Lovable: chat-to-app builder with hosting and Git sync, but free builds stop at 30 credits a month
Updated September 26, 2026 · By Elias Brandt · Documentation review, not tested hands-on
Pros
- No per-seat pricing
- Code stays yours
- Transparent message costs
- Hosting and backend included
Cons
- Small free allowance
- Costs are hard to predict upfront
- One balance for building and running
- Business costs more per credit
Bottom line
5 build credits a day, up to 30 a month; 20 Cloud and 4 AI credits a month; 5 lovable.app domains; Git sync; read-only code editor.
You want to build a web app from chat prompts and keep the code in your own GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket repository, since Git sync is available on every plan.
You need a custom domain or code editing without paying, because Free has a read-only code editor and only lovable.app domains.
Best forFounders prototyping a productProduct managers and designersSmall teams building internal toolsDevelopers working alongside non-codersStudents and teachers
Strengths, limits and who it suits, in full
Strengths
- No per-seat pricing Every plan allows unlimited workspace members, so adding collaborators changes how fast credits go, not the subscription price.
- Code stays yours Git sync to GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket works on every plan, and Lovable states you own the apps, code and data you create.
- Transparent message costs Plan mode is 1 credit per message and each Build mode reply shows exactly what it used.
- Hosting and backend included Publishing, database, authentication and storage run inside the same product, with monthly Cloud and AI grants.
Limits
- Small free allowance Free grants 5 build credits a day but stops at 30 a month, with no custom domain and a read-only code editor.
- Costs are hard to predict upfront Build mode charges on the work done, so a complex request can use far more than the published examples.
- One balance for building and running Hosting, database and in-app AI usage beyond the grants draw on the same credits as development work.
- Business costs more per credit At the smaller credit tiers Business costs about twice Pro for the same credits, with a narrower gap at 7,500 and 10,000 credits, and top-ups cost USD 0.60 per credit instead of USD 0.30.
Who it suits
- Founders prototyping a product consider Free to test an idea, then Pro once you need a custom domain, code download or more than 30 build credits a month.
- Product managers and designers consider it for clickable, data-backed prototypes that developers can later pick up from a synced GitHub repository.
- Small teams building internal tools consider Business when tools must be published only to signed-in members and staff sign in through SSO.
- Developers working alongside non-coders consider it when two-way Git sync lets you work in your own IDE on a feature branch while others prompt in Lovable.
- Students and teachers consider the academic discount, 50% off the monthly 100-credit Pro plan for up to 12 months.
How much does Lovable cost?
Prices confirmed · checked
- EUR 25Pro
- EUR 50Business
Regional prices: The pricing page showed EUR prices including VAT from a server in Germany; the documentation lists the same amounts in USD.
Pro and Business are sold in credit tiers from 100 to 10,000 credits a month: Pro runs from EUR 25 to EUR 2,250 on monthly billing and EUR 21 to EUR 1,875 on yearly billing, Business from EUR 50 to EUR 4,300 monthly and EUR 42 to EUR 3,584 yearly. Every plan also includes 5 daily build credits, a 20-credit monthly Cloud grant and a 4-credit monthly AI grant. Enterprise is quoted by sales.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | EUR 0 sourceFrom lovable.dev/pricing, checked Sep 26, 2026 (opens in a new tab) | 5 build credits a day, up to 30 a month; 20 Cloud and 4 AI credits a month; 5 lovable.app domains; Git sync; read-only code editor. |
| Pro | EUR 21 per monthbilled yearly · EUR 25 billed monthly, incl. VAT sourceFrom lovable.dev/pricing, checked Sep 26, 2026 (opens in a new tab) | 100 credits a month, tiers up to 10,000; custom domains, badge removal, code editing and download, rollover, top-ups. |
| Business | EUR 42 per monthbilled yearly · EUR 50 billed monthly, incl. VAT sourceFrom lovable.dev/pricing, checked Sep 26, 2026 (opens in a new tab) | 100 credits a month, tiers up to 10,000; SSO, internal publish, personal projects, Lovable API, data excluded from training by default. |
| Enterprise | Contact provider | Platform fee with volume-based credit pricing; SCIM, audit logs, publishing controls, GitHub Enterprise sync, custom SLA. |
Which plan fits?
Smallest plan whose monthly credits cover your number with 15% spare for regenerations. Arithmetic from the plan table above, not a usage test.
How far does it go?
- Pro 100 credits in small editsAt the documented 0.50 credits for a style change, 100 monthly credits cover about 200 such edits (100 / 0.50), or about 83 feature-sized requests at 1.20 credits each.
- Free plan in Plan modeThe Free plan's 30 build credits a month cover 30 Plan mode messages at 1 credit each, or about 60 small Build mode edits at 0.50, before any subagent research.
- Top-up or next tier on ProA 50-credit Pro top-up costs USD 15 (USD 0.30 per credit), while moving from 100 to 200 monthly credits adds USD 25 a month on monthly billing, USD 0.25 per extra credit.
Arithmetic from the published allowances above, not a usage test.
Taxes, currency and promotions can change the price you see at checkout.
Try Lovable free (opens in a new tab)
Key features
| Feature | What it does | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| Build mode | Describe a change in chat and Lovable implements and checks it in the project, from single edits to multi-step features. | — |
| Plan mode | Get a structured plan you can review and edit before any code changes, charged per message. | — |
| Built-in backend (Cloud) | Database, authentication, file storage, edge functions and scheduled jobs without separate setup.Hosts the app with database, auth, storage and functions, covered at first by a monthly 20-credit Cloud grant. | Heavier traffic, data and storage are billed from the same credits you build with, and Free cannot move beyond the default database instance. |
| Git sync | Two-way sync with GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket on every plan, including GitHub Enterprise on Enterprise.Creates a repository and keeps it in two-way sync, with branch switching and pull request support, on every plan including Free. | Lovable edits one branch at a time, and server-side secrets and auth redirect URLs have to be set up again when running the code elsewhere. |
| Code editor | Browse, search and edit the generated code, and download the full codebase on paid plans. | — |
| Hosting and custom domains | Publish to lovable.app, or buy or connect your own domain with automatic SSL on paid plans. | — |
| Connectors | Add services such as Slack, Supabase, Resend or ElevenLabs to your app, and MCP servers such as Notion or Linear as build context. | — |
| Desktop and mobile apps | Work from macOS, Windows, iOS or Android, including chatting with Lovable in Slack and Telegram. | — |
| Credit-priced building | Build mode prices each message on the work done, and every reply shows its credit cost so usage can be followed message by message. | Costs vary with complexity, so the credits a feature will need are known only after it runs. |
| Workspace controls | Pro adds roles and per-member monthly credit limits; Business adds SSO, internal publishing, personal projects and the Lovable API. | SCIM, audit logs and publishing controls are Enterprise-only. |
Which Lovable plan fits how much you build?
Editorial assessment
Size the plan by credits, not people, because every plan allows unlimited workspace members and they all draw on one shared balance. Build mode edits cost from about half a credit for a style tweak to one or two credits for a feature, so the thresholds below assume that range.
- FreeEUR 0
fits trying Lovable and small prototypes: 5 build credits a day, capped at 30 a month, publishing on lovable.app only, a read-only code editor and the Lovable badge on published sites.
- Pro with 100 credits
fits one person iterating on a real site or app a few times a week, and it adds custom domains, badge removal, code editing and code download.
- A higher Pro tier
fits once you top up most months. Lovable itself advises upgrading when you keep running out, and a 200-credit tier costs less per credit than buying top-ups.
- BusinessEUR 42 per month
fits when SSO, internal-only publishing, the Lovable API or excluding workspace data from model training by default are requirements. At the smaller credit tiers it costs about twice Pro for the same credits; the gap narrows at the 7,500 and 10,000 credit tiers.
What does a Lovable credit buy?
One balance pays for building, chatting, hosting and AI features inside your app, and the cost of building depends on the mode. Plan mode charges 1 credit per message plus any subagent research, while Build mode is priced on the work done.
Lovable publishes these Build mode examples:
- “Make the button gray”: 0.50 credits.
- “Remove the footer”: 0.90 credits.
- Adding authentication with sign-up and login: 1.20 credits.
- A landing page with generated images: 1.70 credits on the pricing page, 2.00 in the documentation.
Each reply shows its exact cost in its options menu. Long Build mode runs pause for a check-in once a single message passes 20 credits by default, and a request stopped before any change is made is not charged. Messages sent as a /goal cost noticeably more for the same work.
How do hosting and in-app AI draw on credits?
Running a published app uses the same balance. Free, Pro and Business include a monthly grant of 20 Cloud credits for hosting and the built-in backend and 4 AI credits for model calls your app makes, and Lovable spends these grants before general credits. Lovable calls both grants a temporary offering.
Past the grants, Cloud usage grows with visitors, database size, stored files, network traffic, background code and realtime messages, and in-app AI grows with model choice and tokens. Connectors billed through Lovable, such as Perplexity or Firecrawl, always use general credits. To cut a project’s usage, Lovable suggests pausing it, resizing the database instance, fixing slow queries, cleaning up storage or removing the built-in backend.
Can you take your code out of Lovable?
Yes, and on every plan. Git sync links a project to a GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket repository with two-way sync, so changes made in Lovable appear in the repository and commits pushed to the active branch flow back. Lovable edits one branch at a time, and if that branch is protected it pushes to a lovable-sync branch instead.
Downloading the codebase as files and editing code inside Lovable require a paid plan; on Free the code editor is read-only. Projects created from May 13, 2026 use TanStack Start, which runs server code, so hosting them elsewhere needs a server host rather than static hosting. Secrets stored in Lovable stay out of the repository. The backend can move separately, to managed or self-hosted Supabase or another PostgreSQL-based backend with equivalent auth and storage.
What happens to your credits and site if you downgrade?
Monthly plan credits roll over while you stay subscribed but still expire 2 months after issue on monthly billing, or 1 month after the annual period ends on yearly billing. Top-up credits last 12 months.
Moving to Free freezes unused plan and rollover credits until you subscribe again before they expire, while top-up credits stay usable. Connected custom domains keep serving your app, but you cannot connect new ones, and the next publish brings back the Edit with Lovable badge.
What should a first Lovable build test check?
Proposed evaluation · not performed yet
On the Free plan, ask Plan mode for a plan and then let Build mode build a two-page booking site for a small studio with a contact form that stores submissions in the built-in database. Accept it if the form saves an entry you can see in the database view, the preview works at phone width and the credits used, read from each reply, stay within one day’s 5 build credits. Then connect a new GitHub repository and confirm the code arrives there, since that step is free.
When is a visual site builder a better fit than Lovable?
Lovable works through chat and generated code, which suits apps with logins, data and custom logic. For a marketing site edited on a visual canvas, compare the Framer and Webflow profiles, and the AI website builders category lists the other options.
Is Lovable worth it?
Documentation review plus dated public user reports. Documentation review, not tested hands-on. Not scored.
Worth it if
- You want to build a web app from chat prompts and keep the code in your own GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket repository, since Git sync is available on every plan.
- Several people will work in the same project, because plans are priced by credits rather than seats and extra collaborators do not raise the subscription.
- You want hosting, database and authentication inside the same product instead of assembling them yourself.
Probably not if
- You need a custom domain or code editing without paying, because Free has a read-only code editor and only lovable.app domains.
- You need a fixed monthly cost, since build requests draw on one shared credit balance and a complex request can use more than the published examples.
- You plan to run heavy in-app AI or a large database on a small plan, as hosting and usage beyond the monthly grants consume the same credits as building.
Lovable alternatives
Other website builders tools checked with the same method. Pick by the job, not by a score.
Small businesses and agencies that want an AI-built site on WordPress with hosting, backups and a domain in one bill
Founders and product teams turning a prompt into a hosted web app
All-in-one AI websites for small service businesses
Non-developers and small teams who want to turn a described idea into a working web or mobile app prototype
Designing UI screens and prototypes with AI and coding agents
Product teams that want clickable prototypes in their own design system, then a hand-off to code or Figma
Non-developers and small teams who want a store-ready iOS and Android app built by chat, with the Flutter source code to keep
Freelancers and agencies turning client briefs into marketing sites, hosted on Relume or exported to Webflow, Figma or React
Used Lovable? Write the first review. Visitor opinions are moderated and kept separate from our source checks.
Frequently asked questions
Does Lovable charge per seat?
No. Workspaces support unlimited members on all plans, and a plan is priced by the credits it includes. Inviting more people leaves the subscription price unchanged; it only changes how quickly the shared balance is used. On Pro and above, owners and admins can set a default monthly credit limit per member and individual overrides.
Is there a Lovable student discount?
Yes. Verified students and teachers get 50% off the Pro plan with 100 credits a month on monthly billing, for up to 12 months. Verification checks your academic email domain and is only available while the workspace is on Free. Each person can use it once, and annual billing, higher tiers and top-ups are excluded from the discount.
Are Lovable credits refundable?
No. Credits cannot be refunded or exchanged for cash. If you cancel, the paid plan stays active until the end of the billing period and the remaining credits can be used until then. Lovable also states that credits are deleted if an account is closed for fraud or a breach of its terms, unless the law requires otherwise.
Who owns an app built with Lovable?
You do. Lovable states that you own the apps, websites, code and customer data you create, plus the AI output you generate, subject to any third-party rights in the underlying AI models and open-source licenses. You can modify the code, use it commercially and host it wherever you choose.
How long does the current chat pricing last?
Lovable describes the daily chat allowance and per-message chat price as temporary, applying through October 31, 2026. The allowance covers messages in Chats and Chat mode, including Slack, Telegram and voice, resets daily at 00:00 UTC and does not roll over. Pro and Business workspaces receive a larger daily allowance than Free.
Can I buy Lovable on iPhone?
Yes, but App Store purchases work differently. A plan bought in the iOS app covers one month and does not renew automatically, so there is nothing to cancel; the workspace returns to Free when it ends. Subscriptions bought on the web are cancelled in a browser under Plans and credit usage, because the mobile app has no cancel option.
Sources and method12 official sources · 44 details checked · Sep 26, 2026
How we checked this profile
44 details on this page were checked against Lovable's own pages and help documentation (Sep 26, 2026). 1 is still open and listed below.
See the checks by section38 documented5 editorial assessment1 open
| Section | Checks | Last checked | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Article text | 15 documented 3 editorial 1 open | docs.lovable.dev/subscription-plansdocs.lovable.dev/credits-and-usagedocs.lovable.dev/git-sync-overviewdocs.lovable.dev/code-modedocs.lovable.dev/deployment-hosting-ownershipdocs.lovable.dev/custom-domaindocs.lovable.dev/github | |
| Plans and prices | 10 documented 1 editorial | lovable.dev/pricingdocs.lovable.dev/subscription-plansdocs.lovable.dev/credits-and-usage | |
| Questions | 7 documented | lovable.dev/pricingdocs.lovable.dev/deployment-hosting-ownershipdocs.lovable.dev/subscription-plansdocs.lovable.dev/credits-and-usage | |
| Strengths and limits | 1 documented | docs.lovable.dev/credits-and-usage | |
| Platforms and integrations | 3 documented | docs.lovable.dev/desktop-appdocs.lovable.dev/lovable-mobile-appdocs.lovable.dev/introduction | |
| Features | 1 documented | docs.lovable.dev/subscription-plans | |
| Who it suits | 1 editorial | docs.lovable.dev/subscription-plans | |
| Official channels and media | 1 documented | lovable.dev/pricing |
Still open
- The landing page example is listed at 1.70 credits on the pricing page and 2.00 credits in the documentation.Not confirmed · checked · Source (opens in a new tab)
Sources for this profile
- Lovable pricinglovable.dev
- Lovable subscription plansdocs.lovable.dev
- Lovable credits and usagedocs.lovable.dev
- Lovable Git sync overviewdocs.lovable.dev
All 12 sources
- Sync your Lovable project with GitHubdocs.lovable.dev
- Lovable code editordocs.lovable.dev
- Lovable deployment, hosting and ownership optionsdocs.lovable.dev
- Lovable custom domainsdocs.lovable.dev
- Lovable desktop appdocs.lovable.dev
- Lovable mobile appdocs.lovable.dev
- Lovable connectorsdocs.lovable.dev
- Lovable AI website builderlovable.dev
Lovable's pricing page and its documentation on plans, credits, Git sync, code editing, hosting, domains and apps were used. The pricing page showed EUR including VAT to a visitor in Germany; the documentation lists USD. The lovable.dev home page returned a Cloudflare security check to automated requests.
Sources checked Sep 26, 2026. Found something out of date? See how we correct profiles.
