Lovable vs Bolt for non-developers
Both turn a chat into a working web app, and both start at $25/month. The difference is how much backend plumbing you have to touch before your app has logins, data and payments.
Where beginners get stuck first
Lovable
- Free credits run out fast. The Free plan gives 5 build credits a day, capped at 30 a month. Lovable's own examples price "add authentication" at about 1.2 credits and a landing page with images at about 2, so a real app usually needs Pro.
- Running out of credits can pause your live app. Hosting and the built-in backend also draw on credits (Pro and Business include a 20-credit monthly Cloud grant). Lovable's docs say that when a workspace has no credits left, building stops and apps that use the built-in backend pause. Most small apps stay inside the grant, but watch the balance once you have users.
- Free can't edit or download code. Code editing, code download, custom domains and removing the "Edit with Lovable" badge all need Pro. GitHub sync works on every plan.
- Built-in payments need Pro. On Free you can connect your own Stripe account instead, which means handling a Stripe API key yourself.
Bolt
- Tokens drain faster as your project grows. Bolt says most token use comes from syncing your project files to the AI, so each message costs more as the app gets bigger. Free has 1M tokens a month with a 300K daily limit.
- Payments mean real setup. Bolt's Stripe integration needs your own Stripe account, a Stripe secret key pasted into Bolt, a Bolt database or Supabase, and sign-in already working in your app.
- You'll see a lot of code. That's Bolt's strength for learners and its biggest hurdle for people who just want the app. When something breaks, you're looking at a file tree, a terminal and console errors in the preview.
- Free hosting has a hard cap. Free sites go offline for the rest of the month if they pass 10 GB of bandwidth or 333,333 requests. Pro raises that to 30 GB and 1M requests, with optional pay-as-you-go up to a spending cap you set.
Pricing (checked October 26, 2026)
| Lovable | Bolt | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0: 5 build credits a day (up to 30 a month), plus monthly grants of 20 Cloud and 4 AI credits | $0: 1M tokens a month, 300K daily limit, no card needed |
| Main paid plan | Pro, $25/month for 100 credits ($250/year billed annually), plus 5 daily build credits with no monthly cap | Pro, $25/month for 10M tokens, unused tokens roll over |
| More usage | Pro tiers step up to $50 (200 credits), $100 (400) and $200 (800), and on up to 10,000 credits; top-ups are $15 per 50 credits | Pro token tiers scale up with a slider; extra token reloads don't expire |
| Team plan | Business, from $50/month for 100 credits (adds SSO, role-based access, security center). Seats aren't charged; members share credits. | Teams, $30/month per member (centralized billing, admin controls, priority support) |
| What a unit buys | Credits; cost per message depends on how complex the request is (Plan mode is 1 credit per message) | Tokens; cost per message grows with project size |
| Discounts | Annual billing gives two months free; 50% off Pro for up to 12 months for verified students and teachers | Annual billing available (shown in the plan picker) |
Credits and tokens aren't the same unit, so don't compare "100 credits" against "10M tokens" directly. Both companies show the cost of each message in the app, so you can see your burn rate in the first hour.
What you can ship without code
| Lovable | Bolt | |
|---|---|---|
| User sign-in | Built in: email, phone, Google, Apple and Microsoft sign-in, plus SSO options | Built into Bolt Database: email and Google sign-in, password reset, editable email templates |
| Database | Built-in backend (based on Supabase) on by default, or connect your own Supabase project | Bolt Database, no limit on how many even on Free; Supabase instead needs Pro or Teams |
| Payments | Built-in Stripe or Paddle; Lovable creates and manages the account and keys (Pro and up). Or bring your own Stripe on any plan. | Stripe integration with your own Stripe account and secret key; needs a database and sign-in first |
| Hosting | Included; publish to a lovable.app address | Included; publish to a bolt.host address, or publish to Netlify instead |
| Custom domain | Paid plans; buy one inside Lovable or connect one you own | Paid plans; buy one inside Bolt or connect one you own |
| Vendor badge on your site | "Edit with Lovable" badge on Free; removable on Pro | "Made in Bolt" badge on Free; removed on any paid plan |
| Taking your code with you | GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket sync on every plan; edit and download code on Pro | Code is visible in the editor as it's built; GitHub integration for backups |
| Mobile apps | Web apps | Web apps, plus iOS and Android through Expo |
| Security checks | Built-in security scans; deeper security center on Business | Project security check plus database scans (e.g. missing access rules) that Bolt can fix |
Choose Lovable when
- You've never opened a code editor and don't want to.
- Your app needs accounts, saved data and a checkout, and you'd rather not copy API keys between dashboards.
- You want building, hosting and the backend on one credit balance, with usage alerts and spending limits on paid plans.
Choose Bolt when
- You want to learn how the app works by watching the files, packages and preview change.
- You're building a mobile app (Expo) or a front-end-heavy prototype.
- You want a bigger free allowance to experiment with, and you're fine creating your own Stripe account later.
Both run on the same kinds of models
Neither tool trains its own model. Both run frontier models from labs like Anthropic, so the difference you feel is the layer on top: backend wiring, where the code runs, and how much usage you get per dollar. See which vibe coding tools are just Claude/GPT wrappers.
Questions people ask
Is Lovable or Bolt better for non-developers?
For most people who don't code, we'd start with Lovable. The database, sign-in and hosting are built in and on by default, and on a paid plan Lovable can set up the payment account for you. Bolt is the better pick if you want to watch the code and the running app as it's built, or plan to build a mobile app with Expo.
How much do Lovable and Bolt cost?
Both have free plans. Lovable Pro starts at $25/month for 100 credits ($250/year billed annually) and Business at $50/month. Bolt Pro is $25/month for 10M tokens and Teams is $30/month per member, plus applicable taxes. Prices checked October 26, 2026 on lovable.dev and bolt.new.
Can I take payments without writing code?
Yes, in both, but setup differs. Lovable's built-in payments (Stripe or Paddle) create and manage the payment account for you on Pro and above; on Free you can connect your own Stripe account. Bolt connects to a Stripe account you create yourself: you paste a Stripe secret key, and your app needs a database and sign-in set up first.
Can I use my own domain on the free plans?
No. Custom domains need a paid plan on both Lovable and Bolt. On Free, Lovable publishes to a lovable.app address and Bolt to a bolt.host address, and both show their own badge on your site until you upgrade.
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