.png){kind=small}
Skip to main content
The Vibe Coding Revolution: Imagine building a full-stack app with just a prompt. No terminal commands, no npm install headaches—just describe what you want and watch it appear. Welcome to 2025, where Bolt.new and Lovable are redefining what "coding" means.
Bolt.new vs. Lovable (2026): The Vibe Coding Showdown
Building an app with just a prompt? We compare Bolt.new and Lovable—the leading "vibe coding" platforms of 2025—covering pricing, code quality, framework flexibility, and real-world use cases to help you choose the right tool for your project.
- For Non-Technical Founders: Lovable wins with superior visual editor and guided onboarding
- For Developers: Bolt.new provides full control, multi-framework support, and terminal access
- Bolt Strength: Framework flexibility (React, Vue, Svelte, Astro) + generous free tier
- Lovable Strength: Visual click-to-edit + seamless Supabase integration
- Cost Reality: Bolt's tokens can burn fast on bugs; Lovable's messages are more predictable
- Final Ratings: Bolt.new 8.5/10 • Lovable 9/10
What Is Vibe Coding and Why These Two?
In 2025, "vibe coding" isn't a joke—it's a production strategy. It refers to describing an application's behavior in plain English and letting AI agents handle the scaffolding, package installation, and debugging. What used to take hours of setup now happens in seconds.
Bolt.new (by StackBlitz) and Lovable (formerly GPT Engineer) have spent the last year racing to define this category. Both reached remarkable milestones in late 2025: Bolt hit $40M ARR while Lovable reached $20M in record time.
The Key Difference
While both tools let you build with prompts, their philosophies diverge:
- Bolt.new feels like an IDE from the future: Full transparency, terminal access, multi-framework support
- Lovable feels like collaborating with a senior designer: Visual editing, guided setup, hand-holding through complexity
Who Each Tool Is For
Choose Lovable If You Are:
- A non-technical founder who needs a beautiful MVP by tomorrow morning
- An entrepreneur or designer who wants the AI to act as your "CTO"
- Someone who doesn't know (and doesn't want to know) what a "React Hook" is
- Building with Supabase and want seamless auth/database integration
Choose Bolt.new If You Are:
- A developer or technical founder who wants a "turbocharged IDE" you can manually override
- A hackathon participant who needs to ship fast but maintain code quality
- Working with specific frameworks like Vue, Svelte, or Astro (not just React)
- Comfortable with terminal commands and want full visibility into what's happening
Features and Real-World Experience
Setup & Onboarding
Bolt.new:
Zero setup required. It uses WebContainer technology to run a full Node.js environment directly in your browser. You type a prompt, and it installs packages right before your eyes. No local development environment needed.
Lovable:
Also zero setup, but it feels more like entering a creative studio. Lovable spends more time in the "planning" phase, asking clarifying questions before generating the first line of code. This hand-holding approach reduces errors for non-technical users.
The Everyday Workflow: The "Vibe"
Bolt.new Experience:
Bolt feels like an IDE from the future. It provides:
- A file explorer showing your entire project structure
- A code editor where you can manually edit files
- A live preview that updates in real-time
- A terminal showing every command being executed
Example workflow:
1. Prompt: "Add a Stripe payment gateway"
2. Watch terminal run: npm install stripe
3. See code files update in real-time
4. Preview the new checkout flow immediatelyThe transparency is both powerful and educational—you see exactly what the AI is doing.
Lovable Experience:
Lovable feels like collaborating with a senior designer. Its standout 2025 feature is Visual Edit: you can click on a button in the preview window and say "Make this red and move it to the right," and the AI updates the code instantly.
This removes the friction of describing layouts in words—you just point and adjust.
Standout Features Comparison
| Feature | Bolt.new | Lovable |
|---|---|---|
| Framework Support | React, Vue, Svelte, Astro, Remix | React + Tailwind only |
| Visual Editing | Code-only (manual editing) | Click-to-edit UI elements |
| Terminal Access | Full terminal visibility | Hidden (abstracted away) |
| Supabase Integration | Manual setup required | Guided, automatic scaffolding |
| Security Checks | Manual developer responsibility | Auto-checks for API key exposure |
| Best For | Technical flexibility | Speed to polished UI |
Lovable's Guided Security
One of Lovable's understated strengths: it acts as a security advisor. Reports from December 2025 show it now automatically checks for common API key exposures and insecure database rules before you deploy to Supabase.
For non-technical founders, this kind of guardrail can prevent catastrophic security mistakes.
Pricing, Plans, and Value (Dec 2025)
Bolt.new Pricing: Token-Based System
Bolt uses a token-based model where different operations consume different amounts:
| Plan | Price | Tokens/Month | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1M (~150k daily) | Small experiments, learning |
| Pro | $20/month | 10M | Active builders, side projects |
| Teams | $30/month | 10M + team features | Collaborative development |
Lovable Pricing: Message-Based System
Lovable uses a message-based system that many find more predictable:
| Plan | Price | Monthly Credits | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 5 daily messages | Testing only |
| Pro | $25/month | ~100-150 credits | Serious MVP builders |
| Business | $50/month | More credits + SSO | Privacy-conscious startups |
Which Pricing Model Is Better?
- Bolt is cheaper for light users: The generous free tier (1M tokens) is perfect for weekend projects
- Lovable is more predictable for heavy users: You know exactly how many "conversations" you get each month
- For teams, Bolt offers better value at $30/month vs Lovable's $50/month business tier
Head-to-Head: The Real Differences
When Bolt.new Clearly Wins
- Framework flexibility: Not locked into React—choose Vue, Svelte, Astro, or Remix
- Developer transparency: See every terminal command, every file change in real-time
- Manual override capability: Edit code directly when AI gets it wrong
- Complex applications: Better for apps with sophisticated logic or unusual architectures
When Lovable Clearly Wins
- Visual design speed: Click-to-edit removes the need to describe layouts in text
- Backend setup: Supabase auth and database scaffolding is nearly automatic
- Non-technical friendly: Less intimidating interface, more guided experience
- Security by default: Built-in checks for common vulnerabilities
The Supabase Reality
Both tools have a "marriage" with Supabase for backend services (database and authentication):
- Lovable has tighter integration—it can scaffold your entire database schema and set up auth with zero manual input
- Bolt.new is more flexible but requires you to understand the Supabase dashboard a bit more
Performance vs. Other Competitors
vs. V0 (Vercel)
While Vercel's V0 is the king of frontend components, it often lacks the "full-stack" logic that Bolt and Lovable provide.
- V0 strength: Pixel-perfect UI components with beautiful design
- V0 limitation: Usually requires copying code to local environment; doesn't handle backend
- Bolt/Lovable advantage: Ship full applications directly from the browser
vs. Replit Agent
Replit Agent is the "old guard" of AI-assisted coding, but Bolt and Lovable have surpassed it in 2025:
- Replit strength: Full IDE with collaborative features and hosting
- Replit limitation: Slower AI responses, less intuitive UX
- Bolt/Lovable advantage: Faster iteration, better AI model integration (Claude 3.5)
vs. Cursor / Windsurf
These are local IDE enhancements—you still need your own development environment:
- Cursor/Windsurf strength: Work with existing codebases, powerful code editing
- Their limitation: Require local setup, npm knowledge, terminal comfort
- Bolt/Lovable advantage: Zero setup, browser-only, instant preview
| Tool | Best At | Limitation | Pick It If... |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bolt.new | Multi-framework full-stack apps | Token costs can spike on bugs | You're technical & want control |
| Lovable | Beautiful UI + guided setup | React-only, less flexibility | You're non-technical & need speed |
| V0 | Pixel-perfect components | Frontend-only, copy-paste workflow | You just need beautiful UI blocks |
| Replit Agent | Hosting + collaboration | Slower AI, clunkier UX | You need built-in hosting |
| Cursor | Editing existing codebases | Requires local dev environment | You have an existing project |
Detailed Pros, Cons, and Limitations
Bolt.new
- Multi-framework support (React, Vue, Svelte, Astro)
- Full terminal and code visibility
- Generous free tier (1M tokens)
- WebContainer tech = browser-native Node.js
- Manual override: edit any file directly
- Educational: see exactly what AI is doing
- Token costs spike when AI gets stuck debugging
- Steeper learning curve for non-technical users
- No visual click-to-edit interface
- Supabase setup requires more manual work
- Can be overwhelming with too much transparency
Lovable
- Visual click-to-edit for UI elements
- Seamless Supabase auth + database integration
- Built-in security checks (API key exposure)
- More predictable message-based pricing
- Hand-holding onboarding for non-technical users
- Rapid MVP generation with polish
- React-only (no Vue, Svelte, etc.)
- Less transparency—terminal is hidden
- Free tier very limited (5 messages/day)
- Less flexibility for complex architectures
- Can't manually edit code as easily
Final Verdict: Which Tool Wins?
Bolt.new Rating:
Bolt.new is the Swiss Army knife of vibe coding. Its multi-framework support and full transparency make it the best choice for developers who want speed without sacrificing control. The generous free tier is unmatched.
It loses half a point for the token-cost unpredictability when debugging gets messy, and another half-point for being slightly intimidating to non-technical users.
Lovable Rating:
Lovable is the gold standard for non-technical founders who need a polished MVP yesterday. The visual editor, guided Supabase setup, and automatic security checks remove friction at every step.
It loses a point for being React-only—this limits its appeal to teams with different tech preferences—but for its target audience, it's near-perfect.
The Real Winner? It Depends on Your "Vibe"
- Choose Bolt.new if: You're technical, need framework flexibility, or want to learn while building
- Choose Lovable if: You're non-technical, need speed to beautiful UI, or building with Supabase
- Use both if: You prototype in Lovable, then migrate complex logic to Bolt when needed
What's Next for Both Tools?
Both teams are racing toward the same future: autonomous agent-driven development where you describe an entire product and the AI ships it end-to-end.
- Bolt's roadmap: Better debugging loops, multi-file context awareness, team collaboration features
- Lovable's roadmap: More backend integrations beyond Supabase, mobile app export, visual design system tools
Key Takeaways
- Vibe coding is real: Bolt and Lovable prove you can ship production apps with prompts in 2025
- Not a zero-sum choice: Use Lovable for rapid prototyping, Bolt for technical flexibility
- Pricing matters: Bolt's tokens can spike; Lovable's messages are more predictable
- Framework lock-in: Lovable = React-only; Bolt = Vue/Svelte/Astro freedom
- Best for non-technical: Lovable wins with visual editing and security guardrails
- Best for developers: Bolt wins with full control and multi-framework support
- Both use Claude 3.5 Sonnet: Same AI brain, radically different UX philosophy
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I export my code from Bolt or Lovable?
Which tool is better for complete beginners?
Can I use my own API keys for Claude or GPT-4?
What happens if I hit my token/message limit?
Lovable: Same—you'll need to wait or upgrade to continue building.
