--- title: "How a Lentil website gets built, step by step" description: "From a few sentences to a site you approved: tell us about your business, pick a homepage, check the facts, approve the plan and cost, then publish." url: https://uselentil.com/how-it-works updated: 2026-11-09 site: "Lentil" --- [Home](https://uselentil.com/) /How it works # From a few sentences to a website you approved. Tell Lentil what your business does, or paste the site you have. Choose the homepage design you like. Lentil plans every page from your real details, shows you the plan and its cost, and builds it as drafts. Nothing goes live until you publish. [Start free](https://app.uselentil.com/login) I already have a site Free plan, no card needed. Your first round of homepage designs is included. 1. Tell us 2. Choose the look 3. Check the facts 4. Approve the plan 5. Built as drafts 6. Review and edit 7. Publish 8. Keep it growing Steps 1 to 6 happen in private, with youFrom step 7, customers can see it ![A smiling woman in an apron standing in her coffee shop](https://uselentil.com/api/media/e189444c-e73e-42ae-95a4-af4124092983/coffee-shop-owner-arms-crossed-unsplash-qgg-vspybu8.jpg) Start with a few sentences. Tell Lentil what your business does. Nothing goes live until you say publish. Step by step ## What happens at each step? Lentil does the writing, design and building. You answer, choose and approve. You see the plan and its cost before anything is built. 1. 1 ### Tell us about your business One question first, a few optional ones after Lentil starts by asking what you do. Then it asks three or four more questions that depend on the kind of site, and each one is optional. Stuck? Ask for suggested answers and pick one. Paste your current website and Lentil reads it first, so it never asks what your site already answers. **You**Answer in your own words. A few minutes. **Lentil**Turns your answers into your business profile. 2. 2 ### Choose the look Show us sites you like, then pick a homepage Add up to three websites you like, from any industry, and say what to borrow from each. Pick a few words for the feel you want. Lentil then designs homepages for you to compare. Pick one, or ask for changes. The first round is included. Want a second opinion? Send a private review link. Your partner or a client sees the designs on phone and computer, picks a favourite and comments, with no account needed. **You**Point at what you like and pick a homepage. **Lentil**Designs homepages, and every page follows the one you pick. 3. 3 ### Check the facts Nothing invented, nothing guessed Before writing, Lentil shows the facts it will use: your services, hours, address, phone and prices. Correct anything that is wrong. A fact you leave blank is left off the site, never made up. **You**Read the list and fix anything off. **Lentil**Uses only these facts on every page. 4. 4 ### Approve the plan and its cost You see it all before anything is built Lentil proposes the pages, what goes in each section and which of your facts it uses, with an estimate of the AI credits the build will take. Add, remove or rename pages, then approve. **You**Change the plan if you like, then approve it. **Lentil**Waits for your yes before spending anything. 5. 5 ### Every page is built as a draft Watch it page by page Lentil writes and lays out each page, header and footer in the homepage design you picked, for phones, tablets and computers. You see each page as it finishes. If one page fails, retry it or skip it; the rest carry on. **You**Nothing. Go back to work. **Lentil**Builds every page as a draft only you can see. 6. 6 ### Review and edit By asking, or by clicking Ask for a change in plain words, or click any text or photo and change it yourself. Preview every page on a phone, a tablet and a computer. **You**Read it through and ask for what you want. **Lentil**Makes the change and shows you before and after. 7. 7 ### Publish when you are ready On a free address or your own domain Nothing goes live until you press publish. Go live free on a Lentil address, or on Pro connect a domain you own with guided steps, or buy one in Lentil with no DNS work. HTTPS is set up for you. **You**Press publish. **Lentil**Puts the whole site live at once, with HTTPS. 8. 8 ### Keep it growing The work after launch day Lentil checks your site every week for search, accessibility and AI readiness and fixes what it finds when you agree. Form messages land in one inbox with spam blocked, and automations send the ones you choose to your CRM or booking tool. Every version is kept, so any change can be undone. **You**Approve fixes and answer customers. **Lentil**Checks, routes enquiries and keeps every version. ## What if I already have a website? You have three choices: use it as a starting point for a new site, bring it over to Lentil, or keep it where it is and connect it. ### Use it as a starting point Paste your address at the first step. Lentil reads your site, fills in your business profile from it, then follows the same steps to design and build a new site. - Fewer questions to answer - New homepage designs to pick from - Your facts, checked by you first ### Bring it over Import your pages and content. Keep them as they are, or let Lentil plan an improved version that you approve before it is built. - Your pages and content carried over - As it is, or an improved plan - Your old site stays up until you publish ### Keep your site, add Lentil Leave your site where it is and connect it. See visits, weekly checks, your Google listing and reviews in Lentil, free for up to 3 sites. - Nothing moves, Lentil only reads - Analytics with one snippet - Google Business Profile and reviews [How keeping your site works](https://uselentil.com/existing-website) From your assistant ## Can I do all of this from ChatGPT or Claude? Yes. Connect Lentil to the assistant you already use, once, and go through the same steps in a chat. It has the same permissions you do, and nothing it changes goes live until you say publish. app.uselentil.com/mcp **Your assistant**Example, Lentil connected Make a website for my bakery in Somerville. We do sourdough, pastries and cakes to order. **Using Lentil**Here are some homepage designs. Which one feels right? The second one. Go ahead. **Using Lentil**I planned 4 pages: Home, Cakes to order, Visit us and Contact. Here is the estimated cost. Should I build it? ## What does a build cost? Your first round of homepage designs is included. Building the pages uses AI credits, and you see the estimate before you approve the plan. - **Estimate first**The plan shows the credits a build will take. Nothing is spent until you approve. - **Editing is free**Editing, publishing and hosting never use credits. - **Your own assistant costs nothing extra**Building from ChatGPT or Claude uses your assistant, not Lentil credits. ### Free $0 - Up to 5 pages - A contact form - A Lentil address [Start free](https://app.uselentil.com/login) ### Pro $39per site, per month - Unlimited pages and forms - Your own domain - 500 AI credits a month [See full pricing](https://uselentil.com/pricing) ## Questions before you start ### Is anything published without me? No. Every page is built as a draft, and nothing goes live until you press publish. ### What if I don't like any of the designs? Ask for changes to the one closest to what you want, or ask for new options. Your first round of designs is included; further rounds use credits. ### Can someone else weigh in on the design? Yes. Send a private review link. They see the designs on phone and computer, pick a favourite and leave comments, with no account needed. Their pick is a suggestion; you make the final choice. ### Can I change the plan before it is built? Yes. Add, remove or rename pages and change what goes in them. Lentil builds only after you approve the plan and its estimated cost. ### What if a fact on my site is wrong? Fix it in your business profile or ask Lentil to change it. Lentil only uses facts you gave or confirmed, and leaves out anything it does not know. ### Can I use my own domain? Yes, on Pro. Connect a domain you own with guided steps, or buy one in Lentil with no DNS work. HTTPS is set up for you. ## Start with one sentence about your business. You pick the design and approve the plan before anything is built. [Start free](https://app.uselentil.com/login) [Check my current site](https://uselentil.com/website-check)