Which is better for someone who doesn't write code?
Either will get a non-developer to a working first version, because both start from a prompt and host the result. Lovable is the more contained of the two: it builds web apps and runs the backend on its own Cloud, so there are few moving parts to understand. Bolt runs the whole project in the browser on StackBlitz's WebContainers and shows you the files as it goes; its backend is Bolt Cloud, and its own docs say it supports JavaScript backends only. If nobody on the project will ever open the code, the difference is small; if someone might, Bolt puts the code in front of you sooner.
Which one lets you leave with the code?
Both sync with GitHub in both directions: Bolt commits as you build and pulls in changes made outside it, and Lovable syncs to GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket on every plan including free. The difference is the download. Bolt exports the project as a zip from the project menu, and its docs attach no plan to that. Lovable puts downloading the code, and editing it inside Lovable, at Pro ($25 a month). Lovable also cannot start from a repository you already have — it exports to GitHub only.
How far does each free plan go?
They meter different things. Bolt Free gives 300K tokens a day inside 1M a month, which do not roll over, and publishes public sites to a bolt.host address with Bolt branding. Lovable Free gives 5 build credits a day, capped at 30 in a calendar month, plus 20 Cloud credits and 4 AI credits, and publishes to a lovable.app address. Tokens are spent by the size of the work and credits by the message, so the same session costs differently on each; neither free plan includes a custom domain.
Which one builds mobile apps?
Bolt, through its Expo integration, which its docs describe as a path "from idea to app store"; the submission itself is yours — you create the release and send it for review. Lovable builds web apps, and its own FAQ reaches the App Store and Google Play only by exporting the code and wrapping the published web app in a third-party tool. If a store listing is the goal, Bolt is the one of these two that builds the mobile app itself.
When is neither the right answer?
When what you want is a signed phone build uploaded to App Store Connect and Google Play for you, or a dashboard in Arabic, Spanish or French — and, against Lovable, the source downloadable on a free plan. That is the gap Buildra was built for: every commit its agent makes can be mirrored to a GitHub repository you own, the source downloads on the free tier — 5 credits a day, up to 25 a month, across up to 3 projects — and on Pro Buildra uploads signed phone builds to App Store Connect and Google Play for you, from your own developer accounts. It is the smallest of the three: its mirror runs one direction only, where both of these sync both ways, and it has no roles, SSO or audit logs.