Bolt.new vs Tempo
Pricing
Bolt.new: Free tier, Pro from $20/mo
Tempo: Free tier, Pro from $20/mo
Description
Bolt.new: Build full-stack web apps in your browser by describing what you want, no local setup needed
Tempo: AI React app builder with a visual editor: import Figma designs or describe what you want
Pros
- 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
- Visual drag-and-drop editing alongside AI generation
- Import Figma designs and turn them into working React components
- Outputs clean React + Tailwind code you can take with you
Cons
- 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
- React-only: if you use Vue, Svelte, or anything else, this is not for you
- Visual editor hits limits fast when building complex application logic
- Newer tool with a smaller community and fewer resources
Details
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.
Tempo sits between a design tool and a code generator. You can import Figma designs, use AI prompts, or visually edit components with drag-and-drop, then export clean React and Tailwind code. It is the visual approach to AI-assisted coding.
If you think in terms of visual layouts rather than code, Tempo might click better than text-prompt tools like v0. The Figma import is particularly useful if you already have designs. The limitation is that it only outputs React, and the visual editor works better for UI than for business logic. Think of it as a UI building tool, not a full app builder.
Verified
