#1★ TOP PICK
Dyad
A free desktop app builder that runs on your machine, with any model and no token meter of its own.
93
OPEN SOURCEApache-2.0 (src/pro under FSL-1.1-ALv2)SELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
Dyad is a local, open-source AI app builder that describes itself as an alternative to v0, Lovable and Bolt that runs on your own computer. The loop will feel familiar: you chat, it builds and previews the app, and you can roll back versions. The difference is where things live. Every project is a regular Git repository in a folder on your machine (~/dyad-apps by default), and you bring the model: Google Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter, a ChatGPT subscription, or local models through Ollama or LM Studio, so there is no Bolt-style token allowance, only your provider's bill. It starts from React and Vite or Next.js templates, connects Supabase or Neon for a database and auth, can turn a web app into a hybrid mobile app with Capacitor, and deploys through GitHub to Vercel or any other host.
⌁ Dyad runs anywhere Node.js runs, and its FAQ suggests a cloud model such as Gemini or OpenRouter if your machine is not powerful. Local models through Ollama or LM Studio are optional; Dyad's own docs warn they are resource-intensive and that smaller models may struggle to follow its instructions.
Strengths
- +Your project is a normal Git repository on your own disk, not a workspace on someone else's servers
- +Any model, including a free-tier Gemini key, a ChatGPT subscription or a local model, so cost is yours to control
- +Supabase and Neon integrations for database and auth, and hybrid mobile apps through Capacitor
- +Very active: v1.18.0 shipped on 5 October 2026, and the repository has about 21.7k GitHub stars
Trade-offs
- −You install a desktop app plus Node.js, where Bolt needs only a browser; macOS and Windows are supported, while Linux is experimental and does not auto-update
- −JavaScript apps only, per its FAQ; mobile means hybrid apps via Capacitor rather than Bolt's Expo route
- −The Pro features in the repository's src/pro folder are fair-source (FSL-1.1), not open source, and the free agent mode is limited to 20 messages a day
- −No hosting of its own; you deploy through GitHub to Vercel or another host and manage that account yourself
Free and open source; bring your own API key or a ChatGPT subscription, or run a local model. The free Basic Agent is listed at 20 messages a day. Optional Dyad Pro is $20/month with 200 AI credits, and Dyad Max $79/month with 900. Verified on dyad.sh/pro 2026-10-06. #2
bolt.diy
The official open-source edition of Bolt.new: the same in-browser builder, run yourself, with any model.
78
OPEN SOURCEMITSELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
bolt.diy is the official open-source version of Bolt.new, published under StackBlitz Labs and maintained as a community project, which makes it the closest match to Bolt's interface: chat, an editor, a terminal and a live preview of Node.js-based web apps in one browser tab. The difference is that you run it (Node.js and pnpm, or Docker) and choose the model for each prompt from more than 20 providers, including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter, and Ollama or LM Studio for local models. Projects download as a ZIP, connect to Git, link to Supabase, and deploy to Netlify, Vercel or GitHub Pages. Like Bolt, it runs apps inside StackBlitz's WebContainer API, and StackBlitz licenses that separately: production use in a for-profit setting needs a commercial licence.
⌁ bolt.diy itself is light: a local Node.js server or Docker container serving a browser UI. With a cloud model it runs on modest hardware. Local models through Ollama or LM Studio need a capable GPU or plenty of unified memory, and the README lists better performance for smaller models as planned work.
Strengths
- +The closest thing to Bolt's own interface, from the same company's open-source organisation
- +Choose the model per prompt from more than 20 providers, including local Ollama and LM Studio
- +Download any project as a ZIP, connect Git and Supabase, and deploy to Netlify, Vercel or GitHub Pages
- +An active community project: about 19.9k GitHub stars, with commits landing this week
Trade-offs
- −Its runtime, the WebContainer API, is proprietary; StackBlitz requires a commercial licence for production use in a for-profit setting
- −No one-click install: you run it from source with Node.js 22.12+ and pnpm, or Docker; the last tagged release and desktop build (v1.0.0) date from May 2025
- −Its README lists the move from single model calls to an agent-based system as still in progress, so it is less autonomous than Bolt's own agents
- −No hosting, database or domains of its own; Bolt Cloud's conveniences become your setup work
Free and open source (MIT); you pay your model provider, or nothing beyond hardware with a local model. StackBlitz requires a separate commercial WebContainer API licence for production use in a for-profit setting; prototypes and proofs of concept do not need one. #3
Google AI Studio
Google's free, hosted prompt-to-app builder, if a Gemini-only tool and Google's free-tier terms suit you.
25
SOURCE-AVAILABLEProprietary (hosted service)
For Bolt users who like that nothing needs installing, Build mode in Google AI Studio is the closest hosted equivalent at no cost. It turns a prompt into a full-stack web app (a React front end and a Node.js server by default) or a native Android app in Kotlin and Jetpack Compose, with a live preview in the browser, and it can provision Firebase Firestore and Firebase Authentication, sync two ways with GitHub, export a ZIP, and deploy to Cloud Run. Google's billing page says AI Studio usage is free of charge unless you link a paid API key. The trade-offs: it is built around Google's Gemini models, and on the free tier Google's terms say your prompts and outputs may be used to improve its products and may be read by human reviewers.
Strengths
- +Nothing to install and no subscription: free in the browser unless you link a paid key
- +Full-stack by default (React plus a Node.js server), and native Android apps rather than hybrid ones
- +Two-way GitHub sync and ZIP export; a downloaded app runs on any host once you set GEMINI_API_KEY
- +Firebase Firestore and Google sign-in can be provisioned for you
Trade-offs
- −Built around Gemini; Google's Build mode guide describes no other model provider
- −On the free tier Google may use your prompts and outputs to improve its products, human reviewers may read them, and its terms say not to submit sensitive or confidential information
- −A hosted Google service you cannot self-host; deploying from AI Studio means Cloud Run, billed by usage
- −When you share an app, its Gemini API calls count toward your own usage limits
Free to use unless you link a paid API key; deploying to Cloud Run is billed by Google Cloud based on usage, and apps that call paid models can incur costs. Verified on ai.google.dev 2026-10-06.