Decision guide

Percher or Bolt.new?

Bolt.new is StackBlitz's in-browser AI dev environment — describe an app in chat, iterate on it with a full terminal and file tree running entirely in the tab via WebContainer. Bolt ships its own production hosting (with custom domains and built-in databases) on top of that, so this isn't a hosting-or-no-hosting comparison. The pattern this page is about is the bridge: build in Bolt, host on Percher. People do that when they want hosting separated from the builder — your own infrastructure, flat per-account pricing decoupled from AI token usage, and EU data residency — while keeping Bolt as the chat-driven dev environment for further iteration.

Who Percher is for

Percher is built for personal apps — projects you build for yourself or your close circle. It is notpositioned as production-grade or enterprise hosting today: there is no uptime SLA, no formal compliance attestation, and a single region in Germany. If you're shipping a monetised SaaS, an app for paying customers, or anything that needs an SLA, Bolt.new or a higher-tier provider is the safer choice. Percher may grow into that space; it is not there now.

At a glance

Feature	Percher	Bolt.new
Primary role	Hosting platform for personal apps	In-browser AI dev environment + native production hosting
Where the app runs while you build	On your Percher container after each `publish`	Inside WebContainer (Node in the browser tab)
AI assistant integration	MCP server — Claude Code / Cursor / Windsurf as your daily driver	Built-in chat-based AI (their own surface)
Free tier	Free plan (2 apps, sleep after 10 min idle)	Daily token limit on Free tier
Paid entry price	€3/mo (Starter) — flat, per account	Paid tiers raise the daily token allowance
Pricing model	Flat monthly hosting subscription	Token-metered AI usage (LLM cost passed through)
Hosting jurisdiction	EU only (Germany)	US-based platform (StackBlitz)
Where the live URL lives	Percher itself — `name.percher.run` and custom domains	Bolt's native hosting, or built-in Netlify deploy integration
Backend defaults	Opt-in managed PocketBase via `[data] mode = "pocketbase"` (SQLite + auth + file storage)	Often Supabase or external APIs; varies by prompt
Source code ownership	You own and host the code anywhere	Download as a normal npm project at any time
Custom domains	Yes (paid plans)	Yes on paid plans (Bolt-native or via the Netlify integration)
Operational visibility for live traffic	Runtime logs, build logs, deploy history, metrics — accessible via CLI / MCP / dashboard	Tuned for the in-tab build loop more than for live-traffic diagnosis

When Percher is the better choice

You've prototyped a project in Bolt and want a separate hosting platform — your own domain, runtime logs, per-deploy rollback, predictable monthly cost.
You want hosting separated from your AI tool spend. Bolt bundles AI tokens with the live preview; Percher bills hosting only and is independent of which AI tool you use.
Your daily AI assistant is Claude Code, Cursor, or Windsurf and you want every operation as a native MCP tool call — `publish`, `logs`, `env`, `rollback`, `doctor` — without leaving the assistant.
Your hosting must stay in the EU. Percher runs in Germany only; Bolt and StackBlitz are US-based.
You want a Linux container, an opt-in managed PocketBase sidecar, env vars, and a deploy history rather than the in-tab WebContainer model.

When Percher is the wrong choice (and Bolt.new fits better)

You're still in the prototyping phase and want a chat-driven dev environment with a full terminal and file tree in the browser. WebContainer is genuinely impressive technology and Percher doesn't try to compete with it.
You don't have a local development setup and don't want one — Bolt runs Node entirely in your browser tab.
Bolt's native hosting or its Netlify deploy integration covers your needs and the extra hop to a separate host isn't worth the operational split.
You're early enough in the project that the AI builder is doing most of the work and you'd rather pay one bundled bill than separate tools.
You're already inside the StackBlitz ecosystem and the in-tab dev loop matches how you work.

Migrating from Bolt.new

Bolt projects download as standard npm packages — there's no proprietary format you have to convert. Click the download button (or push to GitHub from inside Bolt), clone the result locally, and `bunx percher init` detects whatever framework Bolt scaffolded (usually Vite + React, sometimes Next.js or SvelteKit) and writes a working `percher.toml`. `bunx percher publish` builds and deploys it. For Vite apps the project ships as `runtime = "docker"` with a multi-stage build (Bun stage compiles, slim Caddy stage serves) — `init` scaffolds both the Dockerfile and Caddyfile automatically.

External services keep working unchanged. If Bolt generated an app that talks to Supabase or any external API, copy those env vars (`bunx percher env set VITE_SUPABASE_URL=...`, etc.) — Percher auto-forwards anything matching `VITE_*` / `NEXT_PUBLIC_*` / `PUBLIC_*` to the build container so the values land in your client bundle. Custom domain is one DNS update after the first deploy.

# 1. In Bolt: download the project, or push to GitHub
# 2. Clone locally:
git clone https://github.com/you/your-bolt-project
cd your-bolt-project
bunx percher init            # detects framework, scaffolds Dockerfile if needed
bunx percher env set VITE_SUPABASE_URL=...  # for each Bolt env var
bunx percher publish         # build + deploy
bunx percher domains add yourdomain.com

FAQ

Do I have to stop using Bolt to ship on Percher?

No. The pattern is build in Bolt, host on Percher. Keep using Bolt's chat to iterate on the app, sync to GitHub when you have a milestone, and re-deploy with `bunx percher publish`. Bolt's in-browser dev environment and Percher's hosting are independent — one's job is rapid iteration with an AI in the loop, the other's job is keeping the live URL up.

Can I use Claude Code or Cursor with Percher instead of Bolt's AI?

Yes — that's the core difference. Percher's MCP server (`bunx percher mcp` prints the config) plugs into Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, or any MCP-capable assistant, giving the assistant `publish`, `logs`, `env`, `rollback`, and roughly 37 other tool calls. Your AI assistant and your hosting platform stop being separate apps you switch between.

What if my Bolt app uses Supabase?

It keeps working unchanged. Supabase is reached over HTTPS; Percher's outbound proxy handles the connection. Copy `VITE_SUPABASE_URL` and `VITE_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY` (or whichever prefix your framework uses — `NEXT_PUBLIC_*` for Next, `PUBLIC_*` for SvelteKit/Astro) and re-set with `bunx percher env set`. Those prefixes auto-forward to the build container so the values are baked into your client bundle.

Is Percher cheaper than Bolt?

They bill for different things. Bolt charges token-based pricing for the AI builder; Percher charges flat per account (€0 / €3 / €12 / €29 per month) for hosting only. If you move to your own AI subscription (Claude / Cursor / Windsurf) for the build side and Percher for the host side, the total can be cheaper or more expensive depending on token usage. The two costs are independent on Percher; on Bolt they're bundled.

Does Bolt's WebContainer have a Percher equivalent?

No, and Percher isn't trying to build one. WebContainer runs Node entirely in the browser tab — useful for in-tab iteration but a different shape from hosting a live URL. Percher's compute is real Linux containers on a German VPS with a fixed resource budget per plan. Different tools for different stages of the project's life.

Try Percher in under a minute

Free plan, no credit card. Bring any Node, Bun, Python, or Docker app.

Bringing an existing app? See recommended setup or the migration walkthrough above.