Base44 vs Bolt.new
Pricing
Base44: Free tier (5 messages/day), Pro from $25/mo
Bolt.new: Free tier (1M tokens/mo), Pro $25/mo
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1M tokens a month, 300K daily limit, Bolt branding on sites |
| Pro | $25/mo | 10M tokens a month with rollover, custom domain, no Bolt branding |
| Teams | $30/member/mo | Pro per member plus centralized billing and admin controls |
Prices checked on the vendor's page
Description
Base44: Chat-based AI app builder that generates business apps with databases and auth (now owned by Wix)
Bolt.new: Build full-stack web apps in your browser by describing what you want, no local setup needed
Pros
- Generates complete working apps from natural language descriptions
- Built-in database, auth, hosting, and 20+ integrations (Stripe, Google APIs, etc.)
- No deployment step: apps are live immediately
- Zero setup: open a browser tab and start building
- Live preview updates as the AI writes code
- Supports React, Next.js, Astro, and more out of the box
Cons
- Free tier is extremely limited (5 messages/day, 25/month)
- Acquired by Wix in 2025. Product direction may shift toward Wix's ecosystem
- Less control over code and architecture than hand-built solutions
- Free tier token limits mean you hit walls mid-project
- Browser-based means no access to native tools, local databases, or heavy computation
- Generated code can be messy and hard to maintain long-term
Details
Base44 takes a different approach from most AI app builders: instead of writing code you can see, it generates complete applications through a chat interface. Describe what you need (“build me a task management app with user auth and Stripe billing”), and it creates the database, UI, backend logic, and authentication. Apps are live immediately with built-in hosting.
Wix acquired Base44 in 2025 for around $80 million, so expect the product to evolve toward the Wix ecosystem over time. The free tier is tight (5 messages per day), but enough to test whether the approach works for your use case. Best for internal tools, simple SaaS MVPs, and founders who want something working today rather than something architecturally perfect.
Bolt.new runs a full Node.js environment inside your browser using WebContainers. You describe what you want to build, it writes the code, and you see a live preview instantly. No installing Node, no terminal, no VS Code, just a browser tab.
This is genuinely useful for prototyping. You can go from “I need a landing page with a waitlist form” to a working app in minutes. But the limitations show up when you try to build something complex: the free tier token limits are tight, and the generated code sometimes needs cleanup before it is production-ready. Think of it as a rapid prototyping tool, not a replacement for a real development setup.
Verified
