Lovable and Bolt both turn a prompt into a working web app, and both start paid plans at $25 a month. The difference is how they charge: Lovable counts credits per action, Bolt counts tokens. That choice decides which one feels cheap and which one surprises you at the end of the month.
We make Youmake, an AI app builder for websites, web apps, mobile apps and slide decks, so we read both pricing pages closely. Every Lovable and Bolt figure below comes from their official pages, checked on November 3, 2026. We did not run paid test projects on either tool.
Disclosure: Youmake competes with both. We stick to published facts, including the places where Lovable or Bolt gives you more than we do.
Lovable vs Bolt at a glance
| Lovable | Bolt | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry paid plan | Pro, $25/mo for 100 credits | Pro, $25/mo for 10M tokens |
| Team or higher plan | Business, from $50/mo for 100 credits | Teams, $30 per member per month |
| Billing unit | Credits | Tokens, with rollover on paid plans |
| Free plan | 5 build credits a day, up to 30 a month | 1M tokens a month, 300K a day |
| Custom domain | Pro and up | Pro and up |
| Code download | Pro and up | Not stated on the pricing page |
| GitHub | Git sync on all plans, per Lovable's docs | Not listed on the pricing page |
| Branding on free sites | "Edit with Lovable" badge | Bolt branding |
How the pricing models differ
Lovable gives you a daily allowance of build credits on every plan, then adds monthly credits on Pro and Business. Its docs say monthly plan credits expire two months after issue, and top-up credits last twelve months. Workspaces can have unlimited members on all plans, because pricing follows credits rather than seats.
Bolt sells a monthly token pool. Free gives you 1M tokens a month with a 300K daily cap. Pro gives 10M tokens with rollover and no daily limit. Teams starts at 10M per member, also with rollover.
A credit maps to one unit of work you can see. A token maps to how much text the model reads and writes, which grows with project size. A small edit in a large Bolt project can use more tokens than the same edit in a small one. That is hard to predict until you have watched your own usage for a week.
Free plans: what you really get
Lovable's free plan is built for trying it out. You get 5 build credits a day, capped at 30 a month, and you can invite up to 10 people to a published project. You cannot edit or download code, attach a custom domain or remove the Lovable badge.
Bolt's free plan is larger in raw usage. It includes public and private projects, unlimited databases and website hosting. Sites carry Bolt branding, and the plan excludes custom domains, connectors and MCPs, and the newest AI models. Bolt also notes that the free plan needs no card.
If you only want to see whether the idea works, either is fine. If you want something you can hand to a customer, both free plans stop short of that. Custom domains start on the paid tiers.
Which one fits which builder
Lovable suits people who want predictable per-action costs and a Git workflow from day one. GitHub sync is on every plan, which matters if a developer will take over later. See our Lovable pricing breakdown for every credit tier.
Bolt suits people who work in bursts. Unused tokens roll over, and Pro removes the daily cap, so a long weekend of building does not hit a wall on day one. Teams adds admin controls, billing and shared templates.
Neither pricing page tells you what a finished client project will cost. That depends on how many changes you ask for, which is why a one-week test with your own prompt beats any comparison table.
If you are weighing more than these two, our guide to Lovable alternatives covers eight tools, and the best AI app builders roundup ranks the field for different jobs.
Start a 3-day Youmake trial for $1 →
How to do this with Youmake
Youmake is a third option aimed at people who ship sites and apps for themselves or for clients. The same test you would run on Lovable or Bolt takes a few steps here:
- Open Youmake and describe the project in the composer, for example: "A booking website for a two-person physiotherapy clinic with a services page, a price list, an online enquiry form and a map."
- Watch the live preview next to the agent chat. The chat shows what changed and what each request cost in credits, so you can compare cost per change with your Lovable or Bolt experience.
- Refine with short prompts: change the color palette, add a testimonials section, reword the headline.
- Run the security scan before publishing.
- Publish to your own domain, then export the code or sync it to GitHub if a developer will continue. The code ownership page explains the options.
What differs from the two tools above:
- Youmake builds websites, web apps, mobile apps and slide decks in one workspace.
- Plans are fixed monthly credits: Starter is $20 a month for 40 credits, Builder is $45 for 90 credits and Agency is $120. Team seats start on Builder.
- There is no free plan. The entry point is a 3-day trial for $1, with a card required.
- Integrations include GitHub, Supabase, Stripe and Vercel, and you can import an existing GitHub repo.
For a direct comparison, read Youmake vs Lovable and Youmake vs Bolt. If client work is the goal, the AI website builder for small businesses page shows the publishing flow. More tools in this space are listed in the vibe coding topic hub.
Honest limits
- This comparison reflects pricing pages, not hands-on benchmarks. We have not measured output quality, speed or credit burn on the same project.
- Bolt's pricing page does not list GitHub or code download, so we cannot say how either works on each plan. Check the product before you rely on them.
- Lovable's docs say current prices for every tier live on its pricing page, and Bolt mentions yearly billing savings of up to 28% without giving yearly prices. Confirm at checkout.
- Youmake has no free plan, so it is the more expensive way to experiment for a few hours.
FAQ
Is Lovable or Bolt cheaper?
At the entry paid tier they cost the same, $25 a month. Which one costs less over a month depends on your usage pattern. Lovable charges per credit, and Bolt charges per token with rollover, so heavy bursts favor Bolt's model and small steady edits favor Lovable's.
Can I use Lovable or Bolt for free?
Yes, both have free plans. Lovable gives 5 build credits a day, up to 30 a month. Bolt gives 1M tokens a month with a 300K daily limit. Neither free plan includes a custom domain. For a bigger comparison see free AI website builders.
Can I keep my code if I leave?
Lovable's docs say code download is included from Pro and Git sync works on all plans. Bolt's pricing page does not say. For a builder-by-builder answer, see AI app builders with code export.
Sources
- Lovable subscription plans: https://docs.lovable.dev/introduction/subscription-plans
- Lovable plans and credits: https://docs.lovable.dev/introduction/plans-and-credits
- Lovable pricing: https://lovable.dev/pricing
- Bolt pricing: https://bolt.new/pricing
- Youmake: https://www.youmake.dev/