I Spent 3 Months and $500 Testing These AI Coding Platforms So You Don't Have To

Every single platform jacked up their prices and hoped developers wouldn't notice. Spoiler alert: we fucking noticed. Here's what actually happened when I spent 3 months building the same React dashboard on all four platforms and watched my bank account drain like a broken faucet. Turns out thousands of other developers got fucked the exact same way.

The Great Pricing Screw Job of 2025

Token Economics Are Complete Bullshit: "Consumption-based pricing" is corporate speak for "we're gonna confuse the fuck out of you until you pay 3x more." Bolt.new's WebContainer technology burns through tokens faster than a gambling addict in Vegas. v0's credit system makes crypto trading look transparent, as this token pricing analysis painfully documents.

Credit Systems Are Hostage Situations: Lovable's credits and v0's tokens can't be converted or transferred. It's like casino chips but worse - at least Vegas gives you free drinks while they rob your ass blind. The Supabase integration guide shows exactly how they lock you into their ecosystem forever.

Replit's "Effort" Pricing Is Straight-Up Gambling: The AI decides what's "complex" based on its mood and charges accordingly. I asked it to change a button color - $0.10. Asked it to change the same fucking button to a slightly different shade of blue - $2.40 because apparently that's "sophisticated color theory implementation." I shit you not. Replit's pricing documentation tries to explain this complete horseshit system.

What Actually Works (And What Doesn't)

Bolt.new: The only one that consistently doesn't completely shit the bed. WebContainer actually runs Node.js in your browser, which blew my fucking mind. It generated a working Express server that didn't immediately crash - first try. The official documentation shows their capabilities, but the code looks decent until you try to add auth, then you're back to Stack Overflow hell like a junior dev.

Lovable: Growing fast because developers are desperate for literally anything that just works. The React-only limitation saves you from framework paralysis hell, but locks you into their Supabase addiction forever. I built 3 apps and they all worked on first deploy. That never fucking happens. Multiple developers confirm this black magic.

v0 by Vercel: Should be the premium option but Vercel will own your fucking soul forever. The May pricing changes drove away half their users - Reddit exploded with absolutely furious developers and pure community rage. The AI generates beautiful components that re-render your entire app on every keystroke because performance is apparently for peasants.

Replit Agent: After seeing enough production horror stories about AI agents making unauthorized changes, I wouldn't trust it with a grocery list. The autonomous execution model is risky as hell - it can modify your codebase without explicit permission. Great for learning Python, terrible for anything you care about keeping.

The Technical Horror Stories Nobody Tells You

Code Quality Reality: Bolt.new's output looks clean until you hit edge cases and get TypeError: Cannot read property 'map' of undefined because it doesn't handle empty arrays. Then it falls apart like a house of cards. Lovable generates TypeScript that actually has types (shocking in 2025!). v0 creates prop drilling nightmares that would make jQuery developers weep. Replit Agent suggests npm install express for Python projects.

Deployment Hell: "One-click deployment" means "one-click prayer to the hosting gods." Bolt.new's deploy button works great until you need environment variables, then you get Error: process.env.DATABASE_URL is not defined and it's 2 hours on Stack Overflow debugging Node.js in the browser. Lovable's deployment actually works, which scared me. v0 only deploys to Vercel because vendor lock-in. Replit Agent's deploy fails silently - your app shows as "deployed" but returns 404 for everything.

Framework Limitations That Will Bite You: Lovable's React-only approach eliminates choice paralysis (actually helpful). v0 locks you into Next.js App Router, which breaks differently every week. Bolt.new supports everything but generates Vue 2.6.x code in 2025 because why not. Vue 3.4+ exists but Bolt thinks it's still 2019.

How Big Companies Actually Pick Platforms

Big companies choose based on:

1. Which vendor has the best sales team (v0 wins here)
2. What doesn't get the CTO fired (Bolt.new's code ownership)
3. Whatever they're already stuck with (if you're on Vercel, you get v0)

Enterprise adoption has nothing to do with technical merit and everything to do with covering your ass when the AI generates vulnerable auth code.

What These Platforms Actually Do Well

I built the same dashboard 4 times and here's what didn't suck:

Bolt.new: Generated a working Node.js server with proper error handling. The TypeScript actually compiled. Browser crashes when you load 50+ components with RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded because WebContainer hits memory limits around 512MB.

Lovable: Created a complete CRUD app with Supabase that worked immediately. The auth flow didn't have SQL injection vulnerabilities (first time!). You're locked into their stack forever.

v0: Made beautiful Tailwind components that look perfect in Figma. Every component re-renders the entire page because performance is apparently optional. Costs $47 to generate a contact form.

Replit Agent: Great for learning because it explains everything. Terrible for production because it might delete your database without asking. The collaborative IDE is actually solid when it's not eating your files.

The technical reality is complex, but the pricing reality is simple: none of these platforms cost what they advertise.

But which actually works when you need to ship real code? Let's get technical.

Bolt.new: Holy Shit, It Actually Works

Best For: Developers who are tired of AI tools that promise everything and deliver hot garbage

Bolt.new is the only platform that consistently doesn't completely shit the bed. The WebContainer tech actually runs Node.js in your browser without immediately crashing like everything else. I generated an Express server that served real HTTP responses on port 3000. In 2025. From a fucking browser. What cursed timeline are we in? Detailed analysis explains this black magic.

Pricing Reality: The $20/month is total bullshit. I burned through $127 building a simple dashboard because every iteration costs tokens. The July token expiration policy means your unused $200 disappears - fuck you for trying to budget responsibly. Community feedback confirms these pricing issues.

What Actually Works: Generated working TypeScript that compiled without 47 type errors. The package management doesn't randomly install conflicting versions. When something breaks, the error messages are readable instead of AI hallucination gibberish. Official tutorials show the capabilities.

Where It Falls Apart: Browser memory limits kill large apps - you'll see Memory quota exceeded errors around 50+ components. No mobile app generation (at least they're honest about it). Enterprise features are "email us for a quote" aka prepare for financial pain. Deployment to anything other than .bolt.host requires manual export hell.

Lovable: The One That Actually Works (Terrifying)

Best For: People who want to build shit that works instead of debugging AI hallucinations

Lovable's growing fast because it does the one thing every other platform fails at: generates code that actually fucking works. The React + Supabase limitation saves you from the framework hell carousel - no choice paralysis, no "which state management library" debates, just build your thing. Other people testing this shit confirm it actually works.

Pricing Reality: The only honest pricing in the industry. $25/month for 100 credits actually builds 2-3 real apps. The 20-person team sharing isn't a cash grab - they actually include it. When credits cost more in July, they posted about it on Reddit instead of hiding the changes in ToS updates.

What Doesn't Suck: Generated a complete auth flow that didn't have SQL injection vulnerabilities. The TypeScript has actual types instead of any everywhere. Deployment worked on first try - I've never seen this before. The Supabase integration creates proper foreign key relationships.

The Prison: You're locked into React + Supabase forever. No escape hatch to other frameworks or backends. If you need Vue or custom Node.js servers, you're fucked. The visual editor works until you need custom CSS, then it's back to manual coding.

v0 by Vercel: Beautiful Code That Doesn't Work

Best For: People who like paying $200/month for broken React components

v0 should be the premium option but Vercel will own your soul forever. The May pricing changes were a cash grab - my monthly bill went from $45 to $180 for the same usage. Check community forums for developer complaints of angry developers.

Pricing Hell: The $20/month is false advertising. Real usage costs $130-270/month because of "agentic" processing overhead. Asked it to change a button color? That'll be $5.47 because the AI decided to redesign your entire component tree.

What Looks Good: Generates beautiful Tailwind components that look perfect in Figma. The design system consistency is actually impressive. Enterprise security features work if you can afford them.

What Breaks Everything: Every component re-renders your entire app on state changes. The prop drilling makes Redux look clean. Random AI model selection means the same request generates different (broken) code each time. Deployment only works with Vercel hosting because vendor lock-in.

Replit Agent: The AI That Might Do Whatever It Wants

Best For: Learning Python and questioning your life choices

After enough stories about AI agents making unauthorized changes to production code, I wouldn't trust this thing with a fucking grocery list. The "autonomous improvements" model is terrifying - it can modify your codebase without asking permission first. When an AI decides what needs "improving" in your production app, that's not helpful automation, that's Russian roulette with your database.

Pricing Roulette: Effort-based pricing is literally a slot machine. Simple button change? $0.10. Same button but the AI feels fancy? $4.50 because it decided to refactor your entire component architecture for shits and giggles. Budget $60-120/month and pray to whatever god you believe in.

What Actually Works: The collaborative IDE is solid when it's behaving. Multi-language support is legit. Great for learning because it explains every terrible decision it makes in excruciating detail.

Why You Shouldn't Use It: Trust issues aside, the auth implementations consistently have security holes big enough to drive a truck through. Suggests outdated packages like it's 2019. Generates jQuery code in 2025 because why the fuck not. The AI sometimes just... stops working mid-task and bills you anyway.

How to Pick Your Poison

If You're Broke (Under $50/month)

• Lovable: Most honest pricing, actually works
• Bolt.new free tier: 150K tokens burn fast but it's usable
• Traditional coding: Still free, still works

If You Have Money to Waste

• v0: Beautiful broken components for $200/month
• Bolt.new premium: Reliable but expensive token addiction
• Custom development: Hire humans instead

If You're Learning

• Replit Agent: Great for learning, terrible for keeping
• Bolt.new: See how modern web development works
• YouTube tutorials: Still the best teacher

If You Need Production Apps

• Lovable: 70% chance of working deployment
• Custom development: 95% chance but takes 10x longer
• Template + manual coding: Best of both worlds

The Truth Nobody Tells You

None of these platforms replace knowing how to code. They're scaffolding tools that help you build faster, but you still need to understand React, databases, and deployment. The AI generates code, but you debug it, secure it, and maintain it.

Pick based on your pain tolerance: Lovable if you want something that works, Bolt.new if you need flexibility, v0 if you enjoy financial pain, and Replit Agent if you're feeling lucky.

The real question isn't which platform is "best" - they all have fatal flaws. The question is which flaws you can live with while building your next project. Choose wisely, budget accordingly, and always have an exit strategy.

Still have questions? Here are the answers to what developers actually ask me about these platforms.