Just as different AI models are better suited to specific needs and tasks, different AI app building tools are also each suited to different tasks, projects, and skill levels. But with new ones popping up seemingly every week, it can be hard to know which will best suit your needs.
In this comparison, we tested out three tools that harness AI to make app building easier for everyone: Lovable, Bolt, and Bubble.
Lovable is an AI app-building platform that allows users to build and iterate on an app idea by interacting with a chat-based AI model. It offers intuitive UX, is super easy to get started with, and stands out for its beautiful frontend design.
Bolt is an AI-powered platform that integrates AI building with traditional coding. It brands itself — and works well — as an AI assistant for developers looking to speed up familiar tasks and generate new code quickly, rather than starting from a “blank page.”
Bubble is an AI visual development platform that allows entrepreneurs to build and launch fully functional web apps without code. Bubble combines AI app generation with drag-and-drop visual programming so you can not only start building faster, but then customize every aspect of your app yourself. This way, anyone can build, launch, and grow a real business while remaining in control the whole time. Other AI builders make it easy to generate code, Bubble makes it easy to grow a business.
In this article, we’re comparing all three platforms — the benefits, the drawbacks, and the best use cases for each — but if you’re curious to see a deep dive into each, check out our other comparisons:
Lovable vs. Bolt vs. Bubble: Key factors
Regardless of platform features, there’s one major factor to keep in mind when choosing an AI builder, and that’s the 80% rule.
As we compare these platforms, we’re focusing not only on that first 80% — the initial output of the AI-generated code or app — but also how well these platforms help builders deal with that last 20% related to iteration, customization, security, and scaling.
These are especially big concerns for users without technical expertise. Technical users may be able to hop in and edit code manually when the AI gets stuck, but non-coders may find themselves stuck in “prompt purgatory” — endlessly prompting the AI but not getting the results they want.
Each of these platforms resolves the last 20% problem differently.
- Bolt requires builders to use traditional coding to resolve the final 20%. You can also iterate and customize in Bolt by prompting the AI agent, but AI changes are often blocked by rate and usage limits or inconsistent AI outputs.
- Bubble provides a drag-and-drop editor that ensures no-code stays codeless. You can make changes yourself in a way you understand, while still getting full control and customization as you build, launch, and scale a fully functional app.
- Lovable takes a middle-of-the-road approach. It gives builders the option of using AI chat, editing code manually, or a using a limited visual editor for the final 20%.
Here’s how the three stack up on other core features:
| Factor | Lovable | Bolt | Bubble |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Initial output quality |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
⭐⭐⭐ |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
|
Design capabilities |
⭐⭐⭐💫 Responsive design and AI-powered iterative editing, but limited visual editing capabilities. |
⭐⭐⭐ No drag-and-drop editor. Fast design iteration and quality via AI chatbot are both strengths. |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Responsive design and drag-and-drop visual editor to make pixel-perfect UI, but missing AI-powered iterative editing. |
|
Native mobile app development |
⭐ None |
⭐⭐⭐ Supports mobile app development via Bolt + Expo integration, allows use of the AI chat for development. |
|
|
Collaboration |
⭐ None |
⭐⭐ Team plans but no real-time collaboration capabilities. |
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Real-time collaboration with adjustable permissions for each user. |
|
Backend and database support |
⭐⭐⭐ Supabase integration that can be easy or tricky, depending on user familiarity. |
⭐⭐⭐ No built-in backend; relies on external APIs (Firebase, Supabase). |
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Native backend and database that doesn’t require technical expertise or extra costs to set up. |
|
Security and compliance |
⭐⭐ Basic security and data encryption is provided, but builders are responsible for coding privacy rules and achieving compliance. |
⭐⭐ Bolt doesn’t offer built-in security or app privacy features, but does work with platforms that offer strong security. |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Bubble offers enterprise-grade security features, including SOC-II and GDPR compliance, advanced encryption and monitoring, and custom privacy rules. |
|
Deployment/hosting |
⭐⭐⭐ One-click deployment and third-party hosting. |
⭐⭐ No one-click deployment, third-party hosting through Netlify. |
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ One-click deployment and native hosting. |
|
Technical expertise |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Less technical than many AI builders, but technical background is still very helpful for iteration and launch. |
⭐⭐⭐ Best for those with moderate technical expertise. |
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Best-in-class for developers and non-developers alike. |
App output quality
Obviously, the initial quality of your app output is a major factor when choosing between builders. The better the initial quality, the less legwork you’ll have to do manually to get your app ready for launch.
All three of these builders produced strong initial outputs, with some caveats:
- Lovable’s output had the most consistently strong UI and clean branding and aesthetics, but lacked backend functionality.
- Bolt’s output was more complete and quite good across both frontend and backend expectations — when it worked — but we hit rate limits very quickly.
- Bubble’s output was the most consistent and, since Bubble offers a built-in database, had the most complete functionality and workflows built from the initial AI output.
Lovable, compared to Bolt and Bubble, is a very design-focused platform. Of the three platforms, Lovable had the best AI-generated aesthetics, delivering polished layouts with minimal prompting and direction.
However, Lovable struggled with features and functionality. In part, this is because Lovable doesn’t have a built-in database (you have to manually connect to a Supabase database to make your app “work”). But even with a database connected, Lovable’s AI struggled to interpret (and accurately build) the features we needed — and it couldn’t create detailed or complex logic for more advanced features. All of that would have to be coded traditionally.
As a result, we liked Lovable best for creating MVPs, mockups, and prototypes, where design matters a lot more than functionality.
Bolt, by contrast, generated both great UI and good features from the initial output. One of our testers found the design iteration great as well, saying it only took one prompt to entirely change the look and feel of the app (with Lovable, design iteration via the AI chat had more mixed results).
Bolt’s biggest downside here was that the output was pretty inconsistent from test to test. In one of our tests, Bolt generated a fairly complete app, including more features than we asked for, robust and working functionality, and great sample data that made the app look and feel production-ready from the initial output. However, in other tests, features and functionality were pretty limited.
And in one test, Bolt didn’t even finish generating an initial output of our app before we were blocked by the daily rate limit!
Although Bolt’s free plan is supposed to include up to 150,000 tokens per day and 1 million tokens per month, it wasn’t clear how many tokens your prompt(s) use or how quickly you’ll hit those limits. This is a common problem mentioned in the Bolt forums as well, and makes for a frustrating experience.
Bolt and Lovable both use Supabase for backend connections — they don’t have a backend built-in (or included in their pricing). Our non-developer testers thought that setting up these databases manually were pretty intimidating, but found Lovable’s process for connecting Supabase slightly easier compared to Bolt.
Bubble’s app output quality initially was somewhere in between Bolt and Lovable. Like Bolt, Bubble generated an app with both good UI and features from the start. However, unlike Bolt and Lovable, Bubble has a built-in backend, so functionality “just worked” from the beginning, and setting up your database was much simpler with Bubble’s visual editor. Bubble’s output was also more consistent than Bolt’s — solid on every try, rather than great sometimes and incomplete other times.
As such, we liked Bubble best for creating production-grade apps, especially for users who aren’t confident coding. Bubble gets you started in every aspect your app needs, and you can set up databases, logic, and functionality all within the Bubble platform using a visual editor: You won’t get blocked by AI token limits or have to use code.
App development workflow
Good output is important — but it’s just step one. Equally important to consider: How do you actually build your app and iterate on it?
Bolt and Lovable’s processes are pretty similar, with Bolt being slightly more code-first and Lovable being more visual. Lovable’s UX is more intuitive and caters to an audience with less of a technical background, while Bolt’s UX is more similar to a traditional coding environment and caters to developers.
On both Bolt and Lovable, you start by prompting the AI. Then, you’re transferred to the editor view, where you have the AI chat on the left-hand side, and the code / preview of your app on the right.
Bolt defaults to the code view, and allows you to edit code directly from this editor. On Lovable, the default is the visual preview. You can view the code, but you have to transfer it to GitHub to edit it directly (unless you upgrade to higher-tier plans).
Bubble takes a slightly different approach — first generating a “project blueprint” and main features for you to approve. This helps ensure the initial AI output is more complete and closer to what you’re anticipating, rather than having to go back and forth with prompting iterations after the initial output is generated, as with Bolt and Lovable.
Then, Bubble’s AI works in the background before unveiling your app in the visual editor. Bubble’s visual editor means you don’t need a split-screen view — you preview your app and edit it all in the same place. As a result, Bubble’s development workflow will probably feel more familiar for non-coders, and for folks who are used to working in visual, drag-and-drop editors like WordPress or Squarespace.
Here’s how the three stack up more specifically:
| Feature | Lovable | Bolt | Bubble |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Generates a project plan to review first |
❌ |
❌ |
✅ |
|
Provides a visual preview of your app |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
|
Provides the code for your app |
✅ |
✅ |
❌ |
|
Allows you to edit your app visually (i.e. drag-and-drop style) |
Limited to simple UI changes |
❌ |
✅ |
|
Allows you to edit the code of your app directly |
Yes, on paid plans or via GitHub. |
Yes, directly in the development environment. |
Add custom code components only. |
Which development workflow and editor feels best to you will likely depend on your level of technical experience and the type of project you’re working on.
Lovable shines for non-developers who need only limited customization and want to focus on an app that looks good and can be iterated on via AI. Because developing functionality through Lovable’s AI chat can be buggy and inconsistent, Lovable works best for developing mockups where functionality isn’t as much of a concern. If and when you’re ready to develop your app further, you can export the code to send to your dev team (if you have one).
Bolt is better for developers and programmers who are looking for an AI-assisted programming environment. Bolt’s code-first approach and limited daily token rates for AI usage mean that technical experience and manual coding is a must to move quickly on development.
Bubble takes the cake for those looking for a true no-code experience combined with the speed of AI. After the initial app is generated, Bubble’s visual editor eliminates the need for manual coding (though it allows custom code as an option for experienced developers) while being sophisticated enough to develop fully functional, production-grade apps that are ready for launching and scaling a business.
Customizability
AI is an amazing accelerator, but it can’t read your mind (yet). You’ll always need some level of customization to build exactly what you’re looking for.
The big differences between these three platforms in terms of customization is the level of customization possible and how much technical expertise you need to make customizations.
Bolt and Bubble both offer a high level of customization, allowing you to make any changes you need to match your vision for your app perfectly, in both look and feel and function.
On Bolt, you can customize by prompting the AI chat (simple but inconsistent output), or you can manually edit the code (full control, but requires technical expertise). Bolt’s AI token limits also prevented us from making many changes to our app via the AI, so traditional coding knowledge is a must if you’re looking to make lots of customizations (or you can upgrade to higher tiers for higher token limits).
On Bubble, all customizations happen via the visual editor. Customization is one of Bubble’s core strengths, and it supports the same level of customization that custom code will, just visually. You get full control over UI design, workflows, triggers, database structures, logic, and more — all without having to code.
Bubble lets you debug and iterate on your app visually, too. Bubble’s “issue checker” automatically finds potential errors in your app, such as missing data or incomplete actions, and tells you exactly what they are, so you can fix them through the drag-and-drop editor. This is much easier compared to using traditional code or going back-and-forth with AI prompting, as you’d have to do on Lovable and Bolt.
Lovable offers the most options for making customizations — but none of them work particularly well. The main way to make customizations on Lovable is by re-prompting the AI. This is simple, in theory, but in practice, it can become frustrating when the AI doesn’t understand what you’re looking for. Sometimes Lovable’s AI interpreted our prompts well, while other times we got stuck in “prompt purgatory,” going back and forth with the AI chat without being able to get our app to look or function exactly how we wanted it to.
Like Bolt, Lovable also allows you to view the code and either transfer it to GitHub for manual edits, or you can upgrade to a higher-tier plan and edit it directly in Lovable. Either way, it’s just a little bit less seamless for those wanting to use traditional coding. Lovable also offers some visual editing, but it’s limited to pretty simple changes, like changing the font, color, or copy — it’s not a full visual editor like Bubble’s.
Design functionality
Evaluating the level of design functionality a tool has can help you decide how easy it will be to create visually appealing apps with that tool — are there a lot of design tools and features within the platform, or does a good design mostly stem from traditional coding?
All three of these tools offer different strengths when it comes to design:
- Lovable typically gave us the strongest design from the AI-generated output — but lacks design customization features.
- Bolt offers the easiest AI-powered design iterations, but lacks visually intuitive design features.
- Bubble gives you the most control over your design with a drag-and-drop editor, which makes design simpler for builders of any skill level.
Lovable is strong on design output, but limited in design functionality. That is: The AI-generated design and UI is quite good, and the AI output creates responsive designs automatically. However, Lovable doesn’t offer a strong visual builder for designing — you can only make very basic design changes visually, like changing fonts and colors. All other design changes have to be changed manually (via code) or iteratively via the AI chat.
Bolt is similar to Lovable in that the AI-generated design quality is pretty great — or at least, it can be — but it doesn’t have a visually intuitive platform or a visual editor. Compared to Lovable, Bolt’s design-focused AI iterations worked well most of the time: One or two prompts were generally enough to change the entire look and feel of the app, whereas Lovable needed more specific prompting in our tests.
The downside is that without a visual editor, if the AI gets stuck (which it does often), or you max out your rate limits (which happens quickly), you’re blocked from making further changes unless you can edit the code yourself manually.
Bubble takes a drag-and-drop approach to design, with an editor that gives you full control over your design down to the pixel (without needing to code). This frees builders from the AI versus manual-coding dichotomy Lovable and Bolt present when it comes to design. Bubble also gives builders the options of creating reusable design and UI components, custom styles, and a complete design system that allows you to speed up the design process while still building a cohesive app.
Collaboration
As you build and grow your app and business, you absolutely want to consider how easy the platform you’re building on will make it to collaborate on your app.
The most important factors to consider here will vary based on your needs, but in general, you want to consider if the platform supports multi-user projects, team plans / collaborators, real-time collaboration, and user-specific access permissions.
Here’s how these three stack up on collaboration:
| Feature | Lovable | Bolt | Bubble |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Unlimited collaborators on each app |
❌ |
✅ |
✅ |
|
Choose which apps collaborators can access |
❌ |
✅ |
✅ |
|
Set access permissions for each users |
❌ |
Limited to view or edit |
✅ |
|
Collaborate in real-time |
❌ |
❌ |
✅ |
|
Allows you to edit the code of your app directly |
Yes, on paid plans or via GitHub. |
Yes, directly in the development environment. |
Add custom code components only. |
As you can see, Lovable isn’t built for collaboration — another reason why we think it’s a better choice for MVPs and mockups compared to long-term projects. It’s tough to build, iterate, and scale your project when you’re the only person who can work on your app.
Bubble and Bolt both make collaboration possible on team plans. However, since Bubble is designed for building production-grade and enterprise-level apps, it offers stronger collaboration features.
For example, on Bubble’s team plans, you can get premium version control within the platform compared to Bolt, where you have to import and export from GitHub repositories. Bubble also has more sophisticated access permissions, allowing you to grant users permissions to edit and view certain areas of your app (i.e., just the frontend, including the database and logs or not, etc.), while Bolt only offers full edit access or view access only, even on team plans.
However, Bolt does give you the option of adding free team members to collaborate on public projects.
Security
If you’re just testing out some prototypes or proof-of-concept apps, security may not be that important to consider. But if you’re looking to build and scale apps for end-users or enterprise use, security is a massive factor to consider.
Building on a platform without enterprise-grade security makes it hard to build a secure app for your end users. And if users can’t trust your app to keep their data safe — data like passwords, credit card info, email addresses, preferences, and more — you can’t grow a business. Your app is a cool prototype, but it’s not built for long-term scalability and growth.
When considering what security is — or should be — offered by your AI builder, look at:
- The platform-level security offered (the security of the platform you’re building on)
- The app-level security is offered (the security of the app you’re building for your data and end-user data).
- How much security is “built-in” versus what you’ll be expected to implement yourself
Lovable and Bolt both offer pretty similar levels of security, with basic security features like private apps. Lovable is more straightforward about what they do and don’t offer, while Bolt’s security documentation is more limited.
Neither Lovable nor Bolt host your database or your app — those are done via Supabase and Netlify, respectively. As a result, Lovable and Bolt “pass off” many aspects of security to those platforms. They don’t provide support for app-level security, and there aren’t any security features built into the platforms themselves.
For example, since Lovable and Bolt aren’t hosting your database, they don’t have native user authentication, which means your app won’t have built-in login features. You’ll have to work with Supabase to build user authentication and then manually connect the logic for those actions to your user interface with code.
Having to manage security settings across multiple platforms manually requires a lot more technical expertise and ultimately places the burden of responsibility on the builder for knowing what is required and how to set it up.
Bubble takes a more accessible approach, offering enterprise-grade security features “out-of-the-box” at both the platform level and app-level. For example, Bubble has enterprise-standard security compliances, like SOC 2 Type II and GDPR — basically, certifications that mean Bubble’s platform itself is a secure place to launch and grow an app for business use.
App-level security isn’t automatically built into your app, but Bubble does provide lots of handholds to help guide non-developers through the process. And since you can set up app-level privacy rules via the drag-and-drop editor, it makes creating a secure app simple — you don’t need to code or connect any other services.
Even better, Bubble offers Flusk as a way to get automated error tracking, security vulnerabilities, and custom alerts to make your app as secure as possible — even if you’re not a cybersecurity expert.
Native mobile app creation
The ability to build — and deploy — native mobile apps is currently a huge differentiator for AI app-building platforms. Even if building a web app has become relatively simple, translating that code for mobile can still present massive challenges.
Currently, Lovable doesn’t support native mobile app development, while Bolt and Bubble both support React Native mobile apps. Bolt and Bubble’s approaches to mobile app development mirror their approach to web app development.
Bolt uses Expo (a React Native framework, available as a starter template in Bolt) to allow builders to create native mobile apps for iOS or Android. Once you load the Expo template into Bolt, you can use Bolt’s AI chat and visual preview (as well as the Expo Go app) to create UI, features and functionality for mobile. The AI did well in our tests at creating the expected native mobile functionality.
The same downsides apply as with Bolt’s web development — if you get stuck with AI prompting, due to rate limits or prompt loops, your only other option for iterating is traditional coding.
Bubble also offers native mobile app functionality (coming June 2025!). You’ll be able to build, iterate on, and launch mobile apps all from Bubble’s visual editor — reducing the learning curve needed to build for web and mobile. Plus, for those who have already built their web app on Bubble, it’s an easy transition to move your project to the mobile app editor. They can even share a backend, keeping all your data in one place and eliminating re-building databases and logic that’s already been designed.
Once you’re ready to launch, you can publish your app directly to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store right from the Bubble editor.
Framework support
Framework support is most important to consider for developers and programmers who need to use certain programming languages, given the constraints of their tech stack or team’s knowledge.
A framework is a kind of library that provides pre-built bits of code, like reusable UI components or pre-built workflows. Each framework is unique to a certain programming language — for example, Angular is the framework for TypeScript/JavaScript.
Bolt supports many frameworks, while Lovable only supports the React framework. Bolt supports React, but it also supports Angular, Next.js, and Tailwind CSS frameworks. Note that Bolt doesn’t support non-web languages like Python, C#, or C++.
Bubble takes a different approach and uses a visual programming language unique to the Bubble platform. It eliminates the need to integrate frameworks or learn a specific coding language by allowing you to build, test, iterate, debug, and scale your app visually. For non-coders who aren’t tied to a specific framework, a visual programming language can make more sense intuitively and be easier to learn.
For developers who are invested in a given framework, Bolt offers the most flexibility of these three platforms.
Integrations
Plugins and integrations can create an ecosystem of support that can expand the possibilities and capabilities of the platform you’re using — and the app you create. The key factor to consider with integrations on any AI app-building platform is:
- How robust their integrations library is
- How easy the integrations are to use
- Who “owns” the maintenance and updates for integrations
A robust and easy integration library gives you more capabilities for your app, without having to manually code every bit of functionality or integration you need.
Lovable and Bolt both offer pretty limited integration libraries. The official integrations they have are pretty easy to use, but outside of that list, you’ll have to code your own (or have the AI help you), which can be pretty tricky. Not to mention that you’re on the hook for maintenance, updates, and bugs when you code your own.
For Lovable, the two main integrations are Supabase (to manage your app databases) and Github (for custom code iterations and version control). They also integrate with Stripe, OpenAI, Builder.io, and ElevenLabs, alongside a few others.
For Bolt, you’ll have the options of Supabase and Firebase for databases, Netlify for deployment, and beyond that, GitHub, GrokAI, Gemini, and ElevenLabs API.
Bubble, by contrast, offers the largest integration library by far, with thousands of expert-built plugins and integrations including:
- OpenAI & Chat-GPT 4
- Anthropic Claude AI
- DALL-E
- Github
- Figma
- Stripe
- Paypal
- Google Suite products
- and thousands more
Bubble’s plugins are built and maintained by expert developers, who know how to create custom functionality and maintain it. Like the official integrations maintained by Lovable and Bolt, Bubble’s massive integration library “just works” with the platform. If you want, you can also build your own integrations via Bubble’s API connector, allowing you to easily connect your app on Bubble to basically any other external app or system.
Deployment and hosting
A complicated deployment and hosting process can set you back right when you’re ready to launch. Thankfully, Lovable, Bolt, and Bubble all offer fairly straightforward processes here. Lovable offers one-click deployment, but third-party hosting. Bolt also offers one-click deployment and third-party hosting, but the hosting process is more integrated. Bubble offers dedicated hosting, so the deployment and hosting process is one-click (and included in the price).
On Lovable, you’ll host your app on a third-party provider. They partner with Netlify and Vercel for hosting, both of which are fairly easy to use. You can launch your app with one-click, but you’ll need to migrate your code to GitHub to host it on your provider of choice.
Bolt makes the process a bit more streamlined. Netlify is their hosting provider, so when you deploy your app through Bolt, it hosts it for you on Netlify automatically with the deployment. Then, you can set up a Netlify account and claim the URL to add the project to your Netlify account. You can also export code for self-hosting.
Bubble is the most streamlined process of the three. Since Bubble offers built-in hosting through dedicated, enterprise-grade servers, deployment and hosting is truly “one-click.” All-in-one hosting also makes iterations faster, since everything is in one place. Plus, you have fewer platforms and accounts to juggle — and pay for!
Education
AI assistance makes the app building process so much easier, no doubt. But no matter how intuitive the platform, the right educational materials can help take your app from basic to brilliant.
The main differences to consider are how comprehensive the materials are and what types of resources the platform has available.
Lovable and Bolt both offer basic educational materials. Where they differ is in the types of resources they provide.
Lovable has focused more on their technical documentation, with details and tips on using the basic features of the platform. Lovable also has pretty solid documentation around prompt engineering for Lovable’s AI agent, including a prompt library for common app building tasks, and videos for using each of their integrations.
Bolt, on the other hand, has some technical documentation and a few video tutorials, but it’s not geared toward beginners like Lovable’s documentation is. Bolt assumes some background knowledge, so documentation focuses more on prompting and the platform itself rather than step-by-steps for building an app.
In part, the sparse resources are likely due to how new Bolt and Lovable are — launched in 2023 and late 2024 respectively, they haven’t had as much time to build out comprehensive educational resources like Bubble (which has been around since 2012!).
Bubble offers much more comprehensive educational resources, and in a wide variety of formats and skill levels. Experienced developers will find the detailed technical documentation in the Bubble Manual for building complex functions and adding custom code, while beginners get step-by-step walkthroughs and high-level guides to building apps.
Plus, Bubble offers resources through YouTube videos, detailed tutorials, courses, written documentation, interactive lessons, and more. No matter your skill level or learning style, you’ll find plenty of resources for building on Bubble. And if you get stuck, you can always turn to the active Bubble forums to get help and support from other Bubble builders.
Required technical expertise
Starting an app with AI is pretty simple — almost anyone can do it. But as we mentioned before, the last 20% of the process can end up being most of the work. Depending on your platform, you may need more or less technical expertise to truly take your app to launch and beyond.
All three of these apps require different levels of expertise: Lovable starts out the easiest but then requires more technical knowledge for the final 20%, Bolt requires the most technical expertise all the way through, and Bubble is the most approachable, especially for the final 20%.
Lovable is designed for beginners and non-developers, and it does a good job of providing an intuitive interface for building apps through AI prompting. It’s pretty easy to get started with and doesn’t require a lot of technical expertise.
The downside, however, is that you get less control with Lovable in the long run. AI prompting can help you build out your app, but it’s easy to get stuck in prompt loops or not be able to do exactly what you want. If and when you reach that point, your only option is to use traditional coding.
Bolt, by contrast, isn’t trying to target non-developers. You certainly don’t need technical experience to get started with Bolt, but you’ll run into learning curve issues pretty quickly — for example, when trying to set up databases or adding complex functionality to your app. The Bolt team even recommends that non-developers learn coding basics before using Bolt, so technical expertise is a must if you’re looking to build and scale a fully functional app.
Bubble is designed for both developers and non-developers. The visual programming Bubble uses takes some time to learn upfront, but then gives anyone complete control and customization without having to learn code. It’s a platform that “speaks your language,” by working within an immediately visual output, rather than making you learn a programming language to really understand what’s going on. This makes the platform way more approachable in the long-run.
With Lovable and Bolt, you will have to code eventually if you want your app to look and function exactly how you imagined. With Bubble, you can stay codeless through launch and beyond, without sacrificing control or complexity.
Which AI builder is right for you?
Lovable and Bolt both offer AI-powered app generation alongside an editor that merges AI-driven iterations and chat alongside code-based editing. Both focus on frontend development and generation, provide solid app output quality, and integrate with databases and hosting servers to offer a full-stack app. However, each app caters to a different audience and different project goals.
Lovable caters to beginners and offers an intuitive, easy-to-use builder that focuses on AI chat iterations. It works best for builders looking to quickly spin up MVPs, semi-functional prototypes, or simple apps for personal use. Creating something quick and simple with the platform is pretty easy, but developing more complex functionality requires more expertise. Also, Lovable doesn’t offer many production-grade features, like collaborative features, high security, extensive integrations, or high customizability.
By contrast, Bolt caters to experienced developers and offers a code-first development environment with integrated AI chat and iterations. As a result, it’s better for builders with technical experience who are looking to speed up traditional workflows with the help of AI. It’s great for spinning up new app foundations quickly and having an AI-assisted environment to make iterations alongside traditional coding. However, its lack of educational documentation, design features, and built-in security and integrations make it more difficult to use for non-coders.
Bubble takes a different approach and combines the speed of AI with the power of visual programming to make app building simple for developers and non-developers alike. Bubble is the only AI-powered app development platform built for real businesses built by everyday people. Unlike Lovable — which offers ease and speed, but not control or scalability — Bubble offers complete customization and enterprise-grade features ready to help you create scalable apps. And Bubble’s visual programming approach is much more manageable in the long run compared to Bolt’s AI + code approach.
Bubble helps you create an app you understand, not just code you don’t. And while with Lovable and Bolt, you’ll have to default back to traditional code when you hit a wall with AI, Bubble gives you full control over the final product — without endless prompt loops or manual coding.
Of course, the best way to see if Bubble will work for your project is to test it out for yourself. Try our AI app generator today for free and see how fast you can get your ideas into a real-life product.
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