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Lovable vs Base44 (2026): Pricing, Free Credits & Which to Pick

Both turn a text prompt into a working web app. Base44 (owned by Wix) is cheaper to start and bundles database, login and hosting; Lovable costs a little more but syncs real code to your own Git repo and lets unused credits roll over. Prices read on both official sites on 25 October 2026.

✓ Updated: November 2, 2026 · By Fırat Papatya

Offer today	Lovable	Base44
Kuponaut code	No Kuponaut code	No Kuponaut code

	Lovable	Base44
Entry paid price (monthly)	Pro from $25/month for 100 credits	Starter $20/month for 100 message credits
Entry paid price (yearly)	Pro from $250/year (about $20.83/month), “two months free”	Starter from $16/month billed yearly (20% off)
Free plan	Yes: 5 daily credits up to 30/month, plus 20 Cloud and 4 AI credits a month; lovable.app publishing	Yes: 25 message credits/month (max 5 a day), 100 integration credits, up to 5 apps
How credits work	One credit pool for building and chat; Plan mode costs 1 credit per message, Build mode varies (about 0.5 to 2 credits); Cloud and AI usage draw on monthly grants first, then general credits	Two pools: message credits for AI building (about 0.5 to 4 per change) and integration credits for runtime services like emails and LLM calls
Credit rollover	Yes on Pro and Business: unused monthly credits roll over and expire 2 months after issue (annual plans: 1 month after the year ends); top-ups last 12 months	No: unused credits expire at the monthly reset (one extra cycle only when upgrading between monthly plans)
Student / academic discount	50% off Pro 100 credits, monthly billing only, up to 12 months ($12.50/month)	50% off Starter or Builder, up to 12 months monthly or first year yearly (Starter about $10/month)
Refund policy	Non-refundable except where law requires; cancel keeps access to period end	Non-refundable; prorated refund only by exception for a wrong plan or billing cycle
Code export / GitHub	Git sync (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket) on all plans including Free; zip download and code editing on paid plans	In-app code edits from Starter; GitHub integration from Builder ($50/month)
Backend / database included	Yes: built-in backend with managed PostgreSQL, login and file storage; usage draws on Cloud credits	Yes: database, authentication and analytics included on all plans
Hosting & custom domain	Free publishing to lovable.app on all plans; custom domain from Pro	Hosting included; custom domain from Starter, free domain for 1 year on yearly plans
Owner	Independent; founded 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden, where it is headquartered (contracting entity: Lovable Labs Incorporated)	Wix
Best for	Builders who want real code in their own Git repo and credits that roll over	Non-coders who want an all-in-one app with backend, hosting and a cheaper entry plan

How to choose

Base44 is the cheaper way in ($20, or $16 a month yearly, against Lovable's $25) and bundles database, login, hosting and integrations for non-coders, while Lovable costs a little more but gives you Git sync on every plan, code download and credits that roll over. If you might ever want a developer to take over the project, choose Lovable; if you just want a working app at the lowest price, choose Base44. Neither has a public promo code, but students and teachers get 50% off with either.

Price: what you pay in month one and month twelve

On list prices Base44 is cheaper to start. Month one on Base44 Starter costs $20, against $25 for Lovable Pro, and both include 100 credits. Pay monthly for a full year and you spend $240 on Base44 Starter versus $300 on Lovable Pro. Pay yearly up front and the gap stays: Base44 Starter is $192 for the year ($16 a month), Lovable Pro is $250 ($20.83 a month). Both annual charges are non-refundable, so only lock in a year once you know you will keep building.

The headline numbers hide two differences. Lovable Pro adds 5 daily build credits with no monthly cap on top of the 100, so an active user can get noticeably more than 100 credits of building a month. Base44 Starter adds 2,000 integration credits for runtime features. At the next step up, Lovable sells larger Pro credit tiers (200 credits for $50) while Base44 moves you to Builder at $50 for 250 message credits and GitHub sync. Compare credit needs, not just entry prices.

How the credit systems differ

Lovable uses one general credit pool plus small usage-specific grants. Every workspace gets 5 daily build credits and a daily chat allowance, and monthly grants of 20 Cloud, 4 AI and 1 connector credits. Plan mode costs 1 credit per message; Build mode charges by complexity, with official examples from 0.50 to 2.00 credits. Grants are spent first, then the general credits that expire soonest. On Pro and Business, unused monthly credits roll over and expire two months after issue, and you can buy top-ups that last 12 months.

Base44 splits credits into two pools. Message credits pay for building with the AI, roughly 0.5 for a small edit up to 3 or 4 for an app-wide change, while integration credits pay for what your live app does, such as sending emails or calling an LLM. Unused credits expire at the monthly reset, and the official pages do not offer top-up packs. In practice Lovable is more forgiving if your usage is bursty, while Base44 is simpler to reason about if you build at a steady pace.

Which to pick (by use case)

Pick Lovable if you care about owning the code. Git sync to GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket works even on the Free plan, paid plans let you edit and download the project as a zip, and the built-in backend runs on PostgreSQL. That makes it easier to hand the project to a developer later or move it off the platform. Rollover credits and paid top-ups also suit people who build in bursts, such as a weekend sprint followed by a quiet fortnight.

Pick Base44 if you are a non-coder who wants a working app with database, login, hosting and integrations in one place for the lowest entry price. Starter at $20 a month, or $16 yearly, gets you a custom domain and in-app code edits, and the 50% academic discount covers both Starter and Builder. The catch is that GitHub sync starts at Builder ($50 a month) and credits do not roll over. For teams needing SSO and roles, compare Lovable Business against Base44 Enterprise.

Discounts and codes for each (honest)

Neither company publishes a public promo code on its official pages, as of 25 October 2026. Both checkouts accept codes: Lovable's billing docs say coupon codes are applied at checkout when you upgrade, and Base44's docs say promo codes go on the checkout page and cannot be stacked with the academic discount. Codes like these come from campaigns or partners and are not advertised. A '50% off' listed elsewhere may refer to the student discount, which works through school-email verification rather than a code. There is no Kuponaut code for either product.

The real savings are official and easy to check. Lovable gives verified students and teachers 50% off Pro with 100 credits for up to 12 months ($12.50 a month), monthly billing only, and annual billing gives two months free. Base44 gives students, teachers and staff 50% off Starter or Builder for up to 12 months, and annual billing saves 20% plus a free domain for a year. Both discounts must be claimed while on the free plan, and both are one-time per person or account.

What about Emergent?

Emergent is the third prompt-to-app builder people often put next to these two. Its pricing page (read 2 November 2026) lists a Free plan with 10 credits a month, Standard at $20 a month (shown with an "Annual" label) with 100 credits, web and mobile apps, private hosting and GitHub integration, and Pro at $200 a month with 750 credits, a 1M-token context window and custom AI agents.

So on the free tier Emergent gives the fewest credits of the three (10 a month, against Base44's 25 and Lovable's up to 30), and its entry paid plan sits at the same $20 as Base44 Starter. Credits are not the same unit across the three tools, so the fairest test is to build the same small app on each free plan and see how far the allowance goes. Kuponaut has no code or partner link for Emergent.

Frequently asked questions

Lovable vs Base44: which is better?

It depends on what you need. Lovable is better if you want to own and move your code: Git sync works on every plan, paid plans can download the code, and unused credits roll over. Base44 is better if you want the cheapest all-in-one app with database, login and hosting and do not plan to touch the code. Both have usable free plans, so try each with the same prompt before paying.

Which is cheaper, Lovable or Base44?

Base44 has the cheaper entry plan. Base44 Starter is $20 a month or $16 a month billed yearly; Lovable Pro starts at $25 a month or $250 a year (about $20.83 a month). Both include 100 credits, but Lovable Pro adds 5 daily build credits with no monthly cap and lets unused credits roll over, so heavy users may get more building per dollar on Lovable (prices read 25 Oct 2026).

Do Lovable and Base44 have student discounts?

Yes, both offer 50%. Lovable gives verified students and teachers 50% off Pro with 100 credits for up to 12 months, monthly billing only, so $12.50 a month. Base44 gives students, teachers and staff 50% off Starter or Builder for up to 12 months on monthly plans or the first year on yearly plans, so Starter is about $10 a month. Both require school-email verification while on the free plan.

Are there promo codes for Lovable or Base44?

No public ones. Both checkouts have a field for coupon or promo codes, but neither official site publishes a code as of 25 October 2026, and there is no Kuponaut code for either. The reliable savings are annual billing (two months free on Lovable, 20% off on Base44) and the 50% student and educator discounts, which use email verification, not a code.

Can I export my code from Lovable or Base44?

On Lovable, yes: GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket sync is available on all plans including Free, and paid plans can edit code and download the whole project as a zip. The database is separate from the code. On Base44, in-app code edits start at Starter ($20 a month) and GitHub integration starts at Builder ($50 a month); the free plan has neither.

Can I get a refund from Lovable or Base44?

Generally no. Lovable says subscription fees and credits are non-refundable except where the law requires; cancelling stops future charges, you keep access until the period ends, and leftover plan credits are frozen on Free. Base44's Terms also say fees are non-refundable, with one exception: if you picked the wrong plan or billing cycle and contact support promptly, an approved prorated refund minus fees is possible.

Lovable vs Base44 vs Emergent: which is cheapest to start?

On free plans, Lovable gives up to 30 credits a month (5 a day), Base44 25 message credits (max 5 a day) and Emergent 10 credits. The entry paid plans are Base44 Starter $20 a month ($16 yearly), Emergent Standard $20 a month and Lovable Pro $25 a month (prices read 25 October and 2 November 2026). Credits are not directly comparable between the tools.

Current deals

Lovable offer → Base44 offer →

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