AIPrototypeSaaSMVPPricing
Lovable vs Bolt vs Base44 for prototyping a SaaS
8 min read
Lovable, Bolt and Base44 all generate a web app from a plain-language description, and all three can prototype a SaaS. None of them is best in every case. They differ mainly in their pricing model (credits, tokens or messages), their back end (built in, or plugged in), and how you get your code and data out. This comparison sticks to what the vendors publish, as checked on 3 November 2026, and does not pick a winner.
It builds on our broader piece, AI app builders vs a software studio, which tackles the question one step earlier: do you need a builder, or a team?
Public prices, as checked on 3 November 2026
These tools change their pricing often. The figures below were taken from the official pages on 3 November 2026; check them again before subscribing. All prices are in US dollars, before tax.
| Criterion | Lovable | Bolt | Base44 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 5 build credits a day, capped at 30 a month | 1M tokens a month, 300K daily limit | 25 message credits a month |
| First paid plan | Pro, $25 a month for 100 credits | Pro, $25 a month, from 10M tokens | Starter, $16 a month billed annually, 100 message credits |
| Team plans | Business, $50 a month for 100 credits | Teams, $30 per member a month | Builder $40, Pro $80, Elite $160 a month billed annually |
| Usage unit | Credits, varying with task complexity | Tokens, unused tokens roll over on Pro | Message credits and integration credits |
| Annual discount | Not quantified here | Up to 28% | 20% |
Sources: Lovable plans documentation and Lovable pricing, Bolt pricing, Base44 pricing. Lovable's documentation adds that Pro and Business come in tiers from 100 to 10,000 credits a month. Base44's page only shows prices for annual billing.
One point applies to all three: the entry price says little about the real bill. Every prompt consumes a variable amount of credits or tokens, and a prototype that needs many rounds of changes burns through them. Lovable's pricing page gives examples, from about half a credit to turn a button grey to well over a credit and a half for a full landing page with images.
The subscription is also only one line of the budget. A SaaS in front of customers needs its own domain name, which Lovable reserves for paid plans, Bolt includes from Pro, and Base44 offers free for a year on paid plans, according to the same pages. Add the payment provider's fees, email sending, any third-party APIs, and the time you spend writing prompts and checking the result. That last line is usually the largest.
Back ends: built in, but not in the same way
A SaaS needs a database, user accounts and server-side functions. All three tools provide them, through different choices.
- Lovable offers Lovable Cloud, a built-in back end (database, storage, authentication, functions) that, according to its documentation, uses Supabase's open-source foundation. You can also connect your own Supabase project.
- Bolt gives every project a built-in database, per its help centre. On Pro and Teams you can pick Supabase when creating a new project, but the help centre states there is currently no supported way to migrate an existing Bolt database to Supabase.
- Base44 includes an integrated back end and database on every plan, according to its pricing page. Generated code uses the Base44 SDK, described as an interface for building apps on the Base44 platform.
The practical consequence: the back end is chosen at the start. Changing it later is a real migration, whichever tool you use.
Getting code and data out
| Criterion | Lovable | Bolt | Base44 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Code to Git | GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket sync, every plan | GitHub connection with change history | Two-way GitHub sync, Builder plan and above |
| Data | Manual export and restore into your own Supabase | Row export from the tables view | Tied to the Base44 back end, confirm with the vendor |
| Hosting region | Americas, Europe or Asia Pacific, fixed once enabled | Not stated in the documentation reviewed | Not stated in the documentation reviewed |
Sources: Lovable plans, Lovable Cloud, Bolt and GitHub, Bolt database, Base44 and GitHub.
If your customers are in the EU or the UK, the hosting region matters for your data protection obligations: ask the vendor before you load real data. Our exit plan guide lists what you should be able to recover from any supplier.
Security: tools provided, responsibility retained
Lovable documents a quick scan that runs at publish time and a deeper code scan; its security centre is limited to the Business and Enterprise plans. Bolt lists advanced security features (single sign-on, audit logs) on its Enterprise plan. Above all, Lovable's documentation makes clear that the app owner remains responsible for its security. The checks to run before opening to customers are in our security checklist for a vibe-coded app.
How to choose for your prototype
Rather than a ranking, four questions:
- Where will the data live? If your first users are in Europe, check the hosting region before creating the project.
- Do you want a standard back end? A back end built on Supabase can be taken over with widely known tools; a platform-specific back end is taken over with the vendor's tools.
- How many iterations do you expect? A prototype that is still finding its shape consumes more than one whose screens are already designed. Estimate a month of usage before picking a plan.
- Should the prototype become the product? If so, test code and data export now, not on the day a developer needs to take over.
Building the same screen in two tools, for an hour each, often teaches you more than any comparison. Our guide to prototype vs MVP vs proof of concept helps pin down what you expect from that trial.
A one-hour trial, tool by tool
To compare on your own project rather than on promises, give the same brief to each tool you are considering. Take a simple SaaS: a portal where small clinics manage their clients' appointments.
- The same first prompt. Describe the main screen, the two roles (the clinic, its client) and the three key pieces of data. Note how many credits, tokens or messages the tool used.
- One precise change. Ask for a "cancelled" status on an appointment. Check whether other parts of the app changed without being asked.
- The two-account test. Create two clinics and confirm the first cannot see the second's appointments, including by editing an identifier in the address bar.
- The export. Connect GitHub, then open the repository. Is the code there, readable, with a file explaining how to run it?
- The bill. Project that hour of usage onto a month of work and compare it with the plan you have in mind.
This protocol will not tell you which tool is best. It tells you which one fits the way you work, and it puts you in front of the issues that going to production will raise anyway, from day one.
What none of them does
All three produce credible screens and a working database quickly. None of them does the following for you:
- decide the business rules: who sees what, what gets billed, what gets locked;
- verify access between customers in a multi-customer SaaS, which only tests written for your business can cover;
- answer for an incident in front of your customers;
- run the service over time: updates, restored backups, support.
That is where production begins, covered in taking a Lovable, Bolt or Base44 app to production.
Where we come in
LPR Studio does not resell any of these tools and does not recommend one over another. If you have a prototype built with one of them, we use it as a starting point and present a free prototype of the production SaaS over video within 5 business days. If not, describe your idea in a few lines and we start from there. Either way, the prototype you see is a demonstration: it is not billed and not delivered, and it lets you judge the approach before any commitment.