Build your website with Claude: how I replaced a $40k quote with a weekend and a good brief

Yes, a small business owner can build a production website with Claude. I rebuilt the Zippily website on Next.js, Sanity and Cloudflare with Claude Code doing the build, after being quoted upwards of $40,000 NZD to have an agency do it. The scaffolding was done in a weekend. What made it work wasn’t the AI on its own: it was going in with finished designs, finished copy and a really clear brief.

Here’s how I did it, what it cost, where Claude earned its keep, and where I think vibe coding does and doesn’t belong in a small business.

Why did I move off Squarespace?

Earlier this year I decided that if I wanted to take Zippily to the next level, a Squarespace website probably wasn’t going to cut it. We needed proper control over technical SEO, content we could structure and reuse across pages, and room to grow into things like event registrations and gated resources that feed straight into HubSpot.

So I reached out to some fellow agency owners and got a little bit too excited about the idea of configuring my own website using Claude and a headless CMS. Around the same time I was quoted upwards of $40k NZD to have it built on the same stack, with the wireframes already done. That was all the impetus I needed to give it a shot.

How long does it take to build a website with Claude?

Using Claude’s Fable model, the entire scaffolding of the site was built over one weekend and a couple of late nights.

It was pretty mind-blowing. It was probably the first time I really saw what AI can do to give the little guys a head start. The site looked beautiful, it had all the functionality I needed, and I could prompt it to create whatever I wanted. Updates that used to mean a ticket and a wait were taking seconds.

How much does it cost to build a website with Claude?

Prices are US list prices as of October 2026. Hosting and the CMS are small by comparison: Cloudflare Workers starts at US$5 a month, and Sanity has a free plan with paid plans from US$15 per seat a month.

The bigger saving is what happens after launch. Every change from here is ours to make, on our timeline, without a scope conversation.

What tech stack did I use?

The site runs on Next.js (React) for the front end, Sanity as the headless CMS, InstantDB for real-time data and Cloudflare Workers for hosting. Claude Code did the building.

I chose a headless setup because it separates the content from the code. Claude works on the build while the team works on the words, and Sanity’s Visual Editing lets anyone at Zippily update copy on the live page without touching code. A website only stays useful if the people closest to your customers can keep it current.

You don’t need this exact stack to do the same thing. You do need to understand what each piece is for, because you’ll be the one making the calls.

How do you build a website with Claude? The process I followed

If you go in with a loose brief, you’ll get a loose output. I had to be really clear on the vision I had for the website and what I wanted to get out of it. This is the process that worked for me.

1. Finish your designs and copy first

Before any building started, I made sure we had clean, high-quality designs and copy across the whole site. Claude is brilliant at building what you describe. It can’t decide what your business stands for.

2. Wireframe every page before you prompt anything

Each page started as a rough wireframe that I reviewed myself. Fixing a layout at the wireframe stage takes minutes. Fixing it once it’s built takes a lot longer.

3. Turn the wireframe into a visual design

Once the wireframe was right, it became a prompt for Claude Design to produce the page design, using our brand colours, typeface and signature details like the curved section dividers.

4. Write an implementation brief for each page

Every page then got a written brief for Claude Code: what content the page holds, which fields are required, how filters behave, and what the SEO settings should be. Claude Code does its best work when it knows exactly what done looks like.

5. Let Claude Code build, then review

Claude Code built each page from its brief, and I reviewed and fed back until it was right. A single rules file holding our brand rules and code conventions meant every page stayed consistent, no matter which session built it.

Where did Claude help beyond writing code?

The cool part was that Claude guided me through every step, including the jobs that usually make website projects drag.

Finding the placeholder content I’d missed

I could ask Claude where there was still placeholder content I needed to update. Having worked on websites before, that’s usually a manual process involving a messy spreadsheet.

Optimising for search engines and AI answers

I fed it our Google Search Console and Ahrefs data so it could optimise the site for AEO (answer engine optimisation, which is about being the source tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Google’s AI Overviews quote) from both a content and a technical perspective. Decisions were based on how people actually search for us, not guesses.

Turning feedback into changes

I could collate feedback from staff and third parties and paste it straight in. Claude understood the agenda every time, and took the feedback with grace and humility.

What should you watch out for?

The pattern I’d warn anyone about is the same one that sinks agency projects: unclear thinking going in. Claude will build exactly what you ask for, including the wrong thing, very quickly.

Should you vibe code your business website?

Vibe coding means building software by describing what you want to an AI rather than writing the code yourself. When it comes to vibe coding, I’m sceptical about most of your tech stack, but not your website.

Most business software needs governance and upkeep: permissions, data security, integrations that break when a vendor changes something. Your website is different. It’s a shopfront, and nobody’s going to know how to get found by the bots better than the bots.

I think the next couple of years will shift a lot of website work away from traditional developers as these tools get easier to use, and the internet will become a canvas for people’s own expression. The value moves to strategy, brand and knowing what a site needs to achieve.

What’s next for us?

My next project is to use what I’ve learned to build a full client portal for request intake and project visibility, so our clients can see exactly where their work is at.

Frequently asked questions

Can I build a website with Claude if I can’t code?

You don’t need to write code, but you do need to make decisions like a project owner. Claude Code handles the code; you supply the designs, the copy and a clear brief, and you review what it builds. Some comfort with tools like GitHub and a hosting dashboard helps.

How long does it take to build a website with Claude?

The scaffolding of our site took a weekend. Most of the time goes into designs, copy and review rather than development, so the timeline depends on how ready your content is.

Is a website built with Claude good for SEO?

It can be better than a template site, because you control the technical SEO directly: page structure, schema markup, meta fields and speed. We used our Google Search Console and Ahrefs data so content and technical decisions reflected real search behaviour.

Do I still need a web developer?

For a marketing website, far less than you used to. For anything that handles payments, customer data or complex integrations, get a professional to review security and governance before you launch.

Want to give it a go?

I’d love to share what I’ve learned with any small business owners interested in the idea. It’s a fun ride. Get in touch → or send me a message on LinkedIn.

If you’d like help bringing Claude into the rest of your business, take a look at our AI Solutions service.