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Bolt.new vs Dyad

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors.

The short answer

Cheaper paid plan
Dyad — $20/mo vs $25/mo for Bolt.new
Free plan
Both have one
Best fit
Bolt.new: Founders and designers who want a clickable prototype or landing page the same afternoon · Dyad: Hobbyists and students who want a free app builder with their own API keys
Platforms
Bolt.new: Web · Dyad: macOS, Windows
Trust score
About even — Bolt.new 85, Dyad 81

From our own records as of each tool's last check. Anything we have not confirmed is left out rather than guessed. How we verify

Bolt.newIn-browser agent that builds and runs web appsDyadFree open-source desktop app that builds web apps from prompts on your machine using your own AI keys or local models.

Side by side

FactBolt.newDyad
CategoryVibe Coding & App GeneratorsVibe Coding & App Generators
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at$25/mo$20/mo
Trust score85 / 10081 / 100
PlatformsWebmacOS, Windows
CompanyStackBlitz, Inc.Dyad
Launched—2025
Last verifiedSep 6, 2026Oct 2, 2026

What our research says

Bolt.new

Bolt is the quickest way to get from a sentence to a running web app you can click, and Bolt Cloud now removes the usual 'where does this deploy' problem for small projects. Treat the token meter as the real price: a complex app burns through the entry allowance fast, and the free tier is for trying the product, not shipping from it.

Pros

  • Whole toolchain runs in the browser, so there is no environment to set up or keep alive
  • Starts from a prompt, Figma design, GitHub repo or template, and exports back to GitHub
  • Bolt Cloud bundles hosting, databases and auth, which most prompt-to-app tools leave to you
  • Unused Pro tokens roll over, unlike most rivals' monthly allowances

Cons

  • Token-based pricing is hard to forecast; one long debugging session can eat days of allowance
  • Free tier is throttled daily (300K tokens) and carries Bolt branding
  • Yearly discount is advertised without the actual yearly prices on the page
  • No public API found, so Bolt cannot be driven from a script or CI

Dyad

Dyad is the choice for people who like the prompt-to-app workflow of hosted builders but want the code on their own disk and the freedom to bring any model. The free tier is real, though the stronger agent features and bundled model access sit behind the $20 Pro plan.

Pros

  • Free and open source, with projects stored locally
  • Works with many model providers, including offline local models
  • Output is a standard Next.js project with no platform lock-in
  • One-click Supabase or Neon, GitHub and Vercel connections

Cons

  • Desktop-only, with downloads for macOS and Windows
  • Free basic agent is limited to 20 messages a day
  • You manage and pay for your own model API keys unless you buy Pro credits

Which one fits

Choose Bolt.new if you need

  • Founders and designers who want a clickable prototype or landing page the same afternoon
  • Developers scaffolding a front end or internal tool before taking it into their own editor
  • Teams turning a Figma mock into a working front end without hand-coding the first pass

Choose Dyad if you need

  • Hobbyists and students who want a free app builder with their own API keys
  • Developers who want generated code in a normal repo they can keep editing
  • Privacy-minded users who want to run local models through Ollama or LM Studio

Bolt.new vs Dyad: the questions people ask

Is Bolt.new cheaper than Dyad?

On published entry prices, Dyad starts lower — $20/mo against $25/mo for Bolt.new. Entry price is the lowest paid plan as we last verified it; what each plan includes differs.

Does Bolt.new or Dyad have a free tier?

Both: Bolt.new has a free tier, and Dyad has a free tier.

More comparisons

All Bolt.new alternatives →All Dyad alternatives →Browse all Vibe Coding & App Generators →