Getting Started with Lovable

Describe the app or website you want in plain English and Lovable builds a working, full-stack version you can deploy — no coding required.

Current prices: Free, from $25/mo · See all plans

Last reviewed 2026-07-13 · for Lovable

How it works

You chat with Lovable the way you'd chat with any assistant, but each message builds or edits your app rather than answering a question. You describe what you want, try what it made, describe the next change, and keep going until it does what you meant.

What it is

Lovable is an AI app builder — the style of tool people call "vibe coding." You describe what you want in plain language and it generates a working web app: a clickable front end, a database behind it, a login flow, and the plumbing that connects them, then deploys it. It's aimed squarely at non-developers — founders, product people, hobbyists — who want a real, editable app without writing code. And because you can export the code, it doesn't lock you in.

Before you start

The free plan is genuinely free (no card, not a time-limited trial): a small daily grant of build credits, unlimited public projects, GitHub integration, and code export on every plan. It's enough to build a small prototype; a serious build day will exhaust it.

Paid plans start with Pro, which adds more credits, private projects, and custom domains.

Know the two cost layers (building credits vs. runtime hosting/AI) before you build something you plan to keep live — a prototype is cheap, a trafficked app is not.

Security & privacy

Good news on rights: you own what you build — the app, its code, your customer data, and the AI output — and you can export the code anytime (subject to any third-party rights in the underlying AI models). Lovable doesn't hold your project hostage behind a paywall.

What "the AI built it" doesn't mean

AI-generated apps can ship with security holes — missing access checks, exposed data, weak auth. Don't put a vibe-coded app in front of real users or real customer data without a security review.
Lovable processes your prompts, project context, and generated code on its servers and connects to services like the database and code host it sets up — understand where your app's data lives before you store anything real in it.
The honest ceiling: it gets you most of the way, but complex or production-grade apps usually need a developer to finish and harden them. A common pattern is to build in Lovable, then export and finish in a code editor.

Because credits scale with request complexity and runtime is billed separately, an app that gets real traffic has real ongoing cost. Price the "running it" layer before you launch, not after.

What it's good (and not good) at

Best at

Turning a plain-English description into a working, deployable web app
Prototypes, landing pages, internal tools, and MVPs, fast
Letting non-coders ship something real without a terminal
Handing you exportable code you actually own

Okay at

Complex, production-grade SaaS (it gets ~70% there; the rest needs a dev)
Predictable cost (credits scale with complexity; runtime bills separately)
Deep custom backend logic (frontend-first is its strength)

Avoid

Shipping to real users without a security review
Storing real customer data in an unreviewed prototype
Assuming the subscription is the whole cost — running the app is extra

Starter prompts to try

Build something small and whole

Build a simple habit tracker: a page where I can add daily habits, check them off, and see a weekly streak. Clean, friendly design.

Why this one: A small but complete app shows the whole loop — describe, generate, click through a real working result.

Tweak: Swap in an idea you actually want; keep the first version small.

Iterate by describing changes

Add a dark mode toggle in the top corner, and let me give each habit a color.

Why this one: The core skill is editing by conversation — small, specific requests cost fewer credits and land more reliably than one giant one.

Tweak: Make one change per message so you can see what each does (and what it costs).

Export your code

Connect this project to GitHub so I have the full source code.

Why this one: Proves the no-lock-in promise and sets you up to hand the app to a developer later if it grows.

Tweak: Even if you never touch the code, exporting is a free backup you own.

Common pitfalls

Credits burn by complexity, not by message. A single "add auth and payments" request can cost as much as a dozen small edits — think in work done, not messages sent.
The subscription isn't the whole bill. Building credits and runtime hosting/AI are separate layers; a live, trafficked app has ongoing cost.
"The AI built it" is not "it's secure." Review a vibe-coded app before real users or real data touch it.

Where to next

AI Coding & Development Workflow & Automation

Want the full picture first? See the Lovable overview for pricing, the free tier and related tools.