Base44 and Lovable both turn a prompt into a working app with a database and logins. The difference is where the backend lives. Lovable's is Supabase underneath and can be moved to a Supabase project of your own. Base44's runs on infrastructure owned by Wix, you reach it through Base44's SDK, and it stays there.
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Pick Base44 if you are not a developer, you want an internal tool or small business app running this week with logins, data and email already wired, and you accept that it lives on Base44 for as long as it exists.
Pick Lovable if the app might outgrow the builder, because the code syncs to GitHub on every plan including the free one and the backend has a documented exit to your own Supabase.
Pick neither if you can already work in a code editor, because both charge credits for every attempt including the failed ones, and a coding agent in your own repo on a backend you rent directly builds the same app without a second landlord.
prices checked 2026-10-05 · by dan scutaru
| Base44 | Lovable | |
|---|---|---|
| price | free tier · from $20/mo | free tier · from $25/mo |
| free tier | 25 message credits per month with a cap of 5 per day, 100 integration credits per month, up to 5 apps, public apps only (private apps need Starter since 6 February 2026) with the "Edit with Base44" badge. No custom domain, GitHub sync or backend functions. | 5 build credits per day capped at 30/month, plus a 20 Cloud credit monthly grant and 4 AI credits. |
| runs on | web, ios, android | web, ios, android, mac, windows |
| What the entry plan buys | Starter, $20: 100 message credits and 2,000 integration credits. Nothing rolls over | Pro, $25: 100 credits plus 5 build credits a day. Unused monthly credits roll over |
| Cost of one prompt | About 0.5 credits for a text change, 3 to 4 for an app-wide change | 0.5 for a small change, about 2 for a landing page |
| Code export | ZIP and GitHub sync start at Builder, $50/mo | GitHub sync on every plan, ZIP download on paid plans |
| Built-in backend | Base44's own: NoSQL database, auth, Deno functions (functions need Builder) | Lovable Cloud: Postgres, auth, storage and edge functions, built on Supabase |
| Moving the backend out | No documented path. Records export as CSV | Documented migration to managed or self-hosted Supabase |
| If you stop paying | Apps stay live, capped at 5. Paid features such as backend functions stop | Published pages and a connected domain stay live. Paid credits freeze, the backend can pause |
Base44 is cheaper to start and dearer to finish. Starter is $20 a month for 100 message credits and 2,000 integration credits. Lovable Pro is $25 for 100 credits, plus 5 build credits a day. Both price a prompt by the work it triggers: about half a credit for a text tweak on either, 3 to 4 on Base44 for an app-wide change.
The tiers are where they part. Base44 Starter has no GitHub sync, no ZIP export and no backend functions. Those start at Builder, $50 a month. Lovable's $25 plan includes its equivalents.
You get the front end and your function source, not a running app. Base44's pricing page says nothing is locked to the platform. Its docs are more exact: the export is a React and Vite project that depends on the Base44 SDK, and with GitHub sync your data models stay in Base44 and are not in the repository. The database and logins keep running on Base44. Records come out as CSV.
Lovable's export is not the whole app either. Code and database migrations are in Git, but data, users, files and edge functions move separately. Lovable documents where they can go.
Both hand you a database, logins, file storage and server functions without a sign-up anywhere else. Lovable Cloud is Postgres on Supabase's open-source stack. Base44's is its own MongoDB-compatible NoSQL store with Deno functions.
They bill differently once the app has users. Base44 spends integration credits only on built-in services, and when they run out those actions fail with an error. Lovable meters hosting and backend usage in credits, includes a grant of 20 a month, and says backend services pause shortly after the workspace reaches zero.
On both, the app stays online and loses something. Base44 moves you to Free at the end of the billing period. Apps stay live, you are capped at 5, and paid features stop, which by its own docs includes backend functions. The current period is not refunded.
Lovable also moves you to Free. Published pages keep serving and a connected domain keeps working. Unused paid credits are frozen until you subscribe again, so a Cloud backend runs on the monthly grant alone and can pause when that is spent.
For a non-developer building an internal tool, yes: fewer decisions and a lower entry price. For anything you may later move, hand to a developer or host yourself, no. Base44 charges $50 a month for code export and keeps the backend.
Yes, with a small allowance: 25 message credits a month, no more than 5 a day, 100 integration credits and up to 5 apps. That is enough to test an idea and not enough to finish an app. Lovable's free plan is similar in size: 5 build credits a day, capped at 30 a month. The full answer →
Wix. It bought Base44 on 18 June 2025 for about $80 million plus earn-outs running to 2029, and says it operates as a distinct product. Lovable is an independent, venture-funded Swedish company.
Yes. It is a real product owned by a public company. In July 2025 the security firm Wiz reported a flaw that let anyone register on private Base44 apps. Wix fixed it within a day and reported no sign of abuse. Lovable had its own exposure of older projects in 2026, so check data permissions on either.