Forge vs Bolt.new
Bolt's a one-tab full-stack platform with hosting + DB + Stripe baked in — for $25/mo and a 300K-token-per-day cap. Forge ships the same persistent-data, real-Stripe app for £7/mo, with CSV-first onboarding and vertical templates Bolt doesn't.
Comparison verified 2026-05-09. Bolt.new pricing and feature claims sourced from bolt.new.
Most-damning rows first. Every claim sourced and dated.
| Feature | Forge | Bolt.new |
|---|---|---|
| Pro plan | £7/mo (100 credits, edits 0.25) | $25/mo (10M tokens/mo, 300K-day cap on Free) |
| Pricing model | Predictable credits + rows + projects | Token-based (Mini/Pro/Max model tiers) |
| Built for | SMB operators running on spreadsheets — restaurants, contractors, salons | Developer-adjacent builders + Teams/Enterprise |
| CSV-first onboarding | Upload spreadsheet → schema inferred → working app | Prompt-only (CSV is just a file upload) |
| Vertical templates | Restaurants, contractors, salons, property | Horizontal templates (Team Templates on Teams plan) |
| Generated code | ZIP export of full React + Supabase source | Locked in Bolt runtime (paid Pro for export workflows) |
| Stripe payments | User-owned key, payment links from any row, one-prompt scaffolding | One-prompt 'Add payments' (signature flow, Apr 2025) |
| Custom domain + hosting | Pro tier, Vercel domains API | Pro tier, bolt.host or BYO domain |
| Scheduled agents | Hourly cron, send_email/send_sms/update_row/email_summary | MCP servers + chat-driven, no native cron |
| Multiplayer / RBAC | Single-operator focused (Team plan adds shared credits) | Real-time multiplayer + RBAC on Pro |
Bolt's free tier throttles at 300K tokens/day; their paid model uses Mini/Pro/Max tiers that change cost mid-build. Forge's credit model is plain — 1 per app, 0.25 per edit. A salon owner can budget; a developer-adjacent buyer might prefer the Bolt math, but they're not Forge's user.
Bolt's templates assume you know what you're building. Forge's templates ship with the schema, sample data, and views your industry actually uses — restaurant inventory by par level, contractor invoices with deposit tracking, salon appointments with no-show flags.
Forge generates real React + Supabase you can ZIP-export and deploy anywhere — Vercel, Netlify, your own infra. Bolt-built apps live on bolt.host or you push to your own domain on Pro. Both export, but Forge's export is cleaner: no proprietary runtime layer.
Forge Pro
£7/mo
Switching from Bolt.new? Free tier first, no card needed.
Start freeIf you're already comfortable with the Mini/Pro/Max token model and you build complex multi-feature apps, Bolt's $25/mo with rollover tokens can work out cheaper per output. Forge optimizes for the spreadsheet operator who wants predictable spend and won't ever look at a token counter.
No — Forge's ICP is the single-operator (a salon owner, a contractor, a small restaurant). Team plan (£23/mo) adds shared credits across teammates, but real-time multiplayer editing isn't shipped. We'd rather invest in vertical depth than collaboration features SMB owners rarely use.
Bolt's 'Add payments' chat command scaffolds Stripe + checkout + webhooks via Supabase edge functions. Forge ships the same one-prompt Stripe wiring — say 'accept payments' in your prompt and Forge wires createPaymentLink() into your app. The difference: Forge users plug in their own Stripe key, the platform doesn't sit between your customer and your money.
Bolt-exported apps are React/Vite — you can drop the data into Supabase via CSV import and rebuild the UI from a Forge prompt. We're working on a direct importer, but in practice the CSV path is fastest because the schema is what matters; the UI regenerates in seconds.
Comparing Forge to your shortlist?
£7/mo Pro. Your code, your domain, your Stripe — built for the way you actually run your business.
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