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Free alternatives to Bolt.new

Bolt.new costs $25/mo on the Pro 10M plan, or $300 a year. Here are 3 free and open-source options, what each one does, and what you give up compared with paying.

Prices checked Aug 14, 2026Can AI replace it? Nah

01At a glance

AlternativeTypeWhere it runsWorks on
DyadOpen sourceOn your deviceMac, Windows
OnlookOpen sourceHosted or self-hostedWeb, Your server
open-lovableOpen sourceHosted or self-hostedWeb, Your server

02Each alternative, in detail

DyadOpen source

Bolt on your laptop, minus the hosting fairy.

Versus paying: It has no managed browser sandbox, instant public hosting or one-click deployment comparable to Bolt, so you own the local environment and deployment.

Setup: Desktop installer

Watch for: A model-provider API key or a separately installed and configured local Ollama model

21,100 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)

dyad.sh →
OnlookOpen source

Open source visual builder on a real React codebase; the grown-up sibling of the browser sandbox.

Versus paying: It is narrower and more design-first, with less mature prompt-to-full-stack generation and deployment than Bolt's browser workspace.

Setup: Hosted signup, or self-host with Bun or Docker plus Supabase configuration

Watch for: Hosted access may be gated; self-hosting needs Bun or Docker, Supabase and several environment variables

26,433 GitHub stars (checked Aug 7, 2026)

onlook.com →
open-lovableOpen source

Same prompt-to-app loop in a cloud sandbox, powered by your own model keys.

Versus paying: It is a developer-run example requiring several service keys, without Bolt's managed account, persistent workspace and integrated deploy experience.

Setup: Clone the repo, install with pnpm, add service keys to .env and run the Next.js development server

Watch for: Several model, extraction and sandbox service keys are needed before the complete workflow works

28,217 GitHub stars (checked Aug 7, 2026)

github.com →

03What you give up by leaving Bolt.new

  • browser sandbox, model orchestration, package execution, deployment, and hosted compute
  • frontier proprietary model
  • large-scale code retrieval
  • cloud sandbox fleet
  • enterprise policy and support

People still pay for Bolt.new because the UI can be copied, but high-quality code models, context ranking, safe execution, and constant evaluation are the product. The recurring cost buys model changes, indexing, prompt injection, tool permissions, sandboxing, evaluation, telemetry choices, and IDE compatibility, not just the visible interface.

04Questions

Is there a free alternative to Bolt.new?

Yes. This page compares 3: Dyad, Onlook and open-lovable. All of them are open source, so you can run them yourself.

How much does Bolt.new cost?

$25/mo on the Pro 10M plan (monthly), which is $300 a year. Prices checked Aug 14, 2026.

What do you give up with a free alternative to Bolt.new?

Most often: browser sandbox, model orchestration, package execution, deployment, and hosted compute, frontier proprietary model, large-scale code retrieval and cloud sandbox fleet. Each alternative on this page lists its own gap under “Versus paying.”

Can AI build me my own version of Bolt.new?

Nah. A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Bolt.new, generate and edit a small web project in a local sandbox from structured prompts. The hard boundary is browser sandbox, model orchestration, package execution, deployment, and hosted compute, plus frontier models, context infrastructure, and execution safety.

Prices change; confirm on the vendor's site before you decide.