Is Bolt.new free? What it actually costs in 2026
Yes, there is a free tier — with limits.
Verified on bolt.new/pricing and support.bolt.new 2026-10-06. Free is $0 with a 300K-token daily limit and 1M tokens a month, Bolt branding on published sites and hosting up to 333K web requests; a free site that passes its limit goes offline until the month resets. Pro starts at $25 a month billed monthly for 10M tokens, with no daily limit, custom domains, 1M web requests and unused tokens rolling over (valid for two months); larger Pro tiers carry more tokens. The pricing page advertises up to 28% off for yearly billing, while Bolt's billing help says 10%, so check the figure at checkout. Teams is $30 per member per month billed monthly, with tokens allotted per member rather than pooled; Enterprise is custom. Bolt says most token use comes from syncing your project's files to the AI, so larger projects cost more per message. Extra token reloads are limited to the top monthly Pro plan or an annual Pro plan, and subscriptions are non-refundable. A $9/month Lite plan, built on Bolt Forge's open-source models, is open to new sign-ups until 14 October 2026.
When paying is still the right call
If you want to build without installing anything, Bolt is hard to beat: the whole environment runs in a browser tab, and hosting, a database with auth, domains and Expo for mobile come in one product with one bill. Stay if your team shares projects under Teams with admin controls, or if a Pro plan's token allowance covers your month comfortably; the open alternatives here move the model bill to you and the setup to your machine. And if cost is the reason you are looking, Bolt's own $9 Lite plan on its open-source Forge models is open to new sign-ups until 14 October 2026, which may be enough on its own.
What you are locked into
Low on code, moderate on the backend. Any project downloads as a ZIP to work on in your own editor, or syncs to a GitHub repository on every change. The backend is the stickier part: Bolt Database is managed by Bolt, and moving it into your own Supabase account (Bolt calls this claiming it) requires a Pro or Teams plan; Bolt also says there is no supported flow for moving a Supabase database into Bolt Database. Sites published to bolt.host stay on Bolt's hosting until you redeploy elsewhere, and Netlify is offered as a built-in alternative.
If you would rather not pay: Dyad
Dyad
A free desktop app builder that runs on your machine, with any model and no token meter of its own.
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.
See all 3 Bolt.new alternatives comparedCompare the free options head-to-head
Pricing is verified against the vendor's published figures and dated above. Vendors change prices — confirm current numbers with StackBlitz, Inc. before you commit. More ai app builders decisions on Macrostack.