Lovable vs Bolt: Which AI Builder Should You Use?

Lovable and Bolt both generate a full-stack, database-backed application from a written prompt, with real code you can export — but they part ways on whether you can bring in a GitHub repository you already have, and on what happens to a custom domain if you stop paying. Lovable's GitHub integration only exports; it can't import an existing repository. Bolt's does both. Bolt, on the other hand, disconnects your custom domain the moment you downgrade off a paid plan. Here's what each vendor's own documentation says, end to end.

What does each one actually build?

Bolt's own documentation describes itself as "an AI-powered builder for websites, web apps, and mobile apps" (Bolt, "Intro to Bolt", checked September 2026), naming three categories: "Websites like landing pages, personal and corporate websites, e-commerce shops, and more," "Web apps such as project management tools, job boards, CRMs, SaaS platforms, booking platforms, and beyond," and "Mobile apps including games, productivity tools, social apps, workout planners, and whatever you imagine next" (same source). It's explicit about depth, not just breadth: "Bolt builds full-stack web applications using a wide range of JavaScript-based web frameworks. To build mobile apps, you use the Expo integration" (same source).

Lovable's documentation describes "a full-stack AI development platform for building, iterating on, and deploying web applications using natural language, with real code, security, and enterprise governance," generating "a working application that includes frontend, backend, database, authentication, and integrations, all backed by editable code" (Lovable Documentation, "Welcome to Lovable", checked September 2026). Its own list of what you can build includes "Marketplaces and online commerce: Booking tools, storefronts, and marketplace apps" (same source) — a real overlap with Bolt's e-commerce category, though neither is a dedicated storefront platform like Shopify; both build commerce features by prompting them, plus a payments connector (Stripe, on both).

Where does each one host a published project, and what does a custom domain cost?

Bolt publishes to a free subdomain automatically. "When you publish a project with Bolt, it automatically goes live on a free bolt.host domain" (Bolt, "Domains", checked September 2026). A custom domain needs a paid plan: "Custom domains are only available on paid plans, so you'll need to upgrade from Free to any paid tier to use one" (same source) — and the connection doesn't survive a downgrade: "If you downgrade to the Free plan, you'll no longer be able to publish to your custom domain" (same source).

Lovable's hosting works the same way in outline, with one different detail: your data. "Lovable hosts your app. When you publish, your app goes live on its own URL, and Lovable takes care of everything behind it: there are no servers to set up, no hosting provider to choose, and nothing to configure" (Lovable Documentation, "How Lovable hosts your app", checked September 2026). The default address is "a public URL on lovable.app, with a web address you can customize (or your custom domain, or a branded workspace URL)," and "Publishing to a lovable.app URL is free and available on all plans. Custom domains require a paid plan" (same source). By default, "anyone with the link can visit your published app, on every plan," though "On Business and Enterprise plans, you can instead restrict the published app to workspace members, or to specific people and groups" (same source).

On SEO specifically, Lovable documents a built-in check: "Use the built-in SEO review to check how your live site looks to search engines and what to improve," and notes that apps built from May 13, 2026 use full server-side rendering so "every visitor and crawler receives fully rendered pages" (same source). Bolt's Pro plan lists "SEO boosting" as an included feature on its pricing page, without describing the mechanism.

How do I get from a prompt to a repository I own?

This is the real fork between the two. Bolt's GitHub integration works both directions. Its documentation states plainly: "You can bring an existing GitHub project into Bolt, or start building in Bolt and create a new GitHub repository for your project" (Bolt, "GitHub for version control", checked September 2026), and once connected, "Bolt manages the technical Git steps for you" (same source). If you'd rather skip GitHub entirely, Bolt also documents a direct download: "You can download your project as a zip file to work on it outside of Bolt, using your own code editor," through "Export > Download" from the project menu (Bolt, "Manage your projects", checked September 2026).

Lovable's GitHub sync only goes one way. Its own documentation is direct about the limitation: "The GitHub Git sync integration currently does not support: Importing existing GitHub repositories into Lovable. You can only export from Lovable to GitHub" (Lovable Documentation, "Sync your Lovable project with GitHub", checked September 2026). What it does support once you connect a project: "Lovable creates a new GitHub repository and starts two-way sync automatically" (same source), meaning changes flow both ways between Lovable and that new repo — you just can't point Lovable at a repository you already had before connecting. Lovable also offers a GitHub-free path to your code: "download your code directly from Lovable: use the Download codebase section in Project settings → Git, or open the Code editor and click Download codebase" (same source, paid plans for the Code editor route). If your actual need is bringing an existing GitHub project under an AI builder's control, that's a Bolt-shaped job today, not a Lovable-shaped one — Bolt's own docs even list "Import from Lovable" as one of its supported project starting points (Bolt, "Intro to Bolt").

What database does each one provision?

Bolt "creates a database automatically if your project needs one, or if you explicitly ask Bolt to create a database or a database-related feature" (Bolt, "Intro to Bolt"), or you can choose Supabase instead at project creation: "If you prefer to use Supabase when creating a new project, you can select it during setup" (Bolt, "Database", checked September 2026). Lovable's built-in backend is Supabase-based by default too, and its own guide to moving a Lovable project to your own hosting and our v0 vs Lovable comparison cover that backend in more depth than this guide will repeat here.

Capability matrix

Who is each one not for?

Bolt is not the fit if you're standardized on Lovable's shared-workspace-credit model and don't want per-member Teams billing, or if you specifically need to keep a project inside one continuously-synced GitHub repo without thinking about zip exports.

Lovable is not the fit if your starting point is an existing GitHub repository you need an AI builder to read and edit in place — its own documentation rules that out today. It's also not the fit for native mobile output the way Bolt's Expo integration targets it.

Is Figment a fit for either kind of project?

No. Figment publishes a Figma design as a live website through its Figma plugin; it doesn't generate an application from a prompt, and its AI editor is public now, working on a separate static copy of a site. Neither Lovable nor Bolt's job — a prompt-generated, database-backed application — is what Figment does. Our What is Bolt.new and Lovable pricing guides cover each vendor's own numbers and mechanics in more depth than this comparison repeats.

Which should I actually pick?

• Pick Bolt if you need to import an existing GitHub repository into an AI builder, or you want the option to fall back to a plain zip export without touching Git at all.
• Pick Lovable if you're starting fresh, want a single shared credit pool instead of per-seat billing, and are fine with GitHub sync starting from a new repository Lovable creates for you.
• Check both vendors' current pricing pages before committing — Bolt's token allowances and Lovable's credit-per-plan numbers are each set on pages that update independently of this guide.

Bottom line: both hand you a real, exportable full-stack application with a database behind it, so the decision usually isn't about output quality — it's about which constraint you're already living with. If an existing GitHub repo needs to come under AI-assisted editing, that's Bolt today. If you're starting from a blank prompt and want one shared credit balance instead of per-seat pricing, that's Lovable. Either way, downgrade decisions matter: Bolt drops your custom domain in that scenario, so read your plan's fine print before you rely on it.