Lovable vs Bolt: Stack, Mobile Apps, Pricing and Which to Choose

Lovable vs Bolt at a Glance

Lovable fixes the stack and keeps you in the chat, while Bolt leaves the framework open, adds a code editor and terminal, and builds mobile apps through Expo. The table compares them, as of October 2026, on what each builds, the stack, mobile apps, code access, backend, hosting, collaboration and plans.

What Is Lovable?

Lovable is a prompt-driven builder for full-stack web apps: you describe the product, and it generates the screens, the backend, the database tables and sign-in, then hosts the app. The Lovable FAQ lists SaaS products, internal tools, dashboards, CRMs, booking apps and landing pages as typical builds. That style of building, where you steer with prompts instead of typing code, is known as vibe coding.

Lovable does not let you pick a stack. Per the same FAQ, projects created from May 13, 2026 (from June 22, 2026 in Enterprise workspaces) run on TanStack Start with server-side rendering, earlier projects stay on React and Vite, and all of them keep their data in PostgreSQL through the built-in backend or Supabase.

Output is always a web app, and the FAQ states that Lovable does not generate React Native projects. The builder itself does run on phones: the FAQ notes that Lovable's iOS and Android apps open the same account, projects and credits as the web version.

What Is Bolt?

Bolt is an AI app builder that turns a prompt into a website, web app or mobile app inside your browser. Bolt's introduction says it is developed by StackBlitz and runs on WebContainers, StackBlitz's technology for running Node.js in the browser, so there is nothing to install.

Bolt leaves more technical choices open than Lovable. Bolt's supported technologies page says it works with any JavaScript framework that runs on the frontend and Node.js on the backend, and that PHP and Python backends are not supported. The same page says Code view, visual edits and the database settings are desktop only, although the rest of Bolt works in a mobile browser.

You also pick the agent that writes the code. Bolt's agent guide describes Standard as the fast, token-efficient default and Max as the deeper-reasoning option for large codebases, refactors and open-ended tasks, and the free plan includes Standard only.

How Do Lovable and Bolt Differ for Building Apps?

A prompt and a live preview are the starting point in each. After that, Bolt puts a file editor, a terminal and a visual editor within reach on every plan, while Lovable keeps editing in the chat unless you pay for code access. When the choice is between an app builder and a full AI code editor, see Replit vs Cursor.

• Planning before code - For larger changes, Lovable's Plan mode studies the project and drafts a plan you can edit and approve first, and Chat mode answers questions while leaving the code alone. Bolt's Plan Mode answers with the whole codebase in context, can search the web, and offers an Implement this plan button that switches back to building.
• Hand edits - Lovable's code editor docs say the editor is read-only on the Free plan and editable on paid plans. Bolt's Code view guide says you can edit files and run terminal commands without spending tokens, in Chrome or another Chromium-based browser on a computer.
• Visual edits - Bolt's Select tool changes text, colors and styles directly in the preview, on all plans, and spends tokens only when you save the batch of edits to code.
• Self-checks - Change a business rule, such as a limit or who can do what, and Lovable writes a small test for it and runs the relevant tests before calling the task finished. Bolt's security docs describe a project security audit on paid plans that reviews the code and database, fixes what it can and uses no tokens.

Can Lovable or Bolt Build Native Mobile Apps?

Bolt can, through Expo, and Lovable cannot. Bolt's Expo guide says to ask for a mobile app in your very first prompt, because projects created for the web do not switch to mobile easily.

• Preview on a phone - Bolt's Device Preview shows a QR code that opens the app in Expo Go on your own device; the first build takes a while.
• Store release - Publishing to TestFlight, the App Store, Google Play Beta or the Play Store means downloading the code and running Expo's EAS CLI on a computer with Node.js LTS and Git, plus an Apple or Google Play developer account.
• Lovable's route - Lovable builds mobile-friendly web apps. For an app people install, its FAQ points to a Progressive Web App or a Capacitor wrapper around the published URL, built outside Lovable.

Can You Export Code From Lovable and Bolt?

Both let the code leave. With Lovable's Git sync, available on every plan, a project mirrors to your own GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket repository in both directions, one branch at a time. Bolt's GitHub integration creates a private repository, commits every change that does not break the project, and pulls outside commits every 30 seconds.

• Ownership - Lovable's FAQ says the apps and code are yours to modify, use commercially and host anywhere. Bolt's introduction says the code is yours for any legal purpose, including commercial projects.
• Downloads - Lovable's Download codebase option saves a .zip on paid plans. Bolt's project menu downloads a zipped folder of the project files.
• Branches - Both create and switch branches from the builder. Bolt cannot merge branches in the app, so merges happen on GitHub.
• Who controls Git - In Bolt, only the project owner manages GitHub, and a collaborator's edits reach the repository the next time the owner opens the project. In Lovable, editors and above can manage the GitHub connection.
• Data stays separate - Code exports leave out database records. Lovable exports the database on its own, without stored files, edge function code or secrets, and restoring an earlier Bolt version never changes the Bolt or Supabase database.

Moving a project between the two works in both directions. Bolt's Import from Lovable guide syncs the Lovable project to GitHub and imports that repository into Bolt. Lovable's import feature takes a ZIP from Bolt's Export menu with the .env file removed, rebuilds the app and, once you supply the database export, moves the data and users to its built-in backend.

How Do Lovable and Bolt Handle the Backend and Database?

Neither asks you to provision servers. Lovable's built-in backend is built on open-source Supabase and switches on the database, user accounts and file storage together, with realtime updates, edge functions and scheduled jobs alongside; an existing Supabase project can take its place. Bolt Database appears automatically when the app needs to store data, with no limit on how many you create, and includes authentication, file storage and server functions.

• Supabase on Bolt - Starting a project on Supabase, connecting an existing Supabase database or claiming a Bolt Database into your own Supabase account needs Pro or Teams. Bolt's docs advise choosing Supabase when the project starts, because switching later takes extra steps.
• Paused databases - Bolt's database docs say it may pause the database of an unpublished project after six or more days of low use and restores it when you return; databases behind a published site are not paused.
• Security checks - Lovable runs a Quick scan of database access rules, dependencies and MCP server exposure whenever the publish dialog opens. Bolt's database security check, on all plans, flags problems such as an open permission or a missing row-level security policy.

How Do Lovable and Bolt Host and Publish Apps?

Each tool hosts what it builds: Lovable deploys to a lovable.app address with HTTPS, and Bolt deploys to a free bolt.host address. On both, a custom domain requires a paid plan.

Do Lovable and Bolt Support Real-Time Collaboration?

Yes. In Lovable, teammates can each work in a draft, a separate copy with its own chat and preview, and nothing lands in the project until someone accepts the draft. Bolt's multiplayer mode puts everyone in one shared chat thread and runs one prompt at a time, queueing the rest.

Billing for collaborators works the opposite way in each tool. Lovable's collaboration docs say every collaborator's prompts draw on the project owner's workspace credits, and a workspace has no member limit on any plan. Bolt's collaboration guide says each person's prompts use tokens from their own account, and its Teams plan requires a paid seat for every member who prompts.

• Lovable roles - Viewer, Editor, Admin and Owner, with workspace roles and permissions from Pro and single sign-on from Business.
• Bolt roles - Viewer, Editor and Co-owner, where Co-owner is open only to members of your team; single sign-on comes with Teams and Enterprise.

Lovable vs Bolt Pricing as of October 2026

Both paid entry plans cost $25 a month, but Lovable sells credits and Bolt sells tokens, so the allowances do not convert one to one. The prices below come from Lovable's subscription plans and Bolt's pricing page.

Annual billing is cheaper on both: Lovable's subscription plans page says it gives two months free, and Bolt's pricing page advertises savings of up to 28% on yearly plans without listing the yearly prices. Bolt's pricing page also marks unused tokens as rolling over on paid plans only.

What you pay beyond the plan depends on how hard you work the agent. On Lovable's pricing page, a small edit such as making a button gray costs 0.50 credits and a landing page with generated images costs 1.70, while each Plan mode message costs 1 credit. Bolt's token guide says most tokens go to reading and syncing your project files, so each message costs more as the project grows, and paid tokens stay valid for two months from the start of the billing cycle that granted them.

Note: Shipping a Lovable or Bolt build? Run its sign-up and checkout flows against the live URL first. Sign up for TestMu AI

Lovable or Bolt: Which Should You Choose?

Let the deliverable decide: a web app you want online without stack decisions points to Lovable, while a phone app, a framework you already know or frequent manual edits point to Bolt. If Replit is also on your list, the Lovable vs Replit comparison covers that pair, and the roundups of the best AI app builders and the best vibe coding tools add more options.

How to Test an App Built With Lovable or Bolt Before Launch

Check the published URL the way a first-time visitor would, each time a prompt changes sign-up, stored data or payments. Lovable's testing tools and Bolt's security audit run inside the builder, and in Bolt a change in the project does not reach the live site until you update it from the Publish menu, so the preview and the published app can differ.

• A fresh account - sign up with a new email, confirm it if the app asks, sign out and back in, and open a page that needs a login.
• Saved records - create, edit and delete a record, then reload the page to confirm each change stuck.
• A second user - sign in with another account and try to open the first account's records by their URL.
• Checkout - run a test-mode payment end to end and confirm the order or plan changed.
• The next prompt - repeat the same flows after each change the agent makes, since an edit for one feature can touch shared code.

TestMu AI's Kane CLI can automate these flows from a terminal against the live URL. After npm install -g @testmuai/kane-cli, you give it a plain-English objective, such as signing up and adding a record; it opens real Chrome, performs the steps, and saves an evidence pack with an annotated screenshot per step, a HAR network log and the console output beside the pass or fail verdict. Installing costs nothing, each run draws KaneAI credits, and a free grant of 10,000 credits, valid for 30 days, is available from the Kane CLI page.

In agent mode, Claude Code, Cursor or another coding agent calls Kane CLI and reads its NDJSON event stream for the verdict. For the failure points specific to each builder, see how to test apps built with Lovable and how to test apps built with Bolt; to skip the terminal, the guide on how to test Lovable apps without code walks through KaneAI, TestMu AI's testing agent, in its web app.

Conclusion

Pick Lovable when the web app matters more than the stack behind it, and Bolt when the roadmap includes a phone app or a framework you already know. Before the link goes out, run sign-up, saved data and checkout against the published URL; the Kane CLI getting started guide covers the install and a first run.