bolt.new
StackBlitz's in-browser AI app builder. Describe an app, bolt.new generates and runs React code live, powered by Claude.
Pros
- + Runs a full Node.js environment in the browser via WebContainer, no setup
- + Live preview as it generates React/Vite code
- + Powered by Claude, with model choice across Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus
- + Token rollover and Figma import on paid plans
Cons
- − Token consumption scales with project size and can burn fast on large apps
- − Paid plans still lack external integrations
- − Free plan is a playground, not a long-term build environment
- − Complex apps need manual cleanup
What Is bolt.new
bolt.new is StackBlitz’s AI app builder. You describe an app and it generates the code (React and Vite by default), runs it, and shows a live preview, all inside the browser. The trick is WebContainer, StackBlitz technology that runs a full Node.js environment in the browser tab, so there is nothing to install. Generation is powered by Claude, and you can switch between Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus depending on how hard the task is.
Pricing in 2026
| Plan | Price | Tokens |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1M tokens/month |
| Pro | $25/month | 10M tokens, rollover, custom domains |
| Teams | $30/member/month | Team features |
Annual billing saves about 10%. The key thing to understand is the token model: a bolt token is internal currency, and consumption scales with project complexity and codebase size, not just the number of prompts.
How Tokens Burn
This is the honest part. Token use grows with the size of your codebase, so edits late in a project cost far more than early ones:
- Small projects: roughly 50K to 150K tokens per prompt.
- Medium projects: 150K to 500K per prompt.
- A complete simple app can consume around 3M tokens in total.
That means a single full app can eat most of a Pro plan’s monthly allowance. Budget accordingly.
Honest Cons
The token burn on large apps is the main cost risk. Paid plans also still do not include external integrations, and the free plan is really just a place to experiment. For anything past a prototype, expect to clean up generated code by hand.
Who It Is For
People who want the fastest possible path from prompt to a running web app, with zero environment setup. If you prefer React components generated for an existing project, see v0 by Vercel. For direct alternatives, compare Lovable and Replit Agent.
Related
Since bolt.new bills by tokens, the same economics in the cheapest LLM API guide explain why your bill moves the way it does.