The short answer
Bolt.new, usually called Bolt, is StackBlitz's in-browser AI builder for websites, web apps, mobile apps and slides. You describe what you want, Bolt writes and runs the code in the browser, and Bolt Cloud hosts it with a PostgreSQL database and domains. The free plan includes 1 million tokens a month with a 300,000 daily cap and only the Standard agent. Model training is on by default except for accounts in the EU, UK and Switzerland.
| Made by | StackBlitz, United States |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, 1M tokens a month, 300K a day, Standard agent, Bolt branding |
| Models | Standard and Max agents (Bolt picks the models), plus Bolt Forge with open-source models |
| Best at | Fast full-stack prototypes, web apps with a database, mobile apps through Expo |
| Shows sources | No, it is an app builder rather than a research tool |
| Team plans | Teams with SSO and admin controls, Enterprise with audit logs |
| Your data | Model training is on by default outside the EU, UK and Switzerland. Switch it off under Settings, General, Model training. |
What Bolt is in late 2026
Bolt is StackBlitz's AI builder, and its trick is that everything runs in your browser. You describe an app, Bolt writes the code, runs it in a live preview, and when you click Publish it hosts the result on a free bolt.host subdomain. Bolt Cloud is the built-in set of infrastructure behind that: hosting, databases and domains, managed from inside your project without signing up for anything else. Bolt Database runs on PostgreSQL with built-in authentication and real-time updates, and Bolt creates one automatically when a project needs it.
Bolt does not ask you to pick a model. You pick an agent. Standard is "balanced for everyday building" and is the only agent on the free plan. Max offers maximum reasoning for large apps, refactoring and open-ended tasks, and needs a paid plan. Bolt says it handles model selection behind the scenes, so it does not publish which models sit under each agent. The third agent, Bolt Forge, runs open-source models (GLM 5.3, GLM 5.3 Flash, Kimi K3 and DeepSeek v4 Pro). It ran as a research preview from 14 September to 14 October 2026, and after that individual Pro subscribers lost access, while people already subscribed to the separate Bolt Lite plan on 14 October kept it. Forge is not available on Teams or Enterprise.
Bolt also moved into big companies this year. On 5 May 2026, StackBlitz announced a partnership with Microsoft: teams can deploy Bolt-built apps to Azure, buy Bolt through Microsoft Marketplace under existing Microsoft agreements, and use Bolt inside Microsoft 365 and Microsoft 365 Copilot, for example by sending a summary of a Teams discussion to Bolt as a prompt.
Where Bolt is genuinely strong
Speed from idea to running app
Because the code runs instantly in the browser, you see a working version within minutes. That makes Bolt a good tool for testing an idea with real users before anyone writes a proper spec, for example a pricing calculator, a waitlist page with a database behind it or a simple client portal.
Editing without spending tokens
The Select tool, added in early September 2026, lets you change text, colours and styles directly in the preview, and Bolt only uses tokens when you save the batch of changes. Since October you can pin comments to spots in the preview and send them to Bolt as prompts, which is a clear way to give feedback.
Working while Bolt works
You can queue up to 20 prompts while Bolt is building, each keeping its chosen agent, and edit, reorder, pause or delete them. Voice dictation in several languages arrived in August 2026, and from October you can preview, manage, publish and restore projects from your phone.
Beyond websites
Connect a project to Expo to turn it into an iOS or Android app. Bolt Slides got visual editing, speaker notes, speaker view and PDF export in September 2026, so you can build a pitch deck next to the product it describes.
Where it falls short
- Tokens disappear on big projects. Bolt spends tokens on your prompts, on reading project files and on its replies. As a project grows, each request reads more, so a long debugging session can eat a large part of a month's allowance.
- The free plan is limited. Free gets the Standard agent only, Bolt branding on your site, no custom domain and no connectors or MCPs, and free sites go offline if they hit the monthly bandwidth limit.
- You cannot choose the model. For Standard and Max, Bolt decides. That is simpler, but it means you cannot switch to a model you know works better for your task.
- Training is on by default. Most accounts outside Europe share their projects for training unless they switch it off. See the privacy section below.
How to get much better results from Bolt
- Write the first prompt like a brief. Say who the app is for, the three things it must do and what data it stores. The first prompt shapes the whole project.
- Use Standard for most work. Switch to Max only for large features, refactoring or problems Standard keeps getting wrong, because Max is built for heavier reasoning.
- Make small visual changes with Select. Do not spend a prompt on a colour or a heading. Use the Select tool and save once.
- Back up to GitHub. Bolt integrates with GitHub for backups and collaboration, which gives you a safe copy before big changes.
- Check database permissions. Since late October 2026, new Bolt Database tables are private by default, so your app needs explicit permissions to read or write. If a feature suddenly shows no data, ask Bolt to check the table permissions first.
Our Bolt lessons walk through a first project, and the stacks page shows where Bolt fits next to writing and research tools.
Privacy settings to check today
Bolt added a Model training setting in late September 2026. Open Settings from your avatar in the left sidebar and look on the General page. It controls whether Bolt can use your projects and chats to train AI models. It is on by default, except for accounts based in the EU, UK or Switzerland, where it is off. It covers content created on or after 7 October 2026, plus older content you send to Bolt's AI features after that date. Bolt Forge is different: you must agree that your de-identified prompts, code and files are shared with partners to train open-source models, although sessions from the EEA, UK and Switzerland are excluded. If you are building with company data, switch training off before you start and avoid Forge.
Which Bolt plan suits whom
Free suits anyone who wants to try an idea or build a small personal site. Pro suits regular individual builders: from 10 million tokens a month with rollover and no daily limit, the newest models, connectors and MCPs, and your own domain without Bolt branding. Teams adds per-member tokens, centralised billing, SSO, user provisioning, team templates, private NPM registries and design system knowledge, but not audit logs. Enterprise adds audit logs, dedicated infrastructure and data retention policies. From 1 November 2026, plan billing runs through Link, a Stripe payment service, and can show your local currency. Check Bolt's pricing page for current prices.
Bolt is not ideal if you want to control exactly which AI model writes your code or if you expect very large projects on a small token budget. For a side-by-side view, read v0 vs Bolt and Bolt vs Lovable.
Prompts to copy
First prompt as a brief
Build a web app for [audience] that lets them [main job]. It must do three things: [1], [2], [3]. It stores [data] and only signed-in users can see their own records. Keep the design simple and mobile-friendly. Before building, list the pages you plan to create.
You get: A clear first build and a page list to check
Waitlist with a database
Create a landing page for [product] with a waitlist form that saves name, email and [one question] to the database. Show a thank-you message after sign-up, block duplicate emails, and add a password-protected admin page that lists sign-ups and exports them as CSV.
You get: A live waitlist you can publish today
Debug without burning tokens
The [feature] stopped working after the last change. Do not rewrite anything yet. Look only at the files involved in [feature], tell me the most likely cause in two sentences, and propose the smallest fix.
You get: A focused diagnosis that reads fewer files
Turn it into a mobile app
Using Expo, turn this project into a mobile app for iOS and Android. Keep the same features, adapt the layout for small screens and tell me what I need to do to test it on my phone.
You get: A mobile version and testing steps
Pitch deck from the product
Create a Bolt Slides deck of eight slides that explains this app to [audience]: the problem, who it is for, how it works with screenshots of the main screens, and one slide on next steps. Add short speaker notes to each slide.
You get: A deck that matches what you built
Permissions check
Review the database tables in this project. For each table, tell me who can read and write it now, whether that is right for an app where [rule], and fix anything that lets users see other users' data.
You get: A safer database before you share the app