing the rendered result is more reliable than reviewing a description of it, because it shows what a visitor will actually see.

In Codex the preview sits next to the chat. You can switch between computer, tablet and phone views, or open the site in a new tab. Builds run in the background, so you can close the page and come back later. A change can be a small tweak, a single page or a full rebuild, and the preview link stays the same after every change.

Check each view against the plan you approved. Does the page carry the information a visitor needs before the next action? Does it read correctly on a phone? Keeping review tied to the approved plan is what separates controlled delivery from endless adjustment. See How Do You Control an AI Website Builder After the First Build? for the review loop after the first version.

How does publishing work?

Publishing puts the approved site online either on a free thinqit.site subdomain or on a domain you own. The subdomain works right away with no DNS work, and a custom domain needs a few records added at your domain provider.

For your own domain, Codex shows the DNS records to add and verifies them for you, and HTTPS is set up for you. You can also check whether a name is free before you publish. Treat the launch as a checklist: confirm the domain records, open the live address on a phone and a computer, and check that the key pages and forms behave as planned.

What does it cost, and how are builds charged?

Codex plans include monthly credits for building. According to the Codex page, the Sites Launch plan has 150 credits a month and starts from €20 a month, and the App Launch plan has 450 credits a month and starts from €50 a month. Your balance is checked before a build starts, and a build that fails is not charged. Current plans are listed on the pricing page.

When is an AI website builder the wrong tool?

An AI website builder is a poor fit when the product decisions have not been made. If the audience, the pages or the main action are still unresolved, the builder will produce a polished interpretation of an open question. Settle those points in the plan first, or build one small part and review it before widening the scope.

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