Replit vs while: which one to choose when your AI agent deploys?

What changes between Replit and while

What matters	Replit	while
Who it’s for	People who describe their app to Replit’s agent, without coding1	People who build their apps with an AI agent, solo or as a team
Your AI agent	An MCP server that passes your requests to Replit’s agent, which writes the code2	Connected over MCP, with OAuth: it deploys, creates the database, reads the logs and fixes things
What protects production	The production database is out of the agent’s reach during development3	Sensitive actions, like deleting a production database, wait for a person
Your API keys	Kept by Replit, out of its agent’s reach8	Your agent never sees them: they stay in while
The database	Managed PostgreSQL, point-in-time recovery over 7 days, 28 with Pro4	PostgreSQL in while, backed up every day, with point-in-time recovery
Who opens your app	Public, a shared password, or the workspace members5	Everyone, a password, or the company account with the Pro plan
In France	No, the United States, or Europe with a paid plan6	Yes, with Nextmap, a French company
To get started	Free to try, one app published for 30 days, then Core at $20 per month, plus deployments billed by usage7	A trial without an account. Then €0 to get started, and €13.75 per month for an app and its database

Try while on your app, without an account. Copy the instructions

Replit, the whole app in the browser

Replit does everything in one tab: you describe the app, and its agent writes it, tests it and publishes it, database included. Each step has its checkpoint, code and development data included⁹, and each app is scanned before it is published⁸. For a first prototype with nothing to install, it’s hard to beat.

With while, your AI agent does the rest

• Your agent deploys, over MCP. It writes while.yaml, creates the database, reads the logs and fixes things, with no command line to learn.
• Nothing serious happens without you. Deleting a production database waits for your approval, before it runs, and every action is recorded in a signed activity log.
• Your keys stay secret. Your app uses them, your agent never sees them.
• Your colleagues sign in with the company account. Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, on the Pro plan, with no sign-in page to code.
• A mistake is quickly undone. In the 30 minutes after a deployment, the previous version comes back in a second, and your database goes back to a precise moment.

Moving from Replit to while

Take over your app

You push the code from Replit to GitHub in one click, then your agent takes it over, writes while.yaml and deploys the app.

Copy your PostgreSQL database

Your agent exports the database with pg_dump, then loads it into while.

Carry over your secrets

Your agent carries your settings over to while. You enter your secret keys yourself: it never sees them.

Which one to choose

• Choose Replit if you want to do everything in the browser, with Replit’s agent, without installing any tool.
• Choose while if you already work with Claude Code, Codex or Cursor, and your apps must run in France, with your colleagues and your keys kept safe.

Next steps

• Deploy a React app built with Vite