Bolt.new vs Softr

Bolt.new is an AI app builder from StackBlitz, the San Francisco company founded in 2017 whose WebContainers technology runs Node.js entirely inside the browser. Bolt launched in October 2024, grew to an estimated $40 million in annual recurring revenue within months, and in January 2025 StackBlitz raised a $105.5 million Series B led by Emergence Capital and GV. Its core job: you describe an app, website or prototype in chat, and Bolt writes the code, runs it live in the browser and deploys it.

Bolt Cloud adds hosting, unlimited databases, authentication, custom domains and analytics, so small apps can ship without leaving the product. You can start from Figma, a GitHub repo or a template, connect Stripe for payments, and build mobile apps through Expo. Pricing is token-based: the free plan gives 1 million tokens a month with a 300,000 daily cap, Pro gives 10 million tokens with rollover and removes Bolt branding, Teams adds admin controls and shared capacity, and Enterprise is billed by consumption.

Bolt fits founders, designers and developers who want a working prototype or MVP in hours with real, exportable code. It is weaker on large, long-lived codebases: token usage grows with project size, and debugging loops can burn through allowances. Lovable and Replit target the same audience, Bubble and FlutterFlow are visual builders with their own runtime, and Softr fits simple internal tools.

Buying tip: start on the free plan to judge how fast your project consumes tokens; heavy users should take Pro annual, where unused tokens roll over.

Softr is a no-code platform from a Berlin-based company for building client portals, internal tools and simple business apps on top of data a team already has. It connects to Airtable, Google Sheets, HubSpot, Notion, Supabase, SQL databases and its own built-in tables, then lets non-technical users assemble an interface with pre-built blocks and publish it with logins and permissions in hours instead of weeks.

Blocks cover lists, tables, detail pages, forms, charts, kanban boards, calendars and maps, with actions to create, edit and delete records. User groups and conditional visibility make sure each customer, vendor or employee sees only their own data, and a Stripe integration supports paid memberships. Custom domains, custom code, workflows and white-labeling arrive on higher tiers. A free plan covers up to three builders and five app users; paid plans scale by builders, team users and client users, with SSO on Enterprise. Recent releases added Softr's own database and an AI builder that drafts an app from a prompt.

Softr fits operations teams, agencies and small businesses that want a portal or simple internal tool on top of spreadsheet-style data without hiring developers. It is limited for complex logic, heavy custom UI or high data volumes, and app performance depends on the connected data source. Glide is the closest alternative with a mobile-first feel, Noloco competes on portals, Bubble handles fully custom web apps, and Retool is better for internal tools over production databases.