Lovable Vibe Coding Review 2026: Everything You Need to Know

Lovable is a vibe coding platform using which users can create their own web apps by chatting with AI. You could build:

• A landing page for your latest project
• Internal tools, such as dashboards to help you organize your workflow
• Online portals with user logins
• Interactive website quizzes and forms to increase customer engagement

You don’t need technical coding experience to get started, since Lovable will generate code in different programming languages such as React (great for single-page apps) and node.js (great for speedy, scalable apps).

Above all, Lovable is ideal if you want to generate an early-stage prototype of an app before you hand the code over to a human developer. This will save you time and money as you get your app off the ground. 

To help you understand Lovable’s benefits and what it does, here are its key features:

Prompt-to-App Workflow

To create your app with Lovable, you start by entering a natural language prompt that tells the AI what you want to make.

Once you’ve hit enter, the AI will generate your app’s code and keep you updated with what it’s doing in the left-hand side bar. This process is speedy, since Lovable creates your app’s first version in a few minutes.

This feature is standard on most vibe coding platforms, such as Base44 and Hostinger Horizons, since it offers users a beginner-friendly interface for app creation. I particularly liked Lovable’s take on the feature. I could easily attach files to my initial prompt, or choose between different color-based themes for my app’s design.

Integrations

Lovable comes with a number of integrations that enable you to add additional functionality to your AI-generated website or app. Two of its key native integrations are:

• GitHub: Lovable seamlessly integrates with GitHub, allowing users to easily store, manage, and share their code.
  • It’s ideal if you want to safely store your project on another platform, or let developers review and work on your app’s code.
  • You can also use GitHub for easy version control, since any changes you make to your app in Lovable will appear on GitHub.
• Supabase: This is a database that securely stores the important information and content needed for your app to run, which might include user information (like logins and passwords), to-do lists, or static media like photos.

Outside of GitHub and Supabase, Lovable’s interface can also be integrated with:

• Stripe for easily collecting payments within your app
• Shopify for merchants who want to add more functionality to their store
• Canva for users who want to integrate Canva’s design capabilities into their Lovable-made apps
• Tenor to add GIFs to your app

The scale of Lovable’s native integrations is impressive, especially when taking competitors like Hostinger Horizons into account that only have three native integrations: Supabase, Stripe, and Google AdSense. If you want to add many additional features to your app, Lovable is a strong choice.

Security Tools

Lovable comes with built-in security tools to make your app as safe and secure as possible:

• Security scanning: If there are any security issues with your app, Lovable will inform you of them before you hit publish. You can also scan again for free.
• Security view: You can view any security issues that Lovable picks up on, categorized by severity level.
• Role-level security (RLS): This allows you to decide who can access the data stored in your database.
• API keys: An API key is a unique piece of code that proves your app has permission to connect to a third-party service and its data.

However, these security tools don’t guarantee that your app is 100% safe to use. I highly recommend having a professional review your app’s code for bugs and security gaps before it goes live.

Version Control

In March 2025, Lovable introduced “Versioning V2.0,” which makes it easier for you to track and manage any changes you’ve made to your projects. For example, you can see your version history and track your changes via date, and bookmark any key edits you’ve made to your app.

Most vibe coding platforms will come with a version control feature. Typically, it’s built directly into the tool, or you’ll need to install a GitHub integration for more advanced controls.

AI-Powered Debugging

You can also use prompting to resolve app errors, which is useful if you don’t have the technical expertise to fix these issues yourself. You might need to create a debugging prompt to:

• Speed up an app that’s functional but is running slowly
• Look for misplaced code that could impact your app’s performance
• Handle reoccurring errors by asking the AI to take a different approach

However, remember that debugging on Lovable isn’t free. You’ll use up credits whenever you need to solve an issue. Alternatives like Replit enable you to resolve basic bugs at no extra cost with its “Debugger” tool.

One-Click Publishing

If you want to set up an app prototype quickly, Lovable lets you publish your web app directly from its editor. It’ll generate a live, shareable link for you, so you can share your app with others straight away.

That said, you can only restrict access to your live app on Lovable’s Business and Enterprise plans, not the Free and Pro plans.

Here’s how I, a complete beginner, used Lovable to create an app for a floristry business.

Step 1: Writing My Prompt

I wanted to create a productivity app for a hypothetical floristry business to help the team track orders. For this review, I used Lovable’s free plan, which comes with only five daily credits. I wanted to test how quickly I burned through them.

On Lovable, I began by typing a simple prompt into the text box:

“Create an internal productivity app named “BloomBoard” for my floristry business in a playful, pastel color scheme. It should enable my team to track orders and label each order depending on its progress.”

I noticed that I could add an attachment to the prompt if I wanted to, which is useful if you’d like Lovable to create your app using information from an image, spreadsheet, or document.

With my prompt filled in, I clicked on the upwards facing arrow button to begin.

Step 2: Generating My First Design

From the moment I submitted my prompt, Lovable’s AI took just under three minutes to generate my initial design. In the left-hand side bar, it kept me informed about what it was doing along the way, be it creating a “beautiful pastel design system” or putting together “the dashboard interface.”

During the process, Lovable would sometimes ask me to enable an action to take place. For instance, I had to click on the “Allow” button to enable Cloud access and let the AI build my app’s database where I’d store key order information. I liked this feature, since it made it feel like I had a degree of control, despite the AI making all of the code for me.

However, I did burn through my credits really quickly. I started with five credits, but my allowance quickly dropped down to 2.40 credits after just one prompt (I explain how the credits work later in this article). This made me very conscious of the credits I had left.

Step 3: Auditing What Lovable Had Generated

Lovable had kept to the brief and created a pastel-colored productivity app for me, though I wasn’t blown away by the design. It looked clean and simple to navigate, but also felt quite generic. This is something I’d planned to change with additional prompts.

Feature-wise, I was happy with what Lovable produced. I could add my first order by clicking on the “New Order” button and move order cards between the different categories it had generated.

Step 4: Editing My Lovable App

To change my app’s design and give it more visual interest, I entered the following prompt:

“The design is washed out and lacks personality. Keep pastel colors for the backgrounds and buttons only. Change all text to a deep, dark Charcoal Grey for readability. Add a thin border to the main cards and a subtle drop-shadow so they stand out against the background.”

It took Lovable around 40 seconds to make these small changes. That said, they still burned through my credits, which dropped from 2.40 to 1.40 as  result.

If I had more credits at my disposal, I would’ve made more drastic design changes, but I was convinced that they’d run out soon.

Step 5: Adding Another Feature to My App

With my limited credits left, I wanted to see if I could add an additional feature to my app. I asked it to create a moodboard feature with the following prompt:

“For each order card, create a mood board section that allows app users to upload multiple reference images. Use a Pinterest-style image grid layout and enable users to expand each image when they click on it.”

This is when I ran into trouble.

As Lovable was generating the mood board feature and telling me what it was doing, an error message appeared on screen and I could no longer view the app’s preview. I used up my 0.80 remaining credits by clicking on a button that read “Try to fix.”

It was frustrating that trying to fix an error also depleted my credits. If you have an error that the AI is repeatedly struggling to fix, you’ll likely lose a lot of credits during the debugging process.

Lovable fixed the error with my remaining credits, and I was impressed that it then succeeded in creating a mood board for each order card.

Step 6: Publishing My App

Though I wouldn’t publish my app in its current state, I appreciated how easy Lovable made it to do so.

Had I wanted to, I could have:

• Clicked on the “Publish” button at the top-right corner of the screen
• Added a custom domain
• Checked the latest security scan to see if my app is safe before going live
• Clicked the second, gray “Publish” button to push the app live

Please note that you can only limit access to your app on the Business plan and above, which enables you to share it with your workplace only.

My Final Verdict After Testing Lovable

Overall, I found Lovable very intuitive and easy to use. I loved how transparent the AI was, since it kept me informed about what it was doing in simple language. I also found it straightforward to make my way around Lovable’s interface, so beginners won’t have too much difficulty creating their app.

However, the limited credits are the platform’s biggest drawback, since I felt pressure to use my prompts wisely and not fly through my credits too quickly. It was particularly stressful when I came across a bug, because even trying to resolve issues will cost you. So, if you’re planning to use this app regularly, I recommend opting for a paid plan to access more credits.

Holly Choules Senior Writer

Lovable is worth the cost if you want to quickly and easily create apps without any technical expertise. Its pricing is split into four plans:

Though Lovable is worth the money, its pricing is let down by its credits system. I found that it was easy to burn through your credits during testing, so you may find yourself using up your daily credits fast.

• For more information, read our Lovable pricing guide

How Do Lovable Credits Work?

Lovable’s four pricing plans are based on a credit system. Each tier gives you a daily and monthly allowance of credits that you can use to generate your app and refine it.

• You get five free daily credits on all plans, which don’t roll over
• On the Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans, you also get an allocated number of monthly credits to use based on how much you’re paying.

You consume your credits every time you submit a prompt to Lovable’s AI. The more complex the prompt, the more credits you’ll use. To explain how credits are used up, Lovable offers the following examples:

Change the button style – 0.50 credits

Remove a component – 0.90 credits

Add authentication and login logic – 1.20 credits

Build a detailed landing page – 2 credits

Is It Cheaper To Vibe Code or Use Professional Help?

Creating your app with a vibe coding tool is cheaper than hiring a professional. With Lovable, you may spend from $21 per month to create your app, whereas you could spend anywhere between $5,000 and $50,000 to create a simple app with a developer (according to TopFlight).

However, though vibe coding with Lovable offers an inexpensive way to create an app prototype, you may need to spend more money to perfect your app so it’s production-ready. This will likely involve hiring a developer to review and edit your app’s code.

If you want to create a basic website, you’re better off using a website builder, with costs ranging from $2.99 to $299 per month (billed annually). Do bear in mind, though, that you can’t create your own custom apps on these platforms.

Use the pros and cons below to weigh up if Lovable is right for you or not:

Wondering if Lovable is the right platform for your needs? Read my recommendations to see if it might be what you’re looking for:

Lovable For Small Businesses:

• Lovable is best for small business owners who want to create internal tools, for example, a custom dashboard for staff, or a simple user portal for customers.
• Due to Lovable’s limitations, be wary of creating an app that’s critical to the running of your business, like a shopping app on which customers can make purchases. If it stops working, you’ll lose precious sales. It’s best to leave advanced apps with experienced developers, since they can create more robust and secure code.

Lovable For Founders or Entrepreneurs:

• Lovable’s best use case for entrepreneurs and founders is to quickly build a minimum viable product (MVP) to test with early customers or show to potential investors – it’s definitely suitable for this purpose.
• You can also build app prototypes to refine with a developer.

Lovable For Complete Beginners:

• Lovable isn’t 100% ideal for complete beginners because it’s error prone.
• As a non-coder, you may feel stuck when you come across your first error, so it’s worth leaning on professional help when you need it, or seeing it as an opportunity to increase your coding knowledge and learn new skills.

Lovable vs. Website Builders

Lovable can create simple sites, but it isn’t primarily a website builder – platforms like Wix, Squarespace, Hostinger, and Shopify are.

If you’re interested in website builders and vibe coding platforms, you can use a website builder to generate your website’s design and pages, and then use Lovable to build custom apps that enhance your website’s functionality.

For example:

1. You use a website builder to create a five-page marketing portfolio to promote your agency’s services
2. You use Lovable to create a bookings tool to arrange free consultations with clients, and you share a link to it on your website’s “Contact Us” page

Curious about Lovable alternatives? These other vibe coding platforms are worth comparing:

Swipe right to see more

0 out of 0

• backward
• forward

Hostinger Horizons	Base44	Tempo Labs	Bolt	Replit
Overall Rating 4.6	Overall Rating 4.1	Overall Rating 4.0	Overall Rating 3.5	Overall Rating 3.4
Starting Price $6.99/mo	Starting Price $16/mo	Starting Price $30/mo	Starting Price $25/mo	Starting Price $25/mo
Free Plan or Free Trial 7-day free trial	Free Plan or Free Trial Free plan, with 25 credits/mo	Free Plan or Free Trial Free plan, with 30 credits/mo	Free Plan or Free Trial Free plan, with 1 million tokens/mo	Free Plan or Free Trial Free plan, create up to 10 public development apps
Free Credits (Daily) 5	Free Credits (Daily) 5	Free Credits (Daily) 5	Free Credits (Daily) 300k	Free Credits (Daily)
Credit Allowances 30-400/mo	Credit Allowances 25-1,200/mo	Credit Allowances 30-Unlimited/mo	Credit Allowances 300k-Unlimited/mo	Credit Allowances $25-$40 worth of monthly credits

To review Lovable and offer you a balanced analysis of the platform, we tested it, and six other popular vibe coding platforms, hands on to understand how these AI tools work in practice.

During testing, we examined the key criteria we determined to be most important to entrepreneurs and small businesses. These criteria included:

• Pricing: If the platform is good value for money and offers a reasonable number of credits on each plan
• Ease of use: How easy Lovable is to use and how quickly users can generate their app
• Key features: If Lovable has the features it needs to support users in creating an app
  • Features include non-negotiables such as natural language prompting, full-stack app creation, version control, integrations, and built-in security tools.
• Market perception: How Lovable is viewed online based on press, customer reviews, and customer retention.
• Customer support: If you can find timely support for critical issues when using Lovable.

With these key criteria in mind and a strong understanding of how Lovable works, I can offer you research-backed insights to help you decide whether it’s right for you or not.

Lovable is one of the fastest, easiest ways to create an app, but it still doesn’t have the capability to fully replace a developer. So, it’s not suitable on its own if you aim to build a production-ready app to put on the market.

That said, the tool is suitable for you if:

• You want to build an internal website or tool for your company to use to increase efficiency
• You want to build a minimum viable product or app prototype that you later hand over to a professional
• You’re interested in creating apps, but don’t have coding skills and need a beginner-friendly starting point