Base44 vs Lovable: Which AI App Builder Should You Use?

Build with AI · Comparison

Both tools turn plain English into a working app. They price it in very different ways. Here is how to tell which one fits your project and your budget.

Base44 and Lovable are two of the most popular AI app builders. You type what you want. The AI builds the screens, the database, and the logins. You can publish the app to the web.

On the surface they look alike. The big differences are in how they charge you and how credits work. I checked both pricing pages and help docs on October 20, 2026. Here is what I found, in plain words.

Base44 vs Lovable at a glance

A quick note on who is behind each one. Wix bought Base44 in June 2025. The Wix press release says Base44 "will continue to operate as a distinct product and business." Lovable is its own company and product.

Pricing compared

Base44 pricing

Base44 has five plans. On monthly billing, checked October 20, 2026:

• Free: $0, with 25 message credits a month (up to 5 a day) and up to 5 apps
• Starter: $20 a month, or $16 a month billed yearly
• Builder: $50 a month, or $40 billed yearly
• Pro: $100 a month, or $80 billed yearly
• Elite: $200 a month, or $160 billed yearly

For my full take on the tool itself, see my Base44 review.

Lovable pricing

Lovable has four plans on lovable.dev/pricing, checked October 20, 2026:

• Free: $0. Lovable's docs list 5 daily build credits, up to 30 a month.
• Pro: $25 a month with 100 monthly credits, custom domains, and credit top-ups.
• Business: $50 a month with 100 monthly credits, plus SSO and a team workspace.
• Enterprise: a platform fee with volume based pricing. You book a demo to get a price.

Lovable says yearly billing gives you 2 months free. Students can get up to 50% off Pro. For more, see my Lovable pricing guide.

How credits work in each

This is the biggest real difference between the two.

Base44: two kinds of credits

• Message credits pay for building. Each time you ask the AI to change your app, it uses some. Base44's docs put a simple change at about 0.5 credits and an app-wide change at about 3 to 4.
• Integration credits pay for things your app does, like sending email. An email from your app is about 1 credit.

Base44 credits reset each month. The docs say unused credits "expire when they reset."

Lovable: one balance for everything

Lovable says it "uses one credit balance for building your app, chatting with Lovable, hosting your app and running its built-in backend (Cloud), and powering AI features in your deployed app."

That means hosting and your app's backend also draw from credits. Lovable's docs list small monthly grants for Cloud and AI use, and say those grants are "a temporary offering and subject to change."

The good news: Lovable says "All unused monthly plan credits automatically roll over at the end of each billing cycle, as long as your subscription remains active." On monthly plans, rolled over credits expire 2 months after they were issued.

What building feels like

Both tools work the same basic way. You describe the app in a chat. The AI builds it. You see a live preview and ask for changes.

• Base44 says it builds "the full thing: frontend, backend, database, user auth, payments, all of it." Manual edits in its visual editor do not use credits.
• Lovable includes Cloud, its built-in backend, on every plan, including Free. Lovable also has a Chat mode for planning and questions, with its own daily allowance.

In my experience, both are great for simple tools, like a booking page, a quote calculator, or a client portal. Both get harder as an app grows. The AI can break something while fixing something else. Go slow and test after every change.

Who owns your app and code?

Good news on both sides. Base44 says "You own everything you build on Base44: your code, your data, your users." It offers two-way GitHub sync to export your code.

Lovable's pricing FAQ asks who owns the projects and code, and the answer is short: you do. It also offers GitHub Git sync.

So with either tool, you can take your code with you if you outgrow it. That is a big deal. Do not build on any tool that locks your code in.

Plan features that change the math

The cheapest plan is not always the cheapest for you. A few features sit on different plans in each tool.

• Your own domain. Base44 lists "Connect a domain" starting on Starter ($20). Lovable lists custom domains starting on Pro ($25). On Lovable Free, you get up to 5 lovable.app web addresses.
• GitHub. Lovable's docs say github.com sync is "available on all plans," even Free. On Base44's pricing page, GitHub integration shows up starting on Builder ($50).
• Number of apps. Base44 Free allows up to 5 apps. Paid Base44 plans list an unlimited number of apps.
• The badge. Lovable lists "Remove the Lovable badge" as a Pro feature.

So if you need GitHub on day one, Lovable Pro at $25 can cost less than Base44 Builder at $50. If you just need your own domain, Base44 Starter at $20 is the lower price.

Costs that show up after you launch

Building is only half the bill. Once real people use your app, it keeps using credits.

• Base44: your app's actions use integration credits. Base44's docs list about 1 credit to send an email and about 2 credits to send from your own domain.
• Lovable: hosting and the built-in backend use credits too. The docs say Cloud usage "draws from your available credits, starting with any monthly Cloud grant included in your plan." On Free, that grant is 20 credits a month.
• Top-ups: Lovable Pro and Business can buy extra credits. Those top-ups expire 12 months after you buy them.

My advice: launch to a small group first. Watch your credit use for a week. Then pick the plan that fits real use, not a guess.

Which one should you pick?

My own summary, based on each pricing page and docs, checked October 20, 2026.

The fair test: build the same app in both

1. Pick one tiny app. For example, a form that collects a name and email and shows a thank you page.
2. Write one clear prompt. Use the exact same words in both tools.
3. Make three small changes in each, like a new color, a new field, and a new page.
4. Check credit usage in each tool's settings after.
5. Publish both and open them on your phone.

Then pick the one that felt easier and used fewer credits for your kind of work. Still looking around? See my lists of Lovable alternatives and the best vibe coding tools.