What Is Bolt?

Bolt is an in-browser AI development environment that turns plain-language ideas into working web or mobile apps. You open a chat window, type something like “Build a lightweight CRM with Kanban and Google sign-in,” and a few seconds later you are looking at a live preview, complete with a database and server logic. No local installs, no hidden black boxes. You can read, edit, or export every line that the machine just produced. In short, Bolt is ChatGPT wearing a full-stack engineer’s hoodie.

Key Features

Prompt-to-App Generation

Describe your product and Bolt scaffolds the front-end, back-end, and database in one go. It even seeds dummy data so you can click around instantly. For simple CRUD apps this feels like magic—and a massive time-saver for prototypes.

Visual Editor & Live Preview

After the first draft appears, switch to the drag-and-drop visual editor. Tweak spacing, rename buttons, change colors, then watch the preview refresh in real time. Perfect for non-coders who still want design control.

Real Code Ownership

Bolt outputs standard React / Node projects. Click Export → Download and you get a ZIP you can open in VS Code or push to GitHub. No vendor lock-in and no license boomerangs later.

One-Click Deployment

Press Deploy and Bolt ships your app to Netlify, hands you a live URL, and hooks up environment variables automatically. For mobile work, the Expo link lets you test a React-Native build on your phone.

Integrations Galore

Need auth? Ask for Supabase. Need payments? Say “add Stripe checkout.” The platform also imports Figma frames, so a designer’s mock-up can become real code in minutes. GitHub, Expo, and even third-party REST APIs are only a prompt away.

Collaboration & Tokens

Projects live in the cloud, so handing a link to a teammate is easy. Usage is metered via tokens—the same units LLMs use—so teams can budget AI time the way they budget AWS credits.

Pricing: How Much Does Bolt Cost?

• Free plan: $0, includes 1 million tokens per month (capped at 150 k daily). Great for weekend tinkering or class projects.

• Pro plan: $20 per month, bumps you to 10 million tokens and priority model access. Solo founders and freelancers land here most often.

• Higher Pro tiers: $50, $100, and $200 per month for 26 M, 55 M, and 120 M tokens respectively. Choose one if you burn through prompts or run multiple client projects.

• Teams: $30 per user per month with 10 M tokens each plus shared workspaces and centralized billing. Enterprise pricing is available on request.

Unused paid tokens now roll over for one extra month, so you do not lose budget if a project slows down.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need any coding experience to use Bolt?

No. You can ship a functional app by chatting in everyday language. That said, knowing a little HTML or JavaScript helps when you hit edge cases or want deeper customization.

What tech stack does Bolt generate?

By default you get React on the client, Node + Express on the server, and PostgreSQL (often via Supabase) for data. You can ask for alternatives, but those three are Bolt’s comfort zone.

Is the code production-ready?

For small to medium apps, yes. The syntax is clean and the project structure matches modern best practices. You should still audit security, add tests, and tune performance before scaling to thousands of users.

How many tokens do I get on the free plan?

One million per month, refreshed on the first of the month, with a daily ceiling of 150 k. That covers plenty of experimentation as long as your prompts stay concise.

How is Bolt different from GitHub Copilot or ChatGPT?

Copilot completes lines you are already writing, ChatGPT answers questions. Bolt composes an entire repository—including UI, API, and database—then lets you export it. Think of Copilot as autocomplete, ChatGPT as a helpful tutor, and Bolt as a robot co-founder who ships the first version for you.