Bolt.new review: what it does well, what it costs and who should skip it

Is Bolt.new worth using?

Yes for a prototype you want to see running in minutes, a landing page, or a small web app with a login and a database. Less so when you need to know the monthly bill in advance, or when the project is large enough that every message re-reads a lot of code. Every fact in this review comes from Bolt's pricing page and help center. The verdicts are judgments drawn from those facts, and they are labelled as such.

What is Bolt.new?

Bolt is an AI-powered builder for websites, web apps and mobile apps. You type an idea into the chat, click Build now, and Bolt generates the project. It is developed by StackBlitz, the team behind WebContainers, the technology that runs Node.js in the browser, and Bolt runs on it. That is why nothing needs installing.

The help center lists five ways to start a project: describe an idea, import a Figma design, import from Google Stitch, import a GitHub repository, or import a Lovable project. Bolt builds full-stack web apps with JavaScript-based frameworks. For mobile apps you use the Expo integration.

In Bolt's terms, you pick one of two agents. Standard is the fast, token-efficient default for small and medium apps, UI updates and well-defined tasks. Max reasons for longer on each step and is meant for large codebases, refactors and open-ended problems. Only Standard is available on the Free plan.

Bolt also has a Plan Mode where you discuss the app with it before any code is written, which the help center recommends as a way to save tokens by avoiding rework.

How much does Bolt.new cost?

The USD 25 Pro plan is the 10 million token tier. Higher monthly tiers exist, and the billing help page's worked example prices the 10M annual plan at USD 216 a year, which is USD 18 a month. Prices exclude tax. Check bolt.new/pricing for the tier list on the day you subscribe.

The Free plan is real but narrow. One million tokens a month with a 300,000 daily cap means a heavy day can burn a third of the month's allowance. Daily tokens reset every day and do not carry over. If you hit the daily limit you can still edit code directly in Code view for free, because that does not use tokens.

How do Bolt tokens work?

Tokens are how Bolt measures the work an agent does. Bolt spends them when it reads your prompts and project files, makes a plan or writes code. The tokens page is clear about the cost driver: most usage comes from Bolt reading, understanding and syncing your project files, so larger projects use more tokens per message.

• Free plan reset: on the 1st of each calendar month. Paid plan reset: on your renewal date.
• Rollover: on a paid plan, unused tokens roll over and stay valid for two months from the start of the cycle in which you received them. Free plan tokens do not roll over.
• Order of use: oldest tokens are spent first.
• If you cancel: you lose access to all allocated tokens, including rollover tokens, when the billing cycle ends.
• Buying more: the cheapest route is a higher plan. The highest individual monthly Pro plan and any annual Pro plan can also buy token reloads, which do not expire. The reload price depends on your plan.

A fair reading of those rules: the model rewards small, focused projects and short sessions. A Bolt project that grows to dozens of files costs more to touch than one that stays small, even for a one-line change. That is a reason to keep the first version narrow and to use Plan Mode before you spend tokens building.

What does Bolt Cloud include?

Bolt Cloud is the bundle of database, hosting and domains inside a project, so you do not wire up separate services.

• Database. Bolt creates one automatically if your project needs it. You can view tables, logs, edge functions, secrets, users and authentication settings. Login and sign-up are not always added by default, so ask for them in a prompt.
• Supabase as an alternative. On Pro and Teams you can use Supabase as the database. Bolt's own tip is to choose it when you start the project, because switching later takes extra steps.
• Hosting. Every project gets a free bolt.host subdomain. Free hosting is up to 10 GB of bandwidth and 333,333 requests a month, with a hard limit: sites stop serving until the next cycle. Pro hosting is up to 30 GB and 1 million requests, with optional pay-as-you-go beyond that up to a spending cap you set.
• Domains. Custom domains need a paid plan. You can buy a domain inside Bolt or connect one you own.
• Security audit. The Publish menu has a Run security audit button that reviews your code and database, fixes what it can and lists what you must handle. It does not use tokens and is available on paid plans. A lighter database security check is available on all plans. Bolt recommends running an audit at least once before publishing.
• Code ownership. Bolt says the code you create is yours to use for any legal purpose, including commercial projects, and it connects to GitHub for version control.

The security audit is worth using, but it is a tool and not a sign-off. Anything that handles payments, health data or other people's personal information deserves a human review before real users arrive. The guide to vibe coding security lists what to check.

What are Bolt's strengths and weaknesses?

These are judgments based on the documented behavior above.

• Strength: low friction. Browser-based, no install, a database and hosting that appear when the prompt needs them.
• Strength: an easy way in. The Free plan needs no card, and you can import from GitHub, Figma or a Lovable project instead of starting from nothing.
• Strength: paid plans protect unused tokens for two months. Rollover softens a slow month.
• Strength: free direct code edits. When the daily cap hits, hand edits in Code view still work.
• Weakness: cost is hard to forecast. Tokens are consumed by reading your whole project, so the price of a message depends on project size, not just the size of your request.
• Weakness: Free is limited. Standard agent only, Bolt branding, no custom domain, no private sharing, and hosting that goes offline at the limit.
• Weakness: database choice is sticky. Plan the Supabase decision at the start.
• Weakness: generated code still needs a reader. Bolt's help center recommends running the security audit before you publish, which tells you the output is not guaranteed safe. That is true of every tool in this category.

How does Bolt compare with Lovable and Replit?

All three build apps from a prompt in the browser. They differ most in how they charge. The facts below come from each vendor's own pages as of October 2026.

For head-to-head pages, see Lovable vs Bolt and Bolt vs Replit. The Lovable pricing guide and the Replit review go through the other two models in detail.

Who should skip Bolt?

• People who need a fixed monthly cost and cannot tolerate running out of tokens mid-project.
• Teams that need the code to live in their own repository and editor from day one. Bolt supports GitHub, but its workflow is built around the browser.
• Builders working on a large existing codebase, where every message has to re-read a lot of files.
• Anyone about to launch a product with sensitive data who expects the tool to replace a security review.

If those describe you, compare it with a terminal agent in the Claude Code vs Cursor vs Lovable comparison, or browse the best vibe coding tools.

How do you try Bolt without wasting tokens?

1. Pick a small idea with one user and one action. Meeting cost ticker, posted on the board, is the right size. Browse the board for more.
2. Start in Plan Mode. Agree the screens and data with Bolt before it writes code.
3. Use the Standard agent. Switch to Max only for a problem Standard cannot solve.
4. Add one feature per prompt, and check the result before the next.
5. Do small text and style fixes by hand in Code view; those edits cost no tokens.
6. Run the security audit before you publish.

I want to build [one-line description] for [specific user].

Do not write any code yet. First, in Plan Mode:
1. List the screens you would build for a first version. Keep it to three or fewer.
2. List the data you would store and the fields for each item.
3. Tell me what you would leave out of version one.
4. Ask me up to five questions about anything unclear.

When I approve the plan, build only the first screen.