Cohostly vs Netlify: an alternative for AI-built apps

Netlify is a platform for static sites and front-end projects, with Git-based deploys and serverless functions. Cohostly is for the small apps an AI assistant builds for you or your team: deploy from a folder or over MCP, share by email, and approve changes. Here is how to choose.

The short answer

Pick Netlify for what it is built for (below). Pick Cohostly when the app was written by an assistant, a specific set of people should open it, and you want nothing risky to change without your yes.

What Netlify does well

• Static sites, blogs and front-end apps with simple Git deploys.
• Forms, redirects and functions bundled into the platform.
• A friendly path from a repository to a public website.

Where Cohostly is different

• Share by email, like a document: named people, your team, anyone with the link, or the public.
• Connect Google, Slack and other accounts one permission at a time, so no password sits in the code.
• Secrets are typed on a private page, never into a chat or the source.
• Every change by a teammate or an assistant waits for approval, explained in plain words with its risk.
• Deploy from a folder, .zip, GitHub repo, or straight from Claude, Claude Code or Cursor over MCP.
• Apps rest when nobody is using them and wake in about a second, so small tools cost little.

When Netlify is the better pick

• Your project is a static site or a front-end bundle with a few functions.
• The site is meant to be public and does not need per-person access.

Moving an app from Netlify to Cohostly

If the project needs a running server, a database connection or a sheet it reads from, deploy the folder to Cohostly instead and share the link with named people.

Questions

Can Netlify share an app with only certain people?

That kind of per-person sharing is not what it is built around. Cohostly shares by email, like a document.

Does Cohostly host static sites?

Yes. A built front-end folder is served like any other project.