In this guide
Lovable's pricing looks simple at first glance — Free, Pro, Business — but the credit system underneath determines your real monthly cost far more than the plan name does. This guide breaks down exactly what each plan includes, how credits are actually consumed, and the specific habits that keep your bill predictable.
The plans, in plain terms
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | Up to 30 build credits/month (5/day), monthly cloud credits, 5 hosted projects |
| Pro | $25/mo | 100 monthly credits + up to 5 daily bonus, add-on credits available, custom domains |
| Business | $50/mo | Everything in Pro, plus SSO and opt-out of model training on your data |
Pricing as of July 2026 (monthly billing shown; annual billing is cheaper). Verify current numbers on Lovable's pricing page.
How credits are actually consumed
Not all prompts cost the same. Simple planning conversations that don't touch code cost close to nothing, minor visual tweaks made through chat cost a small fraction of a credit, and complex functional requests (like adding full authentication) can cost 1.5 credits or more per message. This is the single biggest source of 'why did my credits run out so fast' confusion.
Tip
Visual Edits — direct on-page changes to layout, colour, and copy — do not consume build credits at all. Use them instead of chat prompts for anything purely visual.
How to keep your bill predictable
- Use Visual Edits for all appearance changes — they're free and don't touch your credit pool.
- Write specific, scoped prompts rather than broad ones; vague requests cost more because the AI has to make more decisions per message.
- Batch small related changes into one message rather than sending them one at a time.
- Check your credit usage regularly during the first month on Pro to calibrate what your specific workflow actually costs.
Which plan should you pick?
Free is genuinely enough to build and test a small first project — see our getting started with Lovable guide for exactly how far it stretches. Move to Pro once you're doing sustained, ongoing development rather than a single prototype; Business only matters once you need SSO or data-training opt-out for compliance reasons.
Key takeaways
- Lovable's real cost depends far more on the credit system than the plan name — simple requests cost little, complex functional ones cost more.
- Visual Edits are free and don't consume build credits — use them for all appearance changes.
- A separate usage layer bills for your deployed app's Cloud/AI consumption once it has real traffic — this is on top of the subscription.
- Free is enough for a first small project; upgrade to Pro once you're doing sustained development.
Frequently asked questions
Complex functional requests (like adding authentication) cost more credits than simple visual tweaks or planning messages. Using Visual Edits for appearance changes instead of chat prompts is the single biggest way to reduce credit consumption.