Lovable (formerly GPT Engineer) lets you describe an app in plain language and get a working prototype in minutes. The tool has matured quickly, and its pricing now reflects a product aimed at serious builders — not just people experimenting with AI. Here’s what each plan costs and what you actually get.
Lovable Plans at a Glance
| Plan | Price | Credits/Month | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 5/day (max ~30/mo) | Exploring the platform |
| Starter | $25/mo | 100 | First real project |
| Pro | $50/mo | 400 | Regular builders |
| Scale | Higher tier | 800 | Agencies, power users |
Free Plan
The free tier exists for evaluation, not production work. You get 5 credits per day — enough to test a few prompts and see how Lovable generates code.
What you get:
- 5 daily credits (roughly 30 per month if you use it every day)
- Public projects only (your code is visible to everyone)
- Up to 5 published subdomains (yourapp.lovable.app)
- Up to 20 collaborators
- Access to core AI generation features
Key limitations:
- No private projects — everything is public
- No custom domains
- Daily credit cap resets at midnight UTC, but unused daily credits don’t accumulate
- Generation speed is deprioritized compared to paid plans
The 5-credit daily cap is strict. A single complex prompt might consume more than one credit, so you may only get 3-4 meaningful iterations per day. If you’re serious about building something, you’ll hit the wall quickly.
Starter ($25/month)
Starter is the entry point for anyone building a real project. The jump from 30 monthly credits (Free) to 100 is significant, and private projects unlock.
What you get:
- 100 credits per month
- Private projects (code hidden from public)
- Custom domain support
- Standard generation speed
- Email support
100 credits translates to roughly 80-100 meaningful AI interactions per month, depending on complexity. For a single SaaS prototype — landing page, auth, database, a few core features — this is usually enough to get from idea to deployed MVP.
Where Starter falls short: if you’re iterating heavily (changing designs, reworking features, experimenting with different approaches), 100 credits can disappear in a week. There’s no credit rollover, so unused credits expire at month-end.
Pro ($50/month)
Pro is built for people who use Lovable as a regular part of their workflow, not just for one-off projects.
What you get:
- 400 credits per month (4x Starter)
- Unlimited projects
- Custom domains
- Priority support
- Team collaboration (up to 2 members)
- Advanced analytics
- Faster generation speeds
The 4x credit increase is the main draw. At 400 credits/month, you can comfortably build and iterate on multiple projects simultaneously. Team collaboration supports up to 2 members — enough for a founder-developer pair, but not a full team.
Priority support means faster response times when you hit issues. Advanced analytics give visibility into how credits are consumed across projects, which helps if you’re managing multiple builds.
Scale (Higher Tier)
Scale is positioned for agencies, freelancers managing client projects, and power users who need maximum throughput.
What you get:
- 800 credits per month
- Fastest generation speeds (priority queue)
- Unlimited active projects
- Everything in Pro
- Designed for high-volume usage
Lovable doesn’t always publish the exact Scale price publicly — it sits above Pro and may vary. If you’re an agency building 5-10 client prototypes per month, the higher credit allocation and fastest generation speeds make it worthwhile. The math is straightforward: if you’re buying extra credits on Pro regularly, Scale likely saves money.
How Credits Work
Lovable’s credit system is simpler than most AI tool billing:
- 1 AI message = 1 credit (base rate)
- Simple changes (styling tweaks, text updates) may consume around 0.5 credits
- Complex operations (authentication setup, database schema, API integrations) can consume 1.2+ credits
Credits are deducted per AI interaction, not per line of code generated. A single prompt that produces 500 lines of code costs the same 1 credit as a prompt that changes a button color — though Lovable’s internal complexity scoring adjusts slightly for very simple or very complex requests.
What counts as a credit-consuming action:
- Sending a message to the AI builder
- Requesting code changes or new features
- Debugging prompts
- Design iteration prompts
What doesn’t consume credits:
- Manually editing code in the built-in editor
- Deploying to a subdomain
- Viewing or sharing your project
- Collaborator access
Extra Credits
If you exhaust your monthly allocation, Lovable sells additional credits. The per-credit cost is higher than what’s included in your plan, so consistently running out signals you should upgrade to the next tier instead of buying top-ups.
Starter vs Pro: Which One?
This is the decision most people face. Here’s how to think about it:
Choose Starter if:
- You’re building one project at a time
- You don’t need team collaboration
- You can work within 100 credits/month
- You’re cost-conscious and willing to code manually for small tweaks
Choose Pro if:
- You’re working on 2+ projects simultaneously
- You need a collaborator on the same project
- You regularly exceed 100 credits before month-end
- Faster generation speed matters to your workflow
How Lovable Compares on Price
In the AI app builder space, Lovable sits in the middle:
| Tool | Entry Paid Plan | Credits/Features |
|---|---|---|
| Bolt | ~$20/mo | Token-based |
| Lovable Starter | $25/mo | 100 credits |
| Lovable Pro | $50/mo | 400 credits |
| Replit Core | $20/mo | $20 usage credits |
Lovable’s advantage is speed-to-prototype — you describe what you want, and it builds a deployable app faster than most alternatives. The tradeoff is less control over the underlying code compared to Replit or Cursor, where you’re working directly in an editor.
Which Plan Should You Pick?
- Just exploring what AI app builders can do? Free plan — spend a few days testing prompts
- Building your first real app or MVP? Starter at $25/month gives you enough runway
- Building regularly or managing multiple projects? Pro at $50/month for the 4x credits and collaboration
- Agency or client work at volume? Scale for maximum throughput
For a deeper look at Lovable’s capabilities beyond pricing, read our Lovable review. To see how it stacks up against the competition, check out V0 vs Bolt vs Lovable or browse our full list of best AI app builders.