Free stack vs SaaS stack
Last checked Oct 2026In short: Our free stack and our SaaS stack share the same backend, email, analytics and hosting. The free stack uses Bolt.new and Google AI Studio to stay at $0; the SaaS stack adds Stripe for payments and uses Lovable. Prices from official pricing pages, checked Oct 21, 2026.
The two stacks
| Layer | Free stack | SaaS stack |
|---|---|---|
| Builder | Bolt.new: Free; Pro $18/mo billed annually source ↗ | Lovable: Free plan (5 daily credits); Pro from $25/mo (100 credits) or $250/yr source ↗ |
| Backend + auth | Supabase: Free; Pro from $25/mo source ↗ | Same in both |
| Payments | None | Stripe: No monthly fee; 2.9% + 30¢ per domestic card transaction source ↗ |
| Resend: Free (3,000 emails/mo, 100/day); Pro $20/mo for 50,000 source ↗ | Same in both | |
| Analytics | PostHog: Free every month (1M analytics events, 5K recordings); then pay-as-you-go source ↗ | Same in both |
| LLM API | Google AI Studio: Free tier; paid Gemini API is pay-as-you-go source ↗ | Not included |
| Hosting | Vercel: Hobby free; Pro $20/mo source ↗ | Same in both |
What you pay when you outgrow free
| Layer | Free stack | SaaS stack |
|---|---|---|
| Builder paid plan | $18/mo billed annually (Bolt.new Pro) | $25/mo (Lovable Pro) |
| Email over 3,000/mo | $20/mo (Resend Pro) | $20/mo (Resend Pro) |
| Database | $25/mo (Supabase Pro) | $25/mo (Supabase Pro) |
| Payments | n/a | 2.9% + 30¢ per domestic card sale |
Upgrade only the layer you outgrow. For user-based estimates, see What will my stack actually cost?