Bolt

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Bolt is StackBlitz's AI-powered web development agent. You describe an application, and Bolt prompts, runs, edits, and deploys it — full-stack, directly from the browser, with no local setup.

Overview

Bolt launched in October 2024, announced by StackBlitz CEO Eric Simons in a single tweet. It grew out of StackBlitz's existing browser-based development tooling, and its distinguishing technical bet is that the entire development environment can live client-side.

What separates Bolt from most AI app builders is what the AI is given control over. Rather than generating a code bundle that a remote service then builds, Bolt hands the model complete control of a real environment: the filesystem, a Node server, the package manager, the terminal, and the browser console. That environment is a WebContainer running in your own browser tab.

In January 2025 StackBlitz announced roughly $105.5M in Series B funding led by Emergence Capital and GV. Bolt Cloud, adding hosting, databases, authentication, and serverless functions, followed later that year.

Key Features

• WebContainers: the filesystem, Node server, package manager, terminal, and console all run in your browser. No remote container, so no cold-start latency.
• Intelligent model routing: Bolt routes each task to a different model, balancing quality against cost, rather than committing to a single model.
• Bolt Cloud: hosting, databases, user authentication, serverless and edge functions, custom domains, and SEO tooling.
• Mobile via Expo: generates real React Native source code, publishable to the App Store and Google Play.
• Plan mode: think through the build before spending tokens on it.
• Design system support: named partners include Material UI, Chakra UI, shadcn/ui, the Porsche Design System, and the Washington Post Design System.
• AI image editing and built-in analytics on paid plans.

How It Works

1. Prompt: describe the app you want. For mobile, say so explicitly in the first prompt.
2. Environment boot: Bolt spins up a WebContainer in your browser — a real Node runtime, not a simulation.
3. Generation: the agent writes files, installs packages, and starts a dev server.
4. Live preview: the app runs in an adjacent pane, updating as the agent works.
5. Iteration: you refine in chat, or edit files and use the terminal directly.
6. Deploy: publish through Bolt Cloud or Netlify, or push to GitHub and take the code elsewhere.

Because everything is client-side, the loop between the agent changing a file and you seeing the result is unusually short.

Use Cases

Rapid Prototyping

• MVPs and demos: get a working, deployed app in front of someone the same day.
• Concept validation: build the thing before committing engineering time to it.

Full-Stack Applications

• SaaS scaffolding: auth, database, and payments wired up via Supabase and Stripe.
• Internal tools: dashboards and admin panels without a frontend hire.

Mobile Applications

• Cross-platform apps: real React Native output through Expo, not a wrapped web view.
• Subscription apps: RevenueCat integration for in-app purchases.

Design-to-Code

• Figma import: turn a design file into working components.
• Design system adherence: generate against an existing component library rather than inventing one.

Pricing & Access

Bolt bills by tokens consumed, not by seat — except for Teams, which is per member. Current published plans:

Bolt advertises "up to 28%" savings on yearly billing, but does not publish the resulting annual figures on the pricing page. Token consumption scales with app complexity: a multi-page build with a database and auth will consume substantially more than a landing page.

Note the free tier's daily cap. Once you hit 300K tokens in a day, AI interaction pauses until the next day unless you upgrade.

Getting Started

Step 1: Open Bolt

Go to bolt.new. No install, no signup needed to start a first prompt.

Step 2: Write the first prompt

Be specific about the framework, the data model, and the integrations you want. If you want a mobile app, say "mobile app" now — web projects do not convert to React Native later.

Step 3: Let it build

Bolt boots a WebContainer, writes files, installs dependencies, and starts a dev server. Watch the terminal pane; errors surface there first.

Step 4: Iterate

Refine in chat for structural changes. For small edits, open the file and change it directly — you have a real editor and a real terminal.

Step 5: Connect services

Wire up Supabase for database and auth, Stripe for payments, and GitHub for version control from the integrations panel.

Step 6: Deploy

Publish to Bolt Cloud or Netlify. For mobile, build with EAS — this step needs a local Node install, an Expo account, and Apple or Google developer accounts.

Best Practices

• Use Plan mode first on anything non-trivial. Planning costs far fewer tokens than a wrong build.
• Commit to GitHub early, so a bad iteration is recoverable.
• Watch the token counter. Long chat histories are re-sent as context and get expensive.
• Be explicit about the stack. Without direction the agent picks for you.

Limitations

• Mobile publishing is not fully in-browser. Bolt does not produce a signed iOS binary. EAS cannot run inside a WebContainer, so publishing requires local Node, Git, an Expo account, and platform developer accounts.
• Web projects cannot convert to mobile. The architecture differs, and the migration is not supported.
• The Expo slug is immutable after the first build.
• Token costs are hard to predict. Complex builds consume hundreds of thousands to millions of tokens, and the relationship between prompt and cost is not obvious in advance.
• Free support is Discord only. Email support requires a paid plan.
• Browser-bound. WebContainers need a modern browser, and heavy projects consume local memory.
• V1 agent retirement. Projects still on the V1 agent must switch to Bolt Agent by August 3, 2026. Switching manually clears chat history, though files and code are preserved.

Alternatives

• Lovable - Opinionated React and Supabase builder, less terminal, more guardrails
• v0 - Vercel's agentic builder, strongest if you are already on Next.js
• Base44 - Managed backend included; the trade-off is portability
• Replit Agent - Longer autonomous runs, self-testing loop
• Cursor - AI-native editor for people who want to write the code themselves

For a direct comparison, see Lovable vs Bolt.

Community & Support

• Help Center: support.bolt.new
• Discord: StackBlitz community server
• X: @boltdotnew
• GitHub: stackblitz/bolt.new, MIT licensed
• YouTube: @Boltdotnew
• Blog: bolt.new/blog
• Support email: support@bolt.new, paid plans only