Connect the project to GitHub. It works on every plan and keeps your code in a repository you own, in sync with Lovable. On a paid plan, you can also click Download codebase for a one-time .zip file. Either way you get the code and not the data, because the records in your database and the files in storage move separately (moving a project off Lovable).
How do you export a Lovable project to GitHub?
Link the project to GitHub, and Lovable creates a private repository and keeps it in sync both ways (Lovable’s GitHub guide). You need a free GitHub account, and a workspace admin or owner sets up the first connection.
- In the project, open Project settings > Git > GitHub.
- If your workspace isn’t connected yet, click Add connection, then Add account, and install the Lovable GitHub app on your GitHub account.
- Click Connect next to the connection. Lovable creates a new repository and starts syncing.
- Clone the repository to your computer, or download it from GitHub as a ZIP file.
From then on, changes you make in Lovable reach the repository, and changes pushed to the repository reach Lovable. Don’t delete the repository, because that stops the sync. Lovable always creates a new repository, so you can’t link a project to one you already have, and reconnecting after a disconnect creates another new one. GitLab and Bitbucket work the same way.
How do you download a Lovable project as a ZIP?
On a paid plan, open the code editor and click Download codebase at the bottom of the file panel, or use the Download codebase section in Project settings > Git. You get a snapshot of the code as it is at that moment, and it won’t update when you keep building. On the free plan, use GitHub instead.
What doesn’t a Lovable export include?
Your data. Both routes give you the app’s code, with its settings files and the database migration files that describe its tables. Neither includes the rows saved in the database or the files people uploaded to storage. If you’re moving the app, you’ll copy those separately.
For example, a freelance designer builds a client feedback board on Lovable and links it to GitHub. A developer clones the repository to host the app elsewhere. The code arrives complete, but the 200 comments clients have left are still in Lovable’s backend, and a new database built from the migration files starts with empty tables.
Before you deploy the code somewhere else, check how it’s built. Open package.json in the Code tab. If it lists @tanstack/react-start, the app needs a host that runs a server. If it doesn’t, it’s an older React and Vite app, and any static file host can serve it.
A Lovable export hands you the code, and the data stays in Lovable’s backend until you move it yourself.
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References
- Sync your Lovable project with GitHub, Lovable Documentation, read 27 October 2026
- Deploying and hosting outside Lovable, Lovable Documentation, read 27 October 2026
All links checked and active as of 27 October 2026.