Restart vs Lovable
Lovable is the best-known AI app builder: you chat, it builds websites and web apps, and Lovable Cloud gives them a database, authentication and storage. It is a strong choice when the software is the whole job. Restart starts with the software and keeps going into the company around it.
Lovable’s facts are from lovable.dev as read on September 7, 2026; “not stated” means their page does not say. Restart’s facts are from restart.new/pricing and the docs.
Side by side
| Lovable | Restart | |
|---|---|---|
| Calls itself | "An AI software engineer, which enables anyone to build for the web." | The AI company builder. |
| Free plan | 5 build credits a day (up to 30 a month) plus 20 Cloud credits a month; hosting on lovable.app covered by the Cloud grant. | Free plan: 5 build credits a day plus 10 at sign-up, up to 3 companies, no card. Publishing to a live URL starts on Pro. |
| Paid plans | Pro $25 a month and Business $50, each with 100 monthly credits; larger credit tiers in-app; yearly is "2 months free". Top-ups $15 per 50 credits on Pro. | Pro $99 a month (250 credits), Autonomous from $399 (1,000 credits); $75 and $300 billed yearly; a Custom plan arranged on a call. 1 credit = $1; top-ups $1 each, never expire. |
| What it builds | Websites and web apps. | A working web product with real pages, flows, copy and design; live preview while it builds; published to a Restart subdomain. |
| Backend, accounts, payments | Lovable Cloud: database, storage, authentication, realtime and functions. Stripe via prompts. | The first build uses sample data: no customer accounts or live backend yet. A Stripe payment link can be added once you connect Stripe. |
| Custom domain | On paid plans. | Custom domains are not available yet; published sites live on a Restart subdomain. |
| Code export | GitHub sync on all plans including Free; code download on Pro and above. "You own your code." | Code export is not available yet; files are browsable in the app. You own everything you create. |
| Beyond the build | Not claimed. Lovable stops at the software. | Yes: positioning brief, launch pages, pricing pages, a company inbox with its own address, daily tasks, research with sources, dashboards, automations and Meta ads on paid plans. |
| Who it is for | "Anyone" who wants to build for the web; plans aimed at fast-moving teams and departments. | Founders starting from an idea, especially people who are not engineers. |
Choose Lovable if
- You need a real backend, user accounts or payments inside the product from the first build
- You want the code in GitHub from day one
- You are a team building internal tools or prototypes rather than a company
Choose Restart if
- You are starting a company, not only an app, and want the positioning, launch pages, pricing and inbox to arrive with the product
- You want the sharper first version: Restart asks the questions that change the build before it builds
- You want the operating side handled in the same place: daily tasks, research, dashboards, automations
What Restart does, in one paragraph
You describe a company idea in plain language. Restart asks the one or two questions that change the build, then the Builder creates a working web product with a live preview and publishes it to a real URL when you say so. Yes: positioning brief, launch pages, pricing pages, a company inbox with its own address, daily tasks, research with sources, dashboards, automations and Meta ads on paid plans. Code export is not available yet; files are browsable in the app. You own everything you create.
Restart vs Lovable: questions
Is Restart a Lovable alternative?
For a founder starting a company, yes: both build a working web product from plain language, and Restart adds the company around it. For a developer who needs a backend and GitHub from the first build, Lovable is the more complete app builder today.
Which is cheaper, Lovable or Restart?
Both have a free plan with 5 build credits a day. Lovable Pro is $25 a month for 100 credits; Restart Pro is $20 a month for 100 credits, and Restart credits are one dollar each with top-ups that never expire. Prices checked September 7, 2026.
Can I move a Lovable project to Restart?
Not by importing code; Restart builds from a description, not from a repository. Describe what the product does and Restart builds its own version, then keeps going into the company.