Lovable vs Bolt.new (2026): which app builder should you start with?

The short answer

Lovable and Bolt.new are both app builders: you describe an app, watch it appear in a live preview, and keep chatting until it works. Both host the result, give it a database and sign-in, and sync the code to your own GitHub repository (Lovable) (Bolt). For a first project, either will get you to a working app.

The differences that matter are how you pay, what the free plan lets you do, and how tied you are to the platform’s backend.

	Lovable	Bolt.new
What you get	A hosted web app with a managed backend	A hosted web or mobile (Expo) app built in the browser
How usage is metered	Credits per prompt; small edits cost under 1 credit	Tokens; larger projects use more per message
Backend	Lovable Cloud (built on Supabase), or your own Supabase	Bolt Cloud database, auth and functions; can connect to Supabase
GitHub	Two-way sync, on every plan	Two-way sync; can import an existing repo
Edit code in the builder	Pro plan and up (Free can still sync to GitHub)	Yes, in the browser, on every plan
Custom domain	Pro plan and up	Pro plan and up
Stack	TanStack Start for apps created since 13 May 2026; React + Vite before	JavaScript web frameworks; runs in the browser (WebContainers)

Sources: Lovable Docs, Lovable Docs, Lovable Docs, Lovable Docs, Bolt Help Center, Bolt Help Center, Bolt Help Center

Pricing: credits vs tokens

This is the biggest practical difference, and it’s easy to misread.

Lovable charges credits per prompt. Simple edits cost less than one credit; bigger features cost more (Lovable). Free accounts get 5 build credits a day, capped at 30 a month; Pro and Business keep the 5 daily credits without the monthly cap, on top of their monthly allowance (Lovable).

1. Make the button gray0.5 credits
2. Remove the footer0.9 credits
3. Add sign-up and login1.2 credits
4. Build a landing page with images1.7 credits

Source: Lovable

Bolt.new charges tokens, the units AI models read and write. Most of the usage comes from Bolt reading and syncing your project files, so the same request costs more as the project grows (Bolt). Free accounts get 1M tokens a month with a 300K daily limit; Pro gets 10M a month (Bolt).

Plan	Lovable	Bolt.new
Free	$0: 5 build credits a day, max 30 a month	$0: 1M tokens a month, 300K a day
Entry paid	Pro $25 monthly, or $21 a month billed annually: 100 credits	Pro $18 a month billed annually ($216 a year): 10M tokens, rollover
Teams	Business $50 monthly, or $42 billed annually: 100 credits	Teams $27 per member a month billed annually
Unused allowance	Credits roll over; expire after 2 months on monthly plans	Tokens roll over on Pro and Teams

Lovable Pro and Business come in credit tiers up to 10,000 credits; the entry tier is shown. Bolt.new's page lists annual billing for its paid plans.

Sources: Lovable Docs, Lovable Docs, Bolt

So which is cheaper? On sticker price, Bolt.new’s entry plan. In practice it depends on your project: Lovable’s cost tracks how many changes you ask for, Bolt.new’s also tracks how big the project has become. Watch your usage for the first week on whichever you choose.

One more thing to know about Lovable: credits pay for more than building. Your deployed app’s Cloud backend and AI features draw from the same balance, and when it reaches zero, building stops, AI features in your app stop, and apps using Cloud pause (Lovable). Set up top-ups or alerts before you launch.

The free plans

Lovable Free gives you private projects, GitHub sync and publishing to up to 10 invited people per project. Editing and downloading code inside Lovable, custom domains and removing the “Edit with Lovable” badge need Pro (Lovable).

Bolt.new Free includes public and private projects, hosting and unlimited databases. It keeps Bolt branding on your site and doesn’t allow a custom domain (Bolt). Because Bolt runs the whole project in your browser, you can open and edit the code on the free plan, and editing code directly doesn’t use tokens (Bolt).

Backend and lock-in

Both give you a working backend without setup.

Lovable Cloud includes a database, authentication, file storage, realtime updates and server functions, built on Supabase. You can connect your own Supabase project instead. Moving an existing app off Lovable Cloud to your own Supabase is a manual job: export the database, restore it, move files and code, and set up sign-in and secrets again (Lovable).

Bolt Cloud creates a database automatically, with table editing, server functions, secrets and sign-in, and you can claim the database and connect it to Supabase (Bolt).

On code ownership, Lovable states that you own what you create and can host it anywhere. Apps created since 13 May 2026 use TanStack Start, which needs a host that can run server code; older React + Vite apps build to static files any host can serve (Lovable). Bolt.new syncs both ways with GitHub, checking for outside edits every 30 seconds, and can start from an existing repository (Bolt).

Security: the same homework on both

Both platforms give you a database that the browser can talk to, which is exactly where vibe-coded apps go wrong. A vulnerability recorded as CVE-2025-48757 concerned Lovable-generated apps with insufficient database access rules; Lovable disputes the record, saying customers are responsible for protecting their app’s data (CVE record). Whichever builder you pick, check every table’s access rules before real users arrive — our essentials guide shows how.

Which should you pick?

If you…	Pick
want the lowest paid price to start	Bolt.new
want to see and edit the code without paying	Bolt.new
want a mobile app	Bolt.new (via Expo)
want a managed backend you don't have to think about	Lovable
already have a GitHub repo to start from	Bolt.new (can import it)

If you’re still undecided, start on both free plans with the same two-sentence app description and see which result you’d rather keep working on. That half-hour test tells you more than any feature table.