Bolt.new alternative: 7 options to ship full-stack apps in 2026

Bolt.new from StackBlitz pioneered the "AI plus a real dev environment in your browser" category. Type a prompt, get a Next.js or Vite project running with hot reload, npm install access and a one-click deploy. It is a remarkable tool—and yet a steady stream of users searches for a Bolt.new alternative every month. Reasons range from cost (token usage adds up fast on real apps) to context loss in long sessions, to a desire for more polished generated UI or a smoother experience for non-developers.

This guide compares seven honest alternatives to Bolt.new. None of them is a strict upgrade—each picks a different lane. By the end, you will know which one fits the kind of app you actually need to build.

What to look for in a Bolt.new alternative

Most teams leaving Bolt.new are not unhappy with the concept—they are unhappy with one specific failure mode. Identify yours before you switch.

• Predictable token usage: clear pricing, ideally not per-message, on long sessions.
• Context retention: the AI should remember the architecture you set up two hours ago.
• Polished UI by default: shadcn/ui-quality components without you needing to redesign every screen.
• Real backend depth: schema design, migrations, auth, payments, file storage—not just "API connected".
• Non-developer experience: a sane workflow if you are not comfortable in a terminal.
• Code ownership and export: real source you can host on your own infrastructure.

Lovable: prompt-to-app for non-developers

Lovable is the most natural alternative if Bolt.new feels too developer-heavy. You describe an app in plain English, watch a polished frontend appear, and iterate via chat. Supabase integration is solid; GitHub export means you keep your code.

• Strengths: clean default UI, fast iteration loop, Supabase-native, low barrier to entry.
• Limits: code quality drops on long iteration loops; complex business logic forces you back to raw code.
• Best for: landing pages, MVPs, content-driven apps, demos for first users.

v0 by Vercel: design-first generation

If Bolt's frontends feel generic and you want shadcn-quality UI out of the box, v0 is the natural switch. It is the strongest tool today for going from prompt to a beautiful, deployable React + Tailwind interface—then plugging in your own backend.

• Strengths: best-in-class generated UI, native shadcn components, Vercel deployment baked in.
• Limits: backend, persistence and auth are still secondary—you bring your own.
• Best for: marketing sites, dashboards, frontends layered on an existing API.

Replit Agent: integrated dev workspace

Replit Agent is closest in spirit to Bolt.new—a full dev environment with an AI agent driving it—but everything happens inside Replit's broader platform: cloud workspace, hosting, databases, multiplayer collaboration. If your Bolt frustration is fragmentation across services, Replit unifies it.

• Strengths: integrated environment, hosting and DB included, broad language support, multiplayer.
• Limits: less polished frontends than v0 or Lovable; the agent can over-edit if not closely supervised.
• Best for: tinkerers, hackathons, learners, simple full-stack experiments.

Cursor: AI inside a real code editor

Cursor is what Bolt.new wants to be when it grows up: a fork of VS Code where an AI agent has full repo context and can drive precise, multi-file edits. The trade-off is obvious—you need to be comfortable in a code editor. But for a working developer, Cursor's debugging power blows past Bolt's in-browser environment.

• Strengths: precise edits, full repo context, any stack, runs locally on your machine.
• Limits: requires developer fluency; not for non-technical founders.
• Best for: engineers who already use VS Code and want AI as a partner.

GitHub Copilot Workspaces: AI coding inside GitHub

GitHub Copilot Workspaces brings AI-driven planning, editing and PRs directly inside GitHub repositories. It is the most natural fit if your team already runs on GitHub and you want AI assistance on existing codebases rather than greenfield projects.

• Strengths: native to your existing GitHub workflow, real PR-based reviews, repo-wide context.
• Limits: optimized for editing, not generating from scratch; weaker on full-app scaffolding.
• Best for: teams maintaining real codebases who want AI inside their existing process.

Cadrant: AI builder optimized for real business apps

Cadrant takes a stance distinct from Bolt.new. It is not an in-browser dev environment—it is an opinionated AI builder for non-technical founders, operators and agencies who need real business apps: SaaS MVPs, internal tools, custom CRMs, client portals. Native Supabase modeling, production-grade auth and payments, conversation-driven iteration, and code that stays yours.

Two gaps to keep in mind versus Bolt. On ownership: Cadrant has zero vendor lock-in — your Supabase stays in your own account, your GitHub repo too, and the code runs wherever you want. Bolt does emit real code, but the surrounding ecosystem (WebContainer, token billing, session storage) is locked to StackBlitz. On platforms: Cadrant also generates native mobile applications from the same prompts. Bolt can build mobile too via its Expo template, but only if you ask for "a native mobile application" in the very first prompt — Bolt web projects cannot be easily switched to mobile later — whereas Cadrant treats web and mobile as two outputs of the same builder, with no upfront commitment.

• Strengths: production-quality generated code, native Supabase modeling, safe iteration on long projects, multilingual support, web and native mobile applications.
• Limits: opinionated stack (Next.js + Supabase); less of a sandbox than Bolt for one-off experiments.
• Best for: real SaaS MVPs, internal ops tools, custom CRMs, client portals built by non-technical teams.

Codesandbox AI: in-browser dev for established projects

Codesandbox is StackBlitz's older cousin—similar in-browser dev environment, with AI assistance now baked in. It excels when you have an existing project to import and want a familiar VS Code-like IDE rather than a full agent driving the keyboard.

• Strengths: mature in-browser IDE, great for editing existing repos, fast import flow.
• Limits: AI is more of an assistant than an agent; less powerful for greenfield app scaffolding.
• Best for: developers maintaining existing projects who want a browser-based IDE with AI.

How to pick the right Bolt.new alternative

Pick by what you are actually building, not by what looks coolest in a demo.

• Beautiful marketing site or landing page → v0, Lovable.
• Quick demo for non-technical stakeholders → Lovable, Cadrant.
• Real SaaS with auth, payments, data → Cadrant, then dev work in Cursor.
• Internal ops tool with database → Cadrant, Replit Agent.
• You are a developer wanting AI in your editor → Cursor, Copilot Workspaces.
• Maintaining or refactoring an existing repo → Cursor, Copilot Workspaces, Codesandbox AI.

Common mistakes when picking a Bolt.new alternative

• Comparing on first-prompt impression. The interesting metrics emerge on prompt 5, 10, 20—not prompt 1.
• Ignoring token economics. Tools that look cheap can become very expensive in long sessions.
• Choosing a "dev tool" when you are not a developer. The best AI dev tool is the one that does not require you to be one.
• Underestimating data modeling. Most "AI app failures" are in fact database failures.
• Switching too fast. Spend two hours rebuilding the same screen in two tools before you decide.

Frequently asked questions about Bolt.new alternatives

Why do people leave Bolt.new? Most often for cost (tokens add up), context loss on long sessions, or because the in-browser dev environment is intimidating for non-technical users.

Is there a free Bolt.new alternative? Lovable, v0 and Cursor all offer generous free tiers; Cadrant offers a free trial; Replit has a free starter plan. None are completely free for production-scale usage—the underlying AI compute is not free for anyone.

Which alternative produces the cleanest code? Cursor and Cadrant consistently top our internal tests, because both treat code quality as a primary objective rather than a side effect of UI generation.

Can I migrate my Bolt.new project to another tool? Yes. Bolt.new generates real code in real frameworks, so a clean export to GitHub is usually possible. Expect minor cleanup before the AI in your new tool feels at home with the existing structure.

There is no single best Bolt.new alternative—only the best fit for your stack and audience. Pick on fundamentals: code ownership, iteration safety, real backend depth, and predictable cost.