AI now writes most new websites. It writes them as files: HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Markdown. Then someone has to run the site for years. The tools for that still keep it as rows in a vendor database, behind a login, in a browser tab. We think that is the wrong place. This post is the argument.
The browser tab is the problem
A hosted website builder runs on servers you do not control and shows you a view of your site in a tab. That was a fair trade when it started. Updates were easy and sharing was simple.
The same decision also made four others for you.
Your site became rows in their database. You can export part of it. You cannot open it. If the only durable copy lives with the vendor, you rent a view of your own work.
You pay for their server, every month. A browser-based tool must run a server for every user, every minute. Someone pays for that server in the price, per site and per seat, for as long as the site exists.
Publish means their hosting. The editor and the runtime are one product. To leave the host, you rebuild the site.
The work stops when the connection stops. A desktop or offline app is the most requested feature on multiple in browser CMS tools wishlists, for years.
That reply is honest, and it is the point. A tool built inside the browser cannot move out of it. Where a tool runs is not a feature. It decides everything that comes after.
Files, not rows
Language models learned the web from files. HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Markdown, folders and Git history. No model learned a vendor's private database schema.
| What a hosted CMS stores | What AI reads and writes |
|---|---|
| Database rows | HTML, CSS and JavaScript files |
| A proprietary schema | Markdown |
| A build step you cannot see | Folders |
| A runtime you rent | Git history |
Every translation between the two columns loses something. So people who build with AI skip the CMS. Then nobody can change the site without a prompt.
Splitleaf is a file-based CMS. Pages, components, styles and content are ordinary files in a folder on your disk. The designer, the CMS and the agent all read and write those same files. Every publish is a commit to your own repository, and you never have to see one. Git-backed, not Git-exposed.
The longer version is in Does your website need a database?
Three meters you stop paying
A tool that runs on a vendor's servers has to meter you. Today there are three meters.
The site meter. Hosted builders charge for each site, every month. A site with a CMS costs $25 a month on Webflow and $10 to $30 a month on Framer, billed yearly. Splitleaf has no site plan. One licence covers every site you build.
The seat meter. Each extra editor is a monthly seat: $39 on Webflow and $20 on Framer. Splitleaf charges $6 a month for a collaborator beyond the free ones, because sync between people runs on our servers and that costs us money. Nothing else does.
The AI meter. Hosted builders resell AI as credits. By Framer's own figures, a generated landing page costs about 300 credits, and the Basic plan includes 1,000 a month. Unused credits do not roll over, and at zero the AI features pause. In Splitleaf you connect your own key and pay the provider's price. We run no server between you and the model, and we add no markup.
A meter changes how you behave. You ration a metered thing. You ask once, not five times. You accept the first result.
Prices checked on 20 September 2026 on each vendor's pricing page, yearly billing, in USD. Work out your own numbers in the cost comparison, and see how each tool charges for AI.
Models are moving to your device
A Mac with unified memory already holds models that needed a server room a few years ago. When the next question costs a little electricity and nothing more, people ask far more questions, not fewer. The tenth headline. The version you would have skipped. The small fix nobody wanted to spend a credit on.
A tool in a browser tab cannot use that chip. A tool on your device can. That is why we think the CMS for the AI era lives on the device. It is why we built Splitleaf as an app before the models were ready.
The agent already works the way that future needs. It runs from the app on your machine, on your own files, with your own key. No server of ours sits between you and the model. When the models come home, the agent is already there.
The longer version is in Your Mac can already run models that used to need a server room.
What we built on
None of this is new, and we did not invent it. Git-based CMSs such as Decap, TinaCMS, Keystatic and Sveltia kept content in files years ago. The local-first movement made the case for software that works on your own machine. They were right.
What was missing was the interface. Those tools assume the editor knows what a branch is. A marketer should never need to know. Splitleaf puts a visual designer, a CMS and a publish board on top of the files, so a whole team can use them.
Your files. Your device. No meter.
What follows when the CMS lives on your device
- Own your code: your site is files in your folder, with Git history. It is not rows in a vendor database.
- Pay once, own forever: your Mac does the work, so our cost does not grow with what you build. You pay $129 once.
- Host where you want: the output is plain static files. Any host can serve them, and you can change host at any time.
- Design offline: the working copy is on your disk. You keep working when the connection does not.
- Build with agents: the agent edits the same files you do, with your own key. No credits and no markup.
The questions we would ask
Why not just use Cursor or Claude Code?
Keep them. They are excellent at creating a site. Splitleaf is where the site lives afterwards. It gives you a visual canvas, a CMS and a publish board, all on the same files. People who do not code can review, edit and publish. The built-in agent stages every change for you to keep or undo.
What happens to my site if Splitleaf shuts down?
Your live site keeps running. It is plain HTML and CSS on your own host, and its history is in your own GitHub repository. The source is a folder of HTML, CSS and Markdown files on your disk that opens in any code editor. What depends on our servers: sign-in, the licence check after a 90-day offline grace period, team sync and your stored API keys.
Is the AI local today?
Not yet. The agent calls the provider you connect: Anthropic, OpenAI or OpenRouter, on your own key. Everything else is already local. The app, your files, your edits and the design work all run on your Mac or Windows PC. No server of ours sits between you and the model. Local models are the next step, and the architecture is built for them.
Is this a static site generator with a visual editor?
The output is static HTML and CSS, so that part is true. The difference is who can use it. There is no build configuration, no template language and no terminal. A designer or a marketer designs, edits content and publishes from one app.
Is Splitleaf a cheaper Webflow or Framer?
No. Webflow and Framer are hosted builders that run in a browser tab. Splitleaf is a different category: the CMS runs on your device and your site is hosted with Vercel or a host of your choosing. The lower price is a result of that, not the point of it.
Do I pay Splitleaf for AI?
No. You connect your own key and pay your provider at its normal price. Splitleaf runs no server between you and the model and adds no markup. The agent panel shows the usage of each chat.
Where are my API keys stored?
On Splitleaf's server in the EU, encrypted, for that one site. A key is never written to your site folder, so it never ends up in your repository.
What happens after the 12 months of updates?
The app you bought keeps working and keeps publishing. The licence includes 12 months of updates. A future major version is an optional paid upgrade.
Does it run on Mac and Windows?
Yes. Splitleaf is a native desktop app for Mac and Windows. It runs on Intel and Apple silicon Macs with macOS 11 or later, and on Intel, AMD and Arm PCs.