Lovable vs Bolt.new in 2026: both cost $25 a month. Lovable meters credits per message with unlimited members; Bolt meters tokens that grow with project size.
Lovable and Bolt.new are the two best-known AI app builders. Describe an app in plain language and either one generates a working web application, database and hosting included. Their Pro plans both cost $25 a month. Where they differ is who they're built for and how they count usage, and those two things decide which one costs less for your project.
How we compared: both pricing pages and FAQs checked on September 29, 2026. Lovable quotes euro prices including VAT to European visitors (€25 for Pro); US prices are $25 for Pro and $50 for Business. We have not built the same app on both.
Choose Lovable if you do not write code, want the AI to handle the whole app, or will share a workspace with many people. Credits are charged per message according to task complexity, and members are free.
Choose Bolt if you can read code and want to see and edit it as the AI works, or you are building something larger where you want control over the database and structure. Tokens are charged by how much of the project the AI reads and writes.
For a team of occasional builders, Lovable is much cheaper, since it charges nothing per member. For one developer building fast, the two cost about the same.
| Lovable | Bolt.new | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 5 build credits a day, up to 30 a month, plus 20 Cloud credits | 300,000 tokens a day, 1 million a month, Bolt branding |
| Pro | $25 a month: 100 credits plus daily build credits, custom domains, no badge | $25 a month: from 10 million tokens, no daily limit, custom domains, no branding |
| Teams | Business: $50 a month, SSO, team workspace, internal publishing | Teams: $30 per member a month, admin controls, private npm registries |
| Members | Unlimited on every plan | Per paid member |
| Leftovers | Monthly credits last two months | Tokens roll over one extra month |
| Yearly discount | Two months free | Up to 28% |
Both offer an Enterprise plan with SSO, audit logs and custom terms. Lovable also offers students up to 50% off Pro, and Bolt Pro includes its Bolt Forge feature until October 14, 2026.
Lovable's credits are easy to reason about per message. In Plan mode, where the AI discusses a change before making it, each message costs 1 credit. In the default mode, the cost depends on the task. Lovable's own examples put "Make the button gray" at 0.5 credits and adding sign-up and login at 1.2. A landing page with generated images costs 1.7. So Pro's 100 monthly credits cover somewhere around 60 to 200 changes, plus the 5 free build credits each day.
Bolt's tokens are harder to predict. Its FAQ explains that most token use comes from syncing the project's files to the AI. The bigger the project, the more tokens each message uses. Ten million tokens go a long way on a small site and much less on a large app with many files. The Pro plan at least removes the free plan's daily cap, so a long session isn't cut off mid-afternoon.
In practice, Lovable's cost grows with how much you ask for, and Bolt's with how big the project is. A small app built through many small edits tends to favor Bolt, while a large app edited in fewer, larger requests can favor Lovable.
The pricing models diverge most for groups. Lovable workspaces allow unlimited members on every plan, and everyone draws from one credit pool, with owners able to set per-member monthly limits. A class, a startup or an agency can put ten people on one Pro or Business subscription and pay only for the credits they use.
Bolt Teams costs $30 a month for each member, and each paid member gets their own token allotment, which is not shared. That suits teams where everyone builds heavily and wants their own budget, but it makes Bolt expensive for groups where most people contribute occasionally. Lovable's Business plan at $50 a month adds SSO, a team workspace, role-based access, personal projects and publishing restricted to logged-in members.
Both tools host what they build. Lovable Cloud runs apps on a monthly grant of Cloud credits, which covers most small projects. Busier apps draw on the credit balance, and Lovable says running costs are the same on Pro and Business. Bolt's hosting allows up to 333,000 web requests a month on Free and up to 1 million on Pro. Pro also gives you more database capacity and a choice of database provider.
On ownership, Lovable says you own the code and data you create, and it syncs projects to GitHub. Bolt keeps the full code visible and editable in the browser the whole time. Either way, the output is standard web code a developer can take elsewhere. That matters if a prototype turns into a product.
Lovable takes the verdict for most people considering these tools, because most of them are not developers. It hides more of the machinery, its per-message credits are easier to budget, and unlimited members make it the better choice for teams, classes and agencies. Its review covers plans and credit rules in detail.
Bolt.new is the better pick for developers and technical founders who want to watch and steer the code. It also suits anyone who plans to keep building by hand later. For interface-heavy React projects, v0 by Vercel is a third option that deploys straight to Vercel, compared in v0 vs Bolt. Replit suits people who want an agent and hosting in one cloud workspace.
Both Pro plans cost $25 a month, so the difference is in what the money buys. Lovable Pro includes 100 credits a month plus 5 free build credits a day, and a simple edit costs half a credit to about two. Bolt Pro starts at 10 million tokens a month, with token use rising as a project grows. For teams, Lovable charges nothing per member, while Bolt Teams costs $30 per member.
Lovable. It is designed around describing what you want and letting the AI build the interface, database, logins and hosting, with a Plan mode that discusses changes before making them. Bolt works well for non-coders too, but it keeps the code editor and terminal in view and rewards people who can read and adjust code.
Both carry leftovers for a while. Lovable's monthly plan credits expire two months after they are issued, annual credits one month after the annual period ends, and purchased top-ups last twelve months. Bolt's paid tokens roll over for one extra month, so they are valid for up to two months, as long as the subscription stays active.
Lovable prices by credits, not seats: every plan allows unlimited members, who share the workspace's credit pool, with per-member limits available. Bolt Teams costs $30 a month per member, and each paid member gets their own token allotment that is not shared with others. For a large group of occasional builders, Lovable is far cheaper.
Yes. Lovable says you own the code, apps and data you create, and projects can sync to GitHub, including GitHub Enterprise on its top plan. Bolt shows the full project code in the browser for editing and export. Both generate standard web code, so a developer can continue the project outside either tool.
Both do. Lovable Cloud hosts apps with a monthly grant that covers most small projects, and busier apps draw on your credit balance. Bolt includes website hosting with up to 333,000 web requests on Free and up to 1 million on Pro, plus unlimited databases, custom domains on Pro and a choice of database provider.