How to Use Hostinger Horizons — Free Tutorial for Beginners (2026)

What You'll Build

Hostinger Horizons lets you describe a web app in plain language and get a working site — hosting, domain, and SSL included. In this tutorial, you'll build a portfolio site with a contact form and project gallery. If you run a service business, you can swap that for a booking page instead. Same steps, different first prompt.

Time: ~20 minutes. Cost: Free. 7-day trial, no credit card required. Skill level: Zero coding experience needed.

By the end, you'll have a live site at a real URL with SSL and CDN already configured. You'll also understand the core workflow — describe, refine, customize, publish — so you can build whatever you want next.

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Prerequisites

You need two things.

1. A web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge — anything modern)
2. An email address (for creating your Hostinger account)

That's it. No coding knowledge. No software to install. No terminal. Horizons runs entirely in your browser.

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Step 1: Sign Up for the Free Trial

Head to Hostinger Horizons and start your free trial. You can sign up with email or Google. No credit card is required for the trial.

The free trial gives you 5 prompts per day for 7 days. That's enough to build and publish a complete site if you're reasonably specific with your prompts. You won't burn through them fast unless you're sending vague requests and correcting the output repeatedly.

Once you're signed in, you'll land on the Horizons dashboard with a text input waiting for your first prompt.

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Step 2: Start a New Project

This is where it gets interesting. You describe what you want to build in plain language, and Horizons generates a working site.

Copy and paste this prompt into the text input:

Build a personal portfolio website for a freelance designer named Alex. Include a hero section with a headline and short bio, a project gallery showing 6 projects in a grid with images and titles, a testimonials section with 3 client quotes, an about page, and a contact form that collects name, email, and message. Use a clean, minimal design with a white background, dark text, and blue accent colors. Make the navigation sticky.

Hit enter. Horizons takes 30–60 seconds to generate your site. You'll see a live preview appear — a full, styled website built from that single paragraph.

Running a service business instead?

Try this prompt:

Build a booking website for a yoga studio called "Flow Studio." Include a homepage with class schedule, instructor bios with photos, a pricing section showing 3 membership tiers, a contact page with a map embed placeholder, and an online booking form that collects name, email, phone, preferred class, and date. Use calming colors — soft greens and whites. Make the header sticky with a "Book a Class" button.

Same process, different output. Horizons adapts to whatever you describe.

Voice and image prompts

You don't have to type. Horizons supports voice prompts — tap the microphone icon and describe your app out loud. It also accepts image uploads — snap a photo of a sketch on paper or screenshot a site you like, and Horizons will use it as a reference. Text prompts still give the most predictable results, but voice and image inputs are handy if you find it easier to explain ideas verbally or visually.

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Step 3: Refine with Follow-Up Prompts

Your first generation won't be perfect. It never is with any AI builder. The real workflow is iterative: you look at what Horizons built, identify what needs changing, and send targeted follow-up prompts.

Try these one at a time:

Make the header sticky

Make the header sticky so it stays visible when scrolling. Add a subtle shadow underneath it.

Add a testimonials section

Add a testimonials section below the project gallery with 3 client quotes. Each testimonial should show the client name, role, and a short quote. Use a light gray background to separate it from the rest of the page.

Change the color scheme

Change the accent color from blue to dark navy (#1a2744). Update all buttons, links, and highlights to match.

Add a call-to-action

Add a full-width CTA section before the footer that says "Let's work together" with a short paragraph and a "Get in Touch" button that scrolls to the contact form.

The pattern

Each prompt targets one specific change. That's the most credit-efficient way to work. Vague prompts like "make it look more professional" force Horizons to guess what you mean, and you'll spend follow-up prompts correcting the interpretation. Specific prompts — "change the accent color to navy" or "add a shadow under the header" — get you exactly what you asked for.

Horizons supports 80+ languages, so you can send prompts in Spanish, French, German, Japanese, or whatever you're comfortable with. The AI responds in the same language.

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Step 4: Use Content Editing Mode

Once you're happy with the layout and structure, you'll want to swap placeholder text and images for your real content. This is where Content Editing Mode saves you credits.

Instead of burning a prompt on "change the headline to 'Design That Delivers,'" you can click directly on the text in the preview and edit it inline — no prompt needed.

Content Editing Mode lets you:

• Edit text directly on the page
• Swap images by clicking and uploading replacements
• Adjust copy without using any AI credits

Important note: Content Editing Mode is available on the Starter plan ($13.99/mo) and above. During the free trial, you'll need to use prompts for text changes. If you're on the trial, batch your text edits into a single prompt to conserve credits:

Update the following text: change the headline to "Design That Delivers," change the bio to "I'm Alex — a freelance designer specializing in brand identity and web design for startups," and update the CTA button text to "Start a Project."

One prompt, multiple text changes. Much more efficient than sending them separately.

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Step 5: Add E-Commerce

If you're selling products or services, Horizons includes Stripe integration starting on the Starter plan ($13.99/mo).

Tell Horizons what you want to sell:

Add an online store section with 4 products. Each product should have an image, title, description, and price. Include an "Add to Cart" button on each product and a shopping cart icon in the header that shows the item count. Set up Stripe checkout for payments.

Horizons will generate product pages, a cart system, and connect to Stripe for payment processing. You'll need to link your Stripe account when prompted — Horizons walks you through that step.

This covers physical products, digital downloads, and service packages. It won't replace a full e-commerce platform for high-volume businesses, but for someone selling a handful of items or a few service tiers, it handles the basics without requiring a separate Shopify subscription.

If you're not selling anything, skip this step entirely.

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Step 6: SEO Basics

Horizons automatically generates SEO essentials for your site:

• Meta title and description for each page
• Open Graph tags for social media sharing
• Structured data for search engines
• Sitemap generation

You don't need to configure any of this manually. But it's worth checking what Horizons generated and tweaking it if needed.

Send a prompt like:

Update the meta title to "Alex Design — Freelance Brand & Web Designer" and the meta description to "Freelance designer specializing in brand identity, web design, and visual systems for startups and small businesses."

If you want to verify what's been set, ask:

Show me the current meta tags for all pages.

Horizons will list the titles, descriptions, and other SEO tags it's applied. Adjust anything that doesn't match what you'd want to see in Google search results.

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Step 7: Publish with One Click

Your site is ready. Here's how to get it live.

Click the Publish button. That's it. Horizons handles everything behind the scenes:

• Hosting — your site is deployed to Hostinger's infrastructure
• SSL certificate — HTTPS is auto-provisioned, no configuration needed
• CDN — your site is served from edge locations for fast global load times
• Custom domain — if you've connected one, it gets wired up automatically

You'll get a live URL immediately. If you're on a paid plan, you can connect your own domain (like alexdesign.com) through the Horizons dashboard. DNS configuration is guided — you don't need to know what CNAME records are.

No Vercel setup. No Netlify config. No DNS debugging. One click, live site.

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Tips for Saving Credits

Credits are the main constraint with Horizons. Here's how to make them count.

Be specific in your first prompt

Your initial prompt matters the most. A detailed first prompt that describes layout, sections, colors, and content structure can get you 80% of the way there in a single generation. A vague first prompt means spending 3–4 follow-up prompts fixing things that could've been right from the start.

Batch related changes

Don't send five separate prompts for five small tweaks. Combine them:

Change the heading font to Inter, increase the section padding to 64px, make the footer background dark gray (#1a1a1a) with white text, round all button corners to 8px, and reduce the project grid gap to 16px.

One prompt, five changes. That's one credit instead of five.

Use Content Editing Mode for text tweaks

If you're on a Starter plan or higher, swap to Content Editing Mode for copy changes. Editing "Lorem ipsum" to your real headline shouldn't cost an AI credit.

Plan your structure before you prompt

Spend two minutes writing down what pages you need, what sections each page should have, and what the rough color scheme should be. That two minutes of planning saves you from sending corrective prompts later.

Use version history as a safety net

Horizons keeps a version history of your project. If a prompt makes things worse, you can roll back instead of spending another credit to undo the damage.

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What's Next?

You've got a live site. A few directions from here.

• Read the full review — Our Hostinger Horizons review covers features, limitations, and how it compares to other builders in detail.
• Compare pricing — Check our AI app builder pricing comparison to see how Horizons stacks up against Bolt.new, Lovable, and others.
• Explore alternatives — Browse the vibe coding tools directory to see what else is out there.

If Horizons fits your workflow, you can upgrade from the trial to a paid plan. The Explorer plan at $6.99/mo gets you 30 credits — enough for ongoing maintenance and occasional new pages. The Starter at $13.99/mo adds e-commerce, analytics, and Content Editing Mode.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hostinger Horizons really free?

The 7-day trial is genuinely free — no credit card required, 5 prompts per day. After the trial ends, you'll need a paid plan to keep building. Your existing published site stays live during the trial period. Plans start at $6.99/mo (Explorer, 30 credits/month).

Can I use my own domain?

Yes. You can connect a custom domain through the Horizons dashboard on any paid plan. Horizons guides you through the DNS setup, and SSL is auto-provisioned for your domain. If you don't have a domain yet, Hostinger sells them too — but you can use a domain from any registrar.

Can I edit the code directly?

The code editor is available on the Hobbyist plan ($39.99/mo) and above. On lower plans, you work exclusively through prompts and Content Editing Mode. If you're a developer who wants to tweak the generated code, you'll need the Hobbyist tier. If you're a beginner who doesn't plan to touch code, the Explorer or Starter plans cover everything you need.

What happens after the free trial ends?

Your projects are saved, but you can't send new prompts or publish updates without a paid plan. Sites that were already published stay live for a grace period. If you decide Horizons isn't for you, you won't be charged anything — you never entered payment info.

Does Horizons support backend functionality?

Yes. Horizons integrates with Supabase for backend features like databases, user authentication, and server-side logic. You can tell Horizons to set up a Supabase backend with a prompt, and it handles the configuration. This is useful if you need user accounts, form submissions stored in a database, or dynamic content.

How many prompts do I get per month on paid plans?

It depends on the plan: Explorer gets 30 credits, Starter gets 70, Hobbyist gets 200, and Hustler gets 400. Each prompt uses roughly one credit. Annual billing is available at a discount, and all plans include a 30-day money-back guarantee if you've used fewer than 30 credits.

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Have questions about this tutorial? Check the Hostinger Horizons review for a deeper look at the platform, or browse the tools directory to compare it with other AI builders.