relume.ai

Choose Publish with Relume if you want a simple marketing site live quickly and don't need to maintain it in another tool—Relume handles hosting, custom domain, and SSL, and the site keeps improving after launch. Choose Export if your team or client needs the design or code in Figma, Webflow, or React for further editing, handoff, or integration with an existing stack. Both paths start from the same component system, so the decision is about where the site lives and who maintains it, not about starting over.

The shared foundation: one component system

Relume assembles sites from human-built components rather than generating raw code. The site describes this as "the component system behind 2 million websites," with the AI selecting from components designers built and maintain, then assembling them into your site. The claimed result is responsive, accessible, and SEO/AEO-ready output "by construction, not by luck," with no hallucinated layouts.

This matters for the decision because switching paths doesn't mean rebuilding from scratch. The same components feed both Publish and Export, so you can pick based on workflow and still recognize the output.

Publish with Relume: fastest route to a live site

Publish is aimed at simple marketing sites. Per the site, you drop in an old website, a document, or a few notes, and the AI turns it into a marketing site "you'd actually publish." The flow is brief-to-live-site in one flow, with custom domain and SSL handled.

What you get on this path:

• One-click go-live with hosting on Relume
• Custom domain and SSL managed for you
• Global edge network with sub-second load times on a global CDN
• Enterprise security — SSL, DDoS protection, and SOC 2 compliance pending
• 99.99% uptime SLO with auto-scaling for traffic spikes
• Post-launch improvement — the site says components are refined across thousands of sites, and when something stronger surfaces, every site gets it

The trade-off: the site lives on Relume's platform. If a client or team needs the design files or source code elsewhere, this path doesn't provide that.

Export: take the work into your own tools

Export is for teams that need the site in Figma, Webflow, or React—or want to pull components into AI tools via the Relume Library MCP. You choose from 1,000+ responsive components to build a complete site, then export.

The trade-off: you own hosting, deployment, and ongoing maintenance in the target tool. The post-launch component improvements described for Publish don't automatically apply to an exported site.

How to decide

Use these questions to pick a path:

1. Does the site need to live in an existing stack? If a client's site must run in Webflow, or your product team needs React components, export. If not, Publish is simpler.
2. Who maintains it after launch? Publish keeps maintenance on Relume's side and lets the site improve automatically. Export puts maintenance on you or your team.
3. Do you need editable design files? If designers will iterate in Figma, export to Figma gives editable auto-layout with real variables and variants. Publish doesn't serve that need.
4. Is speed to launch the priority? For a simple marketing site with no downstream tool requirements, Publish's one-flow brief-to-live-site process is the shorter route.

A practical middle ground: build in Relume, publish a first version to validate messaging, and export later if the project grows into a stack that needs Figma, Webflow, or React. Because both paths share the component system, the work carries over.

Getting started

Both paths begin the same way: start for free, drop in your old site, a document, or notes, and let the AI assemble a draft. From there, choose Publish to launch on Relume or Export to move into Figma, Webflow, or React. Pricing and plan details are listed on Relume's pricing page; check there for current terms before committing to a paid plan.

An IDX website pulls live listings from your local MLS and displays them on your own domain, so visitors can search homes without leaving your site. That single capability changes what a website does for your business: instead of a static brochure that describes who you are, it becomes a working search tool that captures leads at the moment they're actively looking. A built-in CRM then takes those inquiries and turns them into an ongoing contact record rather than a message buried in your inbox.

The Core Difference: Brochure Site vs. IDX Site

A generic agent website typically has a homepage, an "About Me" page, a few testimonials, and a contact form. Visitors read, maybe click "Contact," and leave. There's little reason to return.

An IDX-enabled site adds a searchable listing database. Visitors filter by price, bedrooms, neighborhood, or property type, save favorites, and come back to check for new matches. The practical difference shows up in behavior:

Neither type is useless. But if your goal is capturing buyers who are in the market right now, the search experience is what keeps them on your domain instead of sending them to a national portal where you're one of many agents competing for the same click.

What "IDX" Actually Means in Plain Terms

IDX stands for Internet Data Exchange. It's a reciprocal arrangement among MLS participants: brokers agree to let their listings appear on each other's websites in exchange for the same courtesy. Your MLS governs the rules — what data can display, how often it refreshes, how listings must be attributed, and which fields can be shown.

For you as an agent, the practical takeaway is:

• The feed comes from your MLS, not from the website provider. The provider builds the display; the MLS supplies the data.
• Coverage depends on your MLS. If you belong to one MLS, you typically get that MLS's listings. If you belong to several, you may need multiple feeds.
• Rules vary by region. Some MLSs require specific disclaimers, refresh intervals, or restrictions on certain fields.

This is why "does it have IDX?" is the wrong first question. The better question is "does it support my MLS, and what does the display look like?"

How the CRM Connects the Dots

A listing search without follow-up is just a nicer brochure. The CRM is what closes the loop.

Here's the flow in a well-integrated setup:

1. A visitor searches listings and clicks "Request a showing" or "Ask a question" on a specific property.
2. The inquiry lands in the CRM with the property address attached, not just a name and email.
3. The agent sees what the lead was looking at, which makes the first reply specific instead of generic.
4. The lead enters a follow-up sequence — new listings matching their criteria, price-change alerts, or a simple check-in.
5. Over time, the contact record accumulates: saved searches, past inquiries, showing history.

The alternative — leads arriving as raw emails — means you're reconstructing context from memory and hoping you remember to follow up. Most agents don't, not because they're careless, but because there's no system prompting them.

What to Expect During Setup

Setup is usually more about approvals than technical work. A realistic sequence:

1. Choose a domain

Use your name or brand (for example, yourname.com). Many providers include a free domain with a paid plan; confirm whether it renews free or at standard rate after year one.

2. Select a template and connect your branding

Logo, colors, headshot, service areas, and a short bio. This is the part you control fully.

3. Submit your MLS IDX approval

This is the step that catches people off guard. Your MLS must approve you as a participant authorized to display IDX data. You'll typically need your license number and MLS credentials. Approval can take anywhere from a day to a couple of weeks depending on the MLS.

4. Verify the feed and listing display

Once approved, confirm that listings actually appear, that search filters work, and that required disclaimers show. Check a handful of known addresses to make sure the data is current.

5. Set up lead capture and CRM routing

Decide where inquiries go, who gets notified, and what the first automated response says. Test it yourself with a fake inquiry before going live.

6. Publish and review on mobile

Most real estate searches happen on phones. Check the search flow on your own device before announcing the site.

Limitations Worth Knowing Before You Commit

IDX is powerful but not unlimited. Ask a provider these questions directly:

• Which MLSs do you support? Get a specific answer for your MLS, not a general "we support many."
• How often does the feed refresh? Some MLSs mandate near-real-time; others allow delays.
• Can I display sold and pending data? Rules differ, and sold data is often restricted.
• What happens if I switch brokers or MLSs? Can the feed be transferred or re-approved?
• Is the CRM included or an add-on? Some providers bundle it; others charge separately.
• What are the limits on contacts or emails? A CRM that caps out at 500 contacts may not fit a growing database.
• Who owns the lead data if I leave? Export rights matter more than most agents realize until it's too late.

Pricing structures in this category commonly start in the range of a few tens of dollars per month for a basic plan, with higher tiers adding features like advanced CRM, additional MLS feeds, or expanded marketing tools. Confirm current pricing and what each tier includes directly with the provider, since plan contents change.

A Reasonable Way to Decide

Ask yourself three questions:

1. Do buyers in my market search online before contacting an agent? In most markets, yes — which means a searchable site meets them where they already are.
2. Do I have a follow-up system I actually use? If not, the CRM half of an IDX site is arguably more valuable than the listings half.
3. Is my MLS supported? Without this, nothing else matters.

If the answer to all three is yes, an IDX site with integrated CRM is a reasonable infrastructure investment. If your MLS isn't supported, or you won't use the follow-up tools, a simpler site plus a standalone CRM may serve you better.

The honest framing: an IDX website doesn't generate leads by itself, and no provider can promise rankings or sales. What it does is give interested visitors a reason to stay on your domain and give you a structured way to follow up when they raise their hand. Whether that translates into business depends on how consistently you work the leads it captures.

Relume is a good fit if you need a simple marketing site and want to start without committing to a paid plan: the site says it's free to start, and pricing or upgrades are handled through the Pricing page and account plan page. Before you begin, decide whether you'll publish on Relume or export to Figma, Webflow, or React, because that choice determines who handles hosting, domains, and ongoing maintenance. Also verify the security and compliance details that matter for your client or company, since Relume lists SOC 2 compliance as pending.

Decide first: publish on Relume or export

Both paths start from the same component system, so the design foundation is identical. The difference is where the finished site lives and who maintains it.

If you choose export, plan for maintenance responsibility up front. The exported files are yours to keep current, and improvements Relume makes to its component system won't automatically reach an exported site.

What publishing on Relume includes

According to the site, publishing covers the infrastructure most small marketing sites need:

• Custom domain and SSL handled within Relume
• A global edge network with sub-second load times
• DDoS protection and enterprise security features
• A 99.99% uptime SLO with auto-scaling for traffic spikes

One claim to verify yourself: SOC 2 compliance is marked "pending" on the page. If your client or employer requires a completed SOC 2 report, confirm the current status before committing.

How the build actually works

Relume's AI doesn't write raw code. It selects from human-built, responsive components and assembles them into a site, which the company says avoids hallucinated layouts. You can start from an old website, a document, or a few notes. The result is intended to be publishable by default rather than a rough draft.

A practical example: a freelancer pastes in a client's existing site copy and a short brief, generates a marketing site, reviews the assembled sections, then either publishes to a custom domain or exports to Webflow for a client who insists on owning the codebase.

Pre-launch checklist

1. Confirm the plan and cost. Start free, then check the Pricing page before you rely on paid features. The site doesn't state which features sit behind a paid tier, so verify before promising a client anything.
2. Choose your path. Publish on Relume for speed and managed hosting; export if the client needs the site in their own Figma, Webflow, or React environment.
3. Check compliance needs. If SOC 2 or specific security attestations are required, confirm the current status rather than assuming it's complete.
4. Plan post-launch ownership. On Relume, improvements arrive automatically. After export, updates are your responsibility.
5. Test the output. Review responsiveness and accessibility on the generated site before going live, especially if you're handing it to a client.

The main decision is hosting versus ownership. Pick Relume publishing for the fastest route to a live marketing site; pick export when the client's stack or long-term control requires it.

Relume's AI does not write raw code. It selects from a library of human-designed components and assembles them into a complete marketing site, which is why the output is responsive, accessible, and SEO/AEO-ready by construction rather than by luck. This approach suits simple marketing sites where you want a publishable result fast, and it also gives you a clean path to export into Figma, Webflow, or React if you'd rather own the codebase.

The core mechanism: selection, not generation

Most AI site builders ask a model to produce code from scratch. Relume inverts that: the AI acts as an assembler. It picks from 1,000+ responsive components built and maintained by Relume's designers, then arranges them into pages based on your input.

The input can be an old website, a document, or a few notes. The output is a structured site made of components on a shared system — not a pile of model-written HTML and CSS that someone has to debug later.

This matters because generated code is where most AI builders break down: layouts that look plausible in a screenshot but collapse at other breakpoints, missing alt text, inconsistent spacing. Relume's page states the system avoids "hallucinated layouts" precisely because the AI never invents structure — it only chooses from structures that already exist and have been tested.

Why "assembled" changes the quality baseline

Because every component is built to be responsive, accessible, and SEO/AEO-ready, those properties come with the component itself. You are not relying on the model to remember accessibility attributes or meta structure on each run. The page describes this as "by construction, not by luck" — a fair summary of the difference between assembling vetted parts and generating novel code.

What happens after you publish

Relume's page makes a claim that is unusual among site builders: the site keeps improving after launch. Every component is being refined across thousands of sites, and when a stronger version surfaces, every site using that component gets the improvement — no rebuild, no action from you.

The stated rationale is that the component system sits behind 2 million websites, so refinements are validated across a large sample rather than tuned to one project. Treat this as a product claim rather than a guarantee; the practical takeaway is that you are opting into a managed system rather than a frozen export.

Publish or export: same system, two paths

The assembly model feeds two destinations, and the choice is the main decision you'll make:

Both paths start from the same component system, so the design and structure carry over. The page also mentions a Relume Library MCP for pulling components into AI tools, which is relevant if your workflow already runs through an AI coding assistant.

How to choose

• Pick Publish if the site is a straightforward marketing site and speed to launch is the priority. Relume handles domain, SSL, CDN, and scaling.
• Pick Export if a client or team requires the site in Figma, Webflow, or React — for example, an agency handing off to a client's existing Webflow account, or a dev team that needs Tailwind and shadcn/ui in their repo.
• Mix per project if you run an agency: the page frames this as "same system, your call," and the component library is shared either way.

A concrete example

Say you're a freelancer with an outdated site and a client call tomorrow. You drop the old site's URL or a PDF brief into Relume. The AI maps your content into components — hero, feature grid, testimonials, pricing, footer — and assembles a marketing site you could publish. You review it, swap a few sections, connect a custom domain, and go live. Later, if the client wants the site in Webflow, you export the same structure with client-first classes instead of rebuilding.

That flow — brief to assembled site to either publish or export — is the practical shape of the "assembled, not generated" model.

What to verify before committing

• Pricing and plan limits: Relume's site links to a pricing page and an upgrade path, and states you can start for free. Check the pricing page for current plan details before relying on free-tier limits.
• Compliance status: The page lists SOC 2 compliance as pending, alongside SSL and DDoS protection. If your client requires SOC 2 today, confirm the current status directly.
• Uptime and performance claims: The 99.99% uptime SLO and sub-second load times are product claims; validate against your own traffic needs if the site is business-critical.
• Export fidelity: If you plan to export to React or Webflow, test one page end-to-end first to confirm the output matches your team's conventions.

Relume can export a site built from its 1,000+ responsive components into three targets: Webflow (clean client-first classes, no cleanup), Figma (editable auto-layout with real variables and variants), and React (coded with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui components). The same component system underlies both paths, so you can either publish on Relume or take the work into your own tools.

What the export actually contains

Relume's AI does not write raw code. It selects from components its designers built and maintain, then assembles them into a site. That matters for export quality: what lands in Figma, Webflow, or React is a structured, human-designed layout rather than generated markup you have to repair.

You can also pull components into your own AI tools through the Relume Library MCP, which extends the export path beyond these three destinations.

How the export workflow runs

1. Start from a brief. Drop in an old website, a document, or a few notes; the AI assembles a marketing site from the component system.
2. Build or adjust the full site using the responsive component library.
3. Choose your path. Publish on Relume (custom domain and SSL handled, one-click go-live) or export to Figma, Webflow, or React.
4. Continue in your tool. In Webflow you inherit client-first classes; in Figma you get editable auto-layout with variables and variants; in React you get Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui code.

The expected result is a complete site structure in your chosen tool, not a partial set of sections.

Publish or export: how to decide

Both paths start from the same component system, so the choice is about where the site will live and who maintains it.

• Publish with Relume if you want a simple marketing site live fast: custom domain and SSL are handled, hosting runs on a global edge network with sub-second load times, and the site keeps improving after launch as components are refined across thousands of sites.
• Export to Webflow if clients or your team work in Webflow and you want clean classes without a cleanup pass.
• Export to Figma if design iteration continues after the initial build and you need real variables and variants, not flattened mockups.
• Export to React if the site must live inside an existing codebase built on Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui.

One caveat worth checking: the "improves after you publish" behavior applies to sites hosted on Relume. Once you export to Figma, Webflow, or React, you take the work into your own tools, so ongoing component refinements are not automatic there.

Common sticking points

• Assuming export means generated code. The AI assembles maintained components; it does not produce raw code, which is why exports arrive structured rather than improvised.
• Expecting post-launch improvements after export. That benefit is tied to publishing on Relume.
• Treating the three targets as interchangeable. Each maps to a different workflow — client-first classes for Webflow, variables and variants for Figma, Tailwind and shadcn/ui for React — so pick based on where the site will be maintained.

Relume is free to start, and pricing details are available on its pricing page if you need to compare plans before committing to either path.