There is no best AI app builder for people who don’t code, because the ten tools people mean are two different kinds of thing. Five are builders in a browser: Lovable, Base44, Bolt, v0 and Replit build the app from a prompt, host it for you, and keep your code and data on their side, with a free plan on each. The other five are agents that write files on your own computer: Cursor, Devin Desktop (the editor formerly called Windsurf), Google’s Antigravity, Claude Code and Codex. Those host nothing, include no database or login, and put no ceiling on what can be changed. Pick the kind first, then the tool.
The two kinds, and why the split matters
A browser builder gives you a working app on day one with almost no decisions: hosting is on, the address is live, and in most of them a database and a login appear because you asked. The price is that the app lives inside the builder: the code copy is on every plan in some and a paid plan in others, and the data and user accounts stay in the builder’s backend unless you set up your own. Usage is metered in credits or tokens, and every one of them will loop on a bug it does not understand while the meter runs.
An agent tool starts from an empty folder. You describe what you want, it creates and edits the files, runs them, and shows you the result. Nothing is hosted, so putting the app on the internet is a separate step, and so are a database and a login. What you get back is the right to change anything. Cursor, Devin Desktop and Antigravity are code editors with the agent inside, so you watch the files change. Claude Code and Codex are the agent alone, in a desktop app, a terminal or a browser. All five take the same plain-language instructions.
Every builder, one row each
Every cell comes from the maker’s own pages today; where they do not say, the cell says so.
| Tool | Where the code lives | Hosting | Database and login | How usage is metered | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lovable | In Lovable, with a two-way GitHub copy on every plan | Built in; free lovable.app address; custom domain on paid plans | Built in (Lovable Cloud), or your own Supabase | One credit balance for building, hosting and AI; paid credits roll over | Yes |
| Base44 (Wix) | Inside Base44; ZIP or GitHub export on a paid plan | Built in; base44.app address; custom domain | Built in | Two kinds of credit, for building and for what the live app does; unused ones expire | Yes |
| Bolt (StackBlitz) | In Bolt; zip download or two-way GitHub sync | Built in; free bolt.host address; custom domain on paid plans | Built in (Bolt Cloud), or Supabase chosen at setup | Tokens; a daily and a monthly free allowance; paid tokens carry over for a while | Yes |
| v0 (Vercel) | In v0; pushed to a GitHub branch | Vercel, one click; vercel.app address or custom domain | Databases connected from a marketplace, not built in; login not stated | Credits, plus a daily message cap on the free plan | Yes |
| Replit | In Replit; zip download or GitHub sync | Built in; replit.app address; one published app on the free plan, expiring after 30 days | A database with every app; a production one is billed by use once published; login through Replit Auth | Daily agent credits on the free plan; five-hour and weekly allowances on paid plans | Yes |
| Cursor (Anysphere) | On your computer, in a code editor | None built in | None built in | Included usage per plan, then on-demand at the model’s rate | Yes, limited |
| Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf (Cognition) | On your computer, in a code editor | None built in | None built in | Prompt-based credits | Sign-up is free; allowance not stated |
| Antigravity (Google) | On your computer, in folders you allow | None built in | None built in | Weekly rate limit on the free plan; five-hour refresh on Google AI paid plans | Yes |
| Claude Code (Anthropic) | On your computer, or online in the web version | None built in | None built in | Time-window limits shared with the Claude chat app | No; needs a paid Claude plan |
| Codex (OpenAI) | On your computer, or online in the cloud version | None built in | None built in | Messages per five-hour window plus weekly limits, shared with ChatGPT | Yes, in ChatGPT Free |
Two rows deserve a note. Devin Desktop is the editor called Windsurf until June 2026; Cognition renamed it and says plans and pricing did not change. Antigravity is only for personal Google accounts in the countries Google lists, and its free plan meters by the week.
How to decide, by situation
- You want the fewest decisions and will never move the app. Base44. The whole app, data and logins included, lives in one place.
- You want a browser builder with the code in your hands. Lovable or Bolt; Bolt vs Lovable has the detail, and Lovable vs Base44 covers the other pair. v0 if you already like Vercel; Replit for hosting and a database with the files in view.
- The change is under the hood, or you want to own everything. Any of the five agent tools: an editor if you want to watch the files, Claude Code or Codex if you want a conversation and a folder.
- You want to start without a card. Every browser builder, Codex, Antigravity, and Cursor’s limited plan. Claude Code needs a paid plan.
- You are burning credits on one bug. No tool cures that by itself; the loop ends when the builder has to show its plan before it edits, whichever tool you use.
What the table cannot tell you
The models under all ten change every few weeks, so any ranking by quality describes last month. The meters change too; check the maker’s pricing page before you rely on a number. What does not change is the split: a browser builder trades control for a live app today, and an agent tool trades that convenience for files you own. If you left Lovable, the Lovable-only version is Lovable alternatives.
You can learn more, and get the full prompts and the decision tables, in our course, starting from You’ve Outgrown Lovable. The first lesson is free, no card.
In the next ten minutes, write down the one thing your current tool will not do. If it is about how a screen looks, stay in the browser half of the table. If it is about what happens underneath, or who owns the result, install one tool from the other half and try that change in an empty folder first.