Continue vs Lovable
Pricing
Continue: Free (open source), no longer maintained since June 2026
Lovable: Free tier, Starter from $20/mo
Description
Continue: Open-source AI assistant for VS Code and JetBrains. Cursor acquired it in June 2026 and the project is now read-only
Lovable: Describe your app idea, get a working React + Supabase app you can actually edit and deploy
Pros
- The final 2.0 release still installs for free from the VS Code Marketplace, Open VSX and npm
- Works with your own API keys (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini and others) or local models through Ollama and LM Studio
- The code stays available under the Apache 2.0 license, so anyone can fork it
- Generates full-stack apps (React frontend + Supabase backend) from a description
- Built-in Supabase integration handles auth, database, and storage
- Non-technical founders can build real, functional products
Cons
- No longer maintained: no bug fixes, security patches or support for new models
- Hosted accounts and sign-in were retired after the acquisition
- Requires setup: picking a model, getting API keys, configuring the tool
- You get what the AI decides: limited control over code architecture and patterns
- Complex business logic still needs a developer to implement properly
- Tied to React + Supabase stack whether that is the right choice or not
Details
Continue was the “bring your own model” approach to AI coding: a free, open-source extension for VS Code and JetBrains, plus a CLI, that connected to the LLM of your choice, from cloud APIs like Claude to local models through Ollama. You got autocomplete, chat and inline editing without a subscription.
In June 2026 Cursor acquired Continue. The team shipped a final 2.0 release on 19 June 2026, retired hosted accounts and sign-in, and made the GitHub repository read-only. The extensions still install and run with your own keys, but nothing will be fixed or updated. For the same free, model-agnostic setup with active development, use Cline inside VS Code, or Aider or Claude Code in the terminal.
Lovable (formerly GPT Engineer) is for founders who have an idea and want a working app, not a wireframe or a mockup. You describe what you want, and it generates a full-stack React app with a Supabase backend: auth, database, the works. You can then edit the code or keep iterating with prompts.
This is not a toy. People have shipped real MVPs with it. But know the limits: the generated code follows patterns the AI knows, which may not be the best patterns for your specific use case. If your app is a straightforward CRUD tool or marketplace, Lovable can get you 80% there. If you need complex real-time features or unusual architecture, you will hit walls.
Continue verified
Lovable verified
