There are two ways to build a website with AI. On one, you tell a builder what you want and get a page that lives inside the provider's system. On the other, real files appear on your own computer, they belong to you — and you upload them somewhere.
This article describes the second route: Claude Cowork builds, Hostinger puts it online. The first one is described in Building a website with AI — if you want a finished page within an hour, that one is often better.
What Claude Cowork is — and what it isn't
Cowork is not the chat window you know. In chat you get text you copy out. In Cowork, Claude gets a folder on your computer and works inside it: creates files, changes them, renames them, tidies up.
That sounds like a fine distinction. For a website it is the whole distinction. A website consists of files that belong together — one page points to the next, all of them share the same styling. In a chat window you would have to copy each one out and assemble it yourself. In Cowork you end up with a finished folder.
Worth understanding, because it confuses people otherwise: the session runs in the cloud, not on your computer. Claude reaches your files only while the desktop app is open, and only in the folders you have explicitly connected. Close the app and the access is gone.
The difference to a builder
| Builder (Horizon, Wix, IONOS) | Claude Cowork | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the site lives | With the provider | As files with you |
| First finished page | About an hour | Half a day |
| Changes | Click in the editor | Say it, upload again |
| Moving elsewhere | Usually not possible | Copy the folder, done |
| You need | A clear idea | Plus: willingness to handle files |
The last row is the most honest one. Anyone who has never worked with folders and files will be happier with a builder sooner. Anyone who wants to keep the site even if a provider doubles its prices takes this route.
What you need
| Component | What for | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Claude, paid plan | Cowork is in no free tier | from €15 net a month |
| Claude desktop app | No access to your files without it | free |
| Hosting with a domain | So the site is reachable | from around €3 a month |
Cowork runs on every paid Claude plan — Pro is enough, Max is not required. The €15 is the annual price for Pro; paid monthly it is around €18 net. All tiers compared are in What Claude costs.
The desktop app exists for macOS and Windows. Cowork is now on mobile and in the browser too, but without access to your local files — for a website you therefore need the computer.
Step by step
1. Install the desktop app
Go into your Claude account in the browser, then to Apps and extensions, and download the desktop app. After the click you get instructions: open the file, install, done. Sign in to the app with the same account.
2. Create a folder and connect it
Create an empty folder on your computer — take a new one, not one with other things in it. Call it something like my-website. In Cowork you then click Work in a project or folder in the prompt bar and pick exactly that folder.
This is the most important decision in the whole process. The folder is the workplace: whatever sits there, Claude may read and change. Whatever sits elsewhere, it may not. Hence an empty folder of its own and not your desktop.
3. Describe what should come out
Now you say what you want. Not in keywords, but the way you would explain it to a person who does not know your business. So not "build me a website", but more like this:
Build me a website for my coaching business. Four pages: home, offer, about me, contact. The audience is self-employed people between 35 and 55. Calm and tidy, no animations, easy to read on a phone. At the top of the home page my offer in one sentence, below it three reasons to work with me, and a button to the contact form. Put the files straight into this folder.
The more precise that last part, the less reworking. And do say explicitly that the files should appear in this folder — otherwise they end up somewhere.
4. Look at it and change it
When Claude is finished, a file called index.html sits in your folder. Double-click it and it opens in the browser. That is your site — not on the internet yet, but exactly as it will look later.
Whatever you dislike, you simply say: "The heading is too big." "Make the button pink." "The about page needs a photo, I'll put it in the folder now." Claude changes the files, you reload the page in the browser.
Stay in that loop until it fits. It costs nothing extra and nothing breaks — the files are yours, and if all else fails you start again.
5. Upload to Hostinger
Now comes the step most people are wary of. It is easier than its reputation.
- Sign in to Hostinger and go to hPanel.
- Under Files you find the File Manager. Open it.
- You land in a folder called public_html. That is the place your domain shows. Whatever sits here is online.
- Put the files from your website folder into a ZIP file, upload it with Upload files, right-click it and choose Extract.
Done. Call up your domain and the site is there. If it is not: in nine cases out of ten the files sit one level too deep — in public_html/my-website/ instead of directly in public_html/. Move them up one level.
The File Manager route is the officially intended one at Hostinger and is documented there step by step. What Cowork may and may not do is in Anthropic's own guide.
6. The domain
If you bought your domain at Hostinger there is nothing more to do — it already points at public_html. If it comes from elsewhere, you enter Hostinger's name servers at your old provider. That takes a few hours to reach everywhere.
Where it gets stuck
So that nothing surprises you halfway through — these are the points where this route becomes uncomfortable:
- Every change means uploading again. Changing one word and re-uploading feels silly by the fifth time. There is a fix for that, see below.
- The desktop app has to be open. Closing it and carrying on in the browser does not work as soon as your files are involved.
- No content management system. There is no login, no editor for later, no blog that manages itself. You have files.
- Forms need something extra. A contact form that really sends mail is not possible with plain files. You attach a service or link your email address.
The route for later: uploading without uploading
If the uploading annoys you, there is a level above it, and it is the actual reason I like this route.
Hostinger can fetch the files itself. You put your website folder into a so-called repository — a storage space online, free of charge — connect it to Hostinger once, and from then on: whatever you change in that storage is online one to two minutes later. No file manager, no ZIP, no clicking.
That is how the site you are reading runs. I tell Claude what should change, Claude changes the files, and the rest happens on its own. That is the point where a tool turns into a workflow — and from there it genuinely takes work off you.
Start with the File Manager anyway. The detour is not one: they are the same files, you just lift them across differently later.
Who is this worth it for?
Take this route if you want to keep the site whatever a provider does; if you already work with Claude anyway; if you are willing to invest half a day instead of an hour.
Take the builder if it has to be quick; if you want to click rather than write later on; if folders and files are foreign to you. The route via Hostinger Horizon is then not the worse one but the more fitting one.
And if you want to know what both cost against an agency: What a website costs works it out for five routes.
Frequently asked questions
What does Claude Cowork do?
Cowork is the working mode of the Claude desktop app. Instead of handing you text in a chat, Claude works inside a folder on your computer: creating files, changing them, sorting them. Made for longer tasks that consist of many steps — a whole website with several pages, for instance.
What does Claude Cowork cost?
Cowork itself costs nothing extra but is included in no free tier. You need a paid Claude plan; the cheapest is Pro at 15 euros net a month paid annually, around 18 euros paid monthly. Max, Team and Enterprise include Cowork as well.
Does Claude Cowork run on Mac and Windows?
Yes, the desktop app exists for both systems and the process is identical. Cowork is now available in the browser and on mobile too — there, however, without access to your local files. For a website you therefore need the computer with the app open.
How do I set up Claude Cowork?
Download the desktop app from your Claude account, install it, sign in. Then click "Work in a project or folder" in the prompt bar and choose a folder. That is all there is to it. Take an empty folder to begin with — Claude works only where you allow it.
Can Claude build a complete website?
Several connected pages sharing one design: yes, that is exactly the case Cowork suits. What does not come out of it is a content management system with a login, a shop, or a contact form that sends mail by itself. Those need additional services.
What is the difference to Hostinger Horizon?
Horizon is a builder: you describe your page, it appears at the provider, and you change it there in the editor. Cowork produces real files on your computer that you upload yourself and can take anywhere. Horizon is faster, Cowork is yours.
Do I need programming skills?
No. You describe in ordinary language what should come out, and Claude writes the code. What you do need is something else: creating a folder, opening a file, uploading something. If you have ever sorted photos into a folder, that is enough.
