# Start your app from a template with CI, previews and tests in place

> Early access: start a web app, blog, payments flow or admin dashboard from a template in your own GitHub repository, with CI, previews and tests in place.

Early access, for founders.

Pick a web app, blog, payments or admin dashboard template in a GitHub repository you own. SHIP then builds each feature, upgrades dependencies and patches security advisories, all as reviewed, tested pull requests.

- **For:** Founders starting a new product, technical or not.
- **Instead of:** An app builder that hosts your code, or a starter kit you wire up yourself.
- **Runs today:** Connect a GitHub repository you already have: SHIP builds each feature as a reviewed, tested pull request, and scheduled missions upgrade its dependencies, fix flaky tests and triage security advisories.

## Pick a template and describe the product

1. **Choose a template.** Web app, blog, payments or admin dashboard, each with authentication, a database, tests and a deploy pipeline already wired together.
2. **Own the repository from day one.** The template starts as a repository in your own GitHub account, so the code, its history and where it runs stay your decisions.
3. **Describe what to build next.** Write the next feature as an issue or a sentence. The agents plan, build, review and test it as a pull request you merge.

## Skip the setup and upkeep every project repeats

- **Get CI and previews on the first commit.** Every template ships with a pipeline that tests each pull request and deploys a preview of it.
- **Maintain the project on a schedule.** Scheduled missions upgrade dependencies, fix flaky tests and patch the security advisories that actually reach your code. Each change arrives as a pull request you merge.
- **Bring your own models.** Run the agents on your own Anthropic, OpenAI, Z.ai or OpenRouter keys, or on a subscription you already pay for.
- **Keep the code portable.** Templates use standard frameworks in a plain repository, so you can host the app anywhere and hand the code to any engineer.
- **Grow it the same way you started.** The tenth feature passes the same CI, review and test as the first.

## Compare SHIP with Lovable and Replit

- **SHIP:** In early access: Starts the template in your own GitHub repository.
- **SHIP:** In early access: Runs every change through your CI, a review and a test on a preview, on your own model keys.
- **SHIP:** In early access: Maintains the project on a schedule, upgrading dependencies, fixing flaky tests and patching security advisories through pull requests.
- **SHIP:** Bills per mission: one credit covers one mission of up to 3 agent-hours, and your own provider bills model usage. ([Key facts](https://letsship.ai/about#key-facts))
- **Lovable:** Prices plans by the credits they include rather than by seats. ([Pricing](https://lovable.dev/pricing))
- **Lovable:** Starts Pro at $25 a month for 100 credits. ([Plans](https://docs.lovable.dev/introduction/subscription-plans))
- **Lovable:** Creates a new repository and starts two-way sync when you link a project to GitHub. ([Git sync](https://docs.lovable.dev/integrations/git-sync-overview))
- **Lovable:** Hosts your published app. ([Hosting](https://docs.lovable.dev/features/hosting))
- **Lovable:** Manages the model its agent runs on. ([FAQ](https://docs.lovable.dev/introduction/faq))
- **Replit:** Bills Agent work by effort, charging per checkpoint, one checkpoint for each completed request. ([AI billing](https://docs.replit.com/billing/ai-billing))
- **Replit:** Publishes apps to its own cloud, with published apps hosted in the United States. ([Deployments](https://docs.replit.com/learn/projects-and-artifacts/replit-deployments))
- **Replit:** Sets up a managed Postgres database with separate development and production environments. ([Database](https://docs.replit.com/build/add-database))
- **Replit:** Provisions sign-in through Replit Auth or Clerk Auth, both set up by its Agent. ([Auth](https://docs.replit.com/learn/projects-and-artifacts/auth))

Last reviewed October 3, 2026, from each product's own pages.

## Frequently asked questions

### Are app templates available today?

App templates are in early access, so you cannot start from one yet. Today SHIP builds features on a GitHub repository you already have, and scheduled missions maintain it.

### Who maintains the code after launch?

SHIP does, on a schedule you set. Maintenance missions upgrade dependencies, fix flaky tests and patch security advisories, each as a reviewed, tested pull request you merge.

### Do I need to code?

No. You need a GitHub account, a model key or subscription for the agents, and to decide which pull requests to merge. SHIP writes the code, and every change comes with review and test results that explain it.

### When is Lovable or Replit the better fit?

Lovable or Replit fits better when you want to describe an app in chat and have it built and hosted for you in one place, as their own pages describe. SHIP fits when the code should live in your own GitHub repository and every change should pass your CI, a review and a test.

### Can I use SHIP on an app I already started?

Yes, today. Connect its GitHub repository, and SHIP builds each feature you describe as a reviewed, tested pull request, while scheduled missions upgrade dependencies, fix flaky tests and triage security advisories.

## Claim a template for your next product

Join early access and start from a repository with CI, previews and tests from the first commit, maintained from then on.

Source: https://letsship.ai/platform/app-templates