Guide
Is there an AI app builder without a subscription or credits?
No AI app builder we track is unmetered or sold as a one-off licence: Lovable and Base44 count credits, Bolt.new counts tokens, v0 counts messages, and Replit counts Agent credits plus usage. All five have free plans with limits, and the cheapest paid entry is Base44 Starter at $16 a month billed annually.
Last updated Prices checked
Checked against each vendor's pricing page and docs. Independent: no vendor reviewed or paid for this page. The Make link on this page is an affiliate link; every other vendor link is a plain direct link. Affiliate links never change our rankings. Disclosure
What each free plan meters, and the catch
-
Message credits for building; integration credits when your app calls Base44's built-in services such as email or LLM calls.
- Up to 5 apps: yes
- Database and auth: yes
-
Monthly grants of 20 Cloud, 4 AI and 1 connector credit on Free. Publishes to lovable.app.
- Custom domain: no
- Badge-free: no
- Edit code: no
-
Daily Agent credits up to a monthly cap, Lite build only. One published app that goes down after 30 days.
- Lasting published app: no
- Badge-free: no
-
300K tokens a day, 1M a month. Sites go offline for the month past 10 GB bandwidth or 333,333 requests.
- Unlimited databases: yes
- Custom domain: no
- Badge-free: no
-
7 messages a day and $5 of one-time credits for new users. Deploys to Vercel; Sync with GitHub.
- GitHub sync: yes
- Deploy to Vercel: yes
From each vendor's pricing page and docs. Base44 and v0 don't state free-plan branding on their pricing pages. Ease for non-coders is our own rating, from the tracker.
Why
Why does every AI app builder charge by usage?
Every message you send costs the vendor AI processing, and every live app costs them hosting. Builders pass that on in different units, so “without credits” usually means “with a different meter”. Bolt.new says most token usage comes from reading and syncing your project's files, so larger projects use more tokens per message.
The useful question isn't which one is unmetered, but which meter, and what the free plan stops you doing. Our arithmetic on Lovable's free cap: 5 credits a day × 6 days = 30, so the monthly cap can be used up in the first six days of a month. Full free-plan ranking: best free AI app builder.
Pay once
Can you pay once instead of subscribing?
Partly. None of the five pricing pages lists a one-time or lifetime plan, but there are one-off payments:
- Lovable top-ups: extra credits on Pro ($15 per 50) and Business ($30 per 50), valid for 12 months.
- Lovable plans bought in its iOS app: Lovable's FAQ says each purchase covers one month and doesn't renew.
- Bolt.new reload tokens: they never expire, but only subscribers on the highest individual monthly Pro plan or any annual Pro plan can buy them.
One paid month used hard, then cancelled, is the closest thing to no subscription. Check what happens to unused credits first: Lovable says unused paid credits reactivate if you re-subscribe before they expire; Bolt.new says you lose all tokens at the end of a cancelled billing cycle unless you resubscribe before they expire.
Off the meter
Can you build without using credits?
- Bolt.new: editing code directly in Code view uses no tokens.
- Lovable hosting: publishing to lovable.app is free on all plans, and Lovable says running costs for most smaller or new apps are fully covered by the included monthly grant.
- Bolt.new hosting: the free plan hosts websites up to 333,333 web requests and 10 GB of bandwidth a month.
Useful if someone on your team can make small fixes by hand. More on Lovable's meter in Lovable credits explained; on Bolt's in Bolt.new pricing.
What about code editors, or automation instead?
-
Connecting an AI-built app to the tools your team already uses, without code. Core $12 billed annually.
Cursor and Windsurf have free plans, but they're code editors we rate 2/5 for non-coders: someone technical has to own deployment, domains and updates. If you need a workflow rather than an app with screens, an automation tool may do: Make's free plan includes 1,000 credits a month. See how it compares with n8n in Make vs n8n.
What is the cheapest way to pay if you have to?
-
A year, billed annually
Entry plan for one builder.
- Base44 Starter$192
- Replit Core$216
- Bolt.new Pro$216
- Lovable Pro$250
- v0 PlusNot shown
Our arithmetic: per-month price × 12; Lovable states $250 a year.
-
A year, billed monthly
Monthly price × 12.
- Base44 Starter$240
- Replit Core$240
- Lovable Pro$300
- Bolt.new Pro$300
- v0 Plus, 1 user$360
Annual billing saves $48 on Base44 and $84 on Bolt.new.
Annual billing on the lowest plan, plus a spending limit where the vendor offers one. Replit lets you set usage alerts and a budget that pauses usage-based services when reached. More in the cheapest AI app builder, or start on Base44's or Lovable's free plan.
FAQ
Common questions
Is there an AI app builder without a subscription?
Not among the builders we track: none of the five pricing pages lists a one-time or lifetime plan. Each has a free plan with limits. The closest things to paying once are Lovable credit top-ups and a single non-renewing month bought in Lovable's iOS app.
Is there an AI app builder without credits?
Not without some meter. Lovable and Base44 use credits, Bolt.new uses tokens, v0 uses messages and credits, and Replit uses Agent credits and usage billing. Editing code yourself in Bolt.new's Code view uses no tokens.
Which AI app builder has no watermark on the free plan?
Bolt.new adds Bolt branding to free websites, Replit's free app carries a Made with Replit badge, and removing the Edit with Lovable badge needs a paid Lovable plan. Base44 and v0 don't state free-plan branding on their pricing pages.
Can I build an AI app for free?
Yes, within limits. Base44 gives 25 message credits a month, Lovable 5 build credits a day up to 30 a month, Bolt.new 300K tokens a day and v0 7 messages a day. Test one real workflow end to end before paying.
What is the cheapest paid AI app builder?
Base44 Starter, at $20 a month or $16 billed annually ($192 a year). Replit Core and Bolt.new Pro cost $18 a month billed annually. Cursor starts at $8, but it is a code editor rated 2/5, not an app builder.
Do Lovable credits expire if I cancel?
Remaining credits stay usable until the end of the billing period, then the workspace moves to Free. Lovable says unused paid credits reactivate if you re-subscribe before they expire. Top-up credits are valid for 12 months.
Newsletter
One email, Fridays
Free plans change more than anything else we track. One short Friday email when they do. No sponsored rankings.
Sources
Sources and last check
- Base44 pricing: https://base44.com/pricing. Checked .
- Base44 docs, credits: https://docs.base44.com/Account-and-billing/Credits. Checked .
- Lovable pricing: https://lovable.dev/pricing. Checked .
- Lovable docs, credits and usage: https://docs.lovable.dev/introduction/credits-and-usage. Checked .
- Lovable docs, FAQ: https://docs.lovable.dev/introduction/faq. Checked .
- Replit docs, Starter plan: https://docs.replit.com/billing/plans/starter-plan. Checked .
- Replit pricing: https://replit.com/pricing. Checked .
- Bolt.new pricing: https://bolt.new/pricing. Checked .
- Bolt help, tokens: https://support.bolt.new/account-and-subscription/tokens. Checked .
- v0 pricing: https://v0.app/pricing. Checked .
- Make pricing (make.com/en/pricing): make.com. Checked .
Prices in USD. Yearly totals are our arithmetic; ease ratings and categories are from our tracker. Spotted a change? Tell us.
Related
Related pages
Reviews: Base44, Lovable, Replit, Bolt.new, v0, Make.
Guides: Best free AI app builder, Cheapest AI app builder, Bolt.new pricing, Replit pricing, Lovable credits explained.
Rankings: Best for non-coders, Replit alternatives, Base44 alternatives.
All tools side by side: the tool tracker.