Lovable vs Bolt in 2026: Free Plans, Pro Prices and Student Discounts

Lovable vs Bolt: both build working web apps from a chat prompt, and both charge $25 a month for Pro. The differences are in the free plans and the discounts. Bolt.new's free plan gives up to 1 million tokens a month (with a 300,000-token daily limit), and Pro adds 10M+ tokens a month that roll over and is cheaper on yearly billing. Lovable's free plan gives daily credits, and students and teachers get 50% off Pro for up to 12 months ($12.50 a month).

Quick answer: if you're a student or teacher, Lovable is the cheaper paid choice at $12.50 a month. If you want the most free usage to build and test, or you'll pay yearly, start with Bolt.new. Both are free to try, so build the same small app in each before you pay.

Lovable vs Bolt: prices

As of October 2026, from Lovable's student page and Bolt.new's pricing page. Current offers: Lovable for students and teachers and Bolt.new free plan.

What they do

Lovable builds working web apps from a chat. You describe what you want, Lovable writes the code and shows a live preview, and you keep refining it by chatting.

Bolt.new builds and runs web apps from a prompt in the browser, so you can see and test the app right away, then keep editing by prompt or by hand.

Both are aimed at people who want an app without setting up a development environment: founders testing an idea, designers making prototypes, students learning, and developers who want a fast first draft.

Free plans compared

• Bolt.new Free: up to 1 million tokens a month, with a 300,000-token daily limit. Unused free tokens don't roll over.
• Lovable Free: daily credits you can spend on building and editing.

Bolt's free plan is clearly defined in tokens, which makes it easy to plan a small project around. Lovable's daily credits mean you build a bit every day rather than all at once. For a weekend project, Bolt's monthly allowance usually goes further; for steady daily tinkering, both work.

Pro plans compared

Both cost $25 a month:

• Bolt.new Pro removes the daily limit and gives 10M+ tokens a month that roll over, and it's cheaper on yearly billing.
• Lovable Pro adds more credits and features; verified students and teachers pay 50% less for up to 12 months (100 credits a month at $12.50, billed monthly).

Our take: for regular users, the deciding factor is usually which tool's output you prefer for your kind of app, since the price is the same. For students and teachers, Lovable's discount halves the cost.

Lovable's student discount: how it works

Lovable checks your account email domain against a list of schools. You must verify while on the Free plan, and each person can use the discount once. After verifying, you get Pro at 50% off for up to 12 months, billed monthly. More student offers are in our AI student discounts guide.

What a year costs

Other AI app builders to compare

• v0 by Vercel builds web apps and UI from a chat and can deploy them to Vercel; the free plan includes $5 of credits a month.
• Replit runs a browser workspace where its Agent builds, runs and deploys apps; Core is $20 a month or $18 a month billed yearly, with usage credits for the Agent and hosting.
• Base44 builds full apps, including the database and login; Starter is $16 a month on yearly billing, and students and teachers get 50% off.

If you're comfortable with code and want an AI editor instead of an app builder, see our Cursor alternatives guide.

Which should you choose?

• Student or teacher: Lovable, at $12.50 a month for up to a year.
• Most free usage for a project: Bolt.new Free (1M tokens a month).
• Paying for a year: Bolt.new Pro on yearly billing.
• Want to deploy on Vercel: v0.
• Want building and hosting in one place: Replit Core.

Tips to spend less on AI app builders

1. Plan before you prompt. Write down the pages, data and features you need. Clear prompts use fewer tokens and credits than many small corrections.
2. Build the same small app in two tools on their free plans, then pay only for the one whose results you prefer.
3. Use your daily or monthly allowance fully before upgrading; Bolt's free tokens don't roll over.
4. Export or connect your code to GitHub so you're not locked in if you switch tools later.

Common mistakes

• Paying for two builders at once. $50 a month for two tools you use half the time.
• Students paying full price. Verify with your school email on Lovable's Free plan first.
• Upgrading on day one. Both free plans are enough to judge whether the tool suits you.

Real-world examples: Lovable or Bolt?

• A student building a portfolio project: Lovable with the 50% student discount, after verifying your school email on the Free plan.
• A founder testing a startup idea over a weekend: Bolt.new's free plan, which gives up to 300,000 tokens a day and a million a month to get a working prototype.
• A designer turning a mockup into a clickable prototype: try both free plans with the same screen, or v0 if you'll deploy on Vercel.
• A small business owner who needs a simple internal tool: Replit Core or Base44 if you also want hosting, a database and logins in one place.
• A developer who wants a fast first draft: any of them, then export the code to GitHub and continue in your own editor.

How we compared Lovable and Bolt

We used only the prices and limits published on Lovable's and Bolt.new's own pages, in US dollars, for one person, as of October 2026. Bolt measures usage in tokens and Lovable in credits, so the two free plans can't be compared one-to-one; the fairest test is building the same small app in both. We didn't count unofficial coupon codes, and where a yearly price isn't published in a form we could verify, we say so instead of guessing.

Bottom line

At the same $25 Pro price, Lovable is cheaper for students and teachers (50% off for up to 12 months), and Bolt.new gives the more generous, clearly defined free plan and a yearly discount. Try both on a small project, then pay for the one you'd actually use. Every current offer is on our coding deals page.

Sources: Lovable for students; Bolt.new pricing; v0 pricing; Replit pricing; Base44 pricing; Base44 student discount; checked in October 2026.