Quick answer
Bolt or Cursor? Choose Cursor if you want developers — and Lovable/Bolt users after export. Choose Bolt if you want developers who want AI speed but will edit the code. In our hands-on testing Cursor scored 8.5/10 vs 8.1/10 — full breakdown below.
At a glance
| Bolt | Cursor | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Developers who want AI speed but will edit the code | Developers — and Lovable/Bolt users after export |
| Price from | $20/mo | $20/mo |
| Our score | 8.1 | 8.5 |
| Generates | Any JS framework (Vite-based) | Anything — it's an editor |
| Code ownership | Full — lives in the editor | Yours by definition |
| Deploy | Netlify integration | Bring your own (Vercel etc.) |
Where each one wins
Bolt strengths
- Full code visibility in the browser
- Stronger on custom logic than Lovable
- WebContainers — instant environment
Cursor strengths
- Best agentic coding on real codebases
- Works with any stack
- The natural export path from app builders
Bolt weaknesses
- Slower to first working app
- UI output needs manual polish
- Token burn on large projects
Cursor weaknesses
- You must read code — not for non-devs
- No hosting/deploy of its own
- Usage limits on heavy agent work
Pricing side by side
| Plan | Bolt | Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 — Token allowance resets daily | $0 — Limited completions |
| Pro | $20/mo — More tokens; usage-based beyond | $20/mo — Frontier-model usage limits apply |
Our verdict
Cursor (8.5/10): Not an app builder — the tool you graduate to when prompting stops being enough.
Bolt (8.1/10): The right pick when a project will outgrow prompting — you're already in the code.
Try Cursor free → See all AI App Builders ranked Disclosure: if you buy through our links we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. We buy and test every tool ourselves.