Comparisons · October 2026 · 8 min read
Base44 vs Lovable vs Bolt.new vs Replit for students: the real student price, free tier, and catch
Four AI app builders all claim to be student-friendly, but student-friendly means four different things: a real discount, a free tier that lasts, or nothing at all. This post compares Base44, Lovable, Bolt.new, and Replit on the numbers that decide a semester: the student price, the free tier, the credit allowance, and the one term most likely to cost you money.
The short version: Base44 is the cheapest full-stack student deal at $20 a month for Builder, Lovable is the cheapest discounted Pro plan at $12.50 a month, Replit is the cheapest of all for six months at $5 a month for Core, and Bolt.new is the only one that is genuinely free every day with no student status at all. Pick by what your project needs, not by the headline discount.
The short answer: four builders, four student prices
All four build apps from plain-language prompts, but their student economics are nothing alike. Here is the comparison before the details:
| Builder | Student deal | Student price | Free tier | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base44 | 50% off Starter or Builder, up to 12 months | Starter $8/mo, Builder $20/mo (annual billing) | 25 message credits/mo (5/day), 5 apps | First-time buyers only; verify before paying; cancelling kills the discount for good |
| Lovable | 50% off Pro 100 credits, up to 12 months | $12.50/mo instead of $25 (monthly billing) | 5 build credits/day, capped at 30/mo | Must be on the Free plan when you apply; once per person; cancelling loses it |
| Bolt.new | No student discount | No paid plan needed to start | 300,000 tokens/day, 1M/mo cap, no card | Daily tokens only — no student rate if you later subscribe (20% off first 3 months for new subscribers instead) |
| Replit | $15 off Core a month, first 6 months | $5/mo instead of $20 for 6 months ($90 saved) | Starter free tier | Discount ends after 6 months — Core returns to $20 a month |
The student discounts, head to head
Base44 is the newest student deal on this site and the only one of the four that discounts a full-stack plan: Starter falls from $16 to $8 a month and Builder from $40 to $20 a month on annual billing, for up to 12 months. Builder is the interesting one — in-app code edits, AI model selection, GitHub sync, and a custom domain at $20 a month, with frontend, backend, database, and auth in one account. But its terms are the strictest here: first-time premium purchases only, you must verify and activate before you buy (no retroactive refunds at the discounted rate), and cancelling within the window means the discount can never be re-activated.
Lovable is simpler and cheaper per month: verified students and teachers get 50% off the Pro 100-credit plan, $25 down to $12.50 a month, for up to 12 months. The constraints are similar in shape — your workspace must be on the Free plan when you apply, the discount is once per person, and cancelling loses it — but Lovable's discount is monthly-billed, so you are not paying a year up front. If your project is mostly frontend and you want the cheapest discounted plan, Lovable wins on price.
Replit is the cheapest of all while it lasts: $15 off Core every month for the first six months takes Core from $20 to $5 a month, $90 of total savings, with a school email and no coupon. The catch is the cliff: after month six, Core is $20 a month again, so Replit is the right pick for a one-semester project and the wrong pick if you need a full year at the student rate.
The free tiers: what $0 actually builds
If you are not ready to pay, Bolt.new is the only builder here with a free tier that refreshes every day: 300,000 tokens a day (capped at 1 million a month), about 3 to 8 app-building prompts a day, with no credit card and nothing to cancel. It has no student discount, but for a slow-burn side project it beats every other free tier on this list.
Base44's free tier gives you 25 message credits a month (up to 5 a day) and 100 integration credits across up to 5 apps — enough to learn the tool and ship something small, but each prompt costs roughly one credit, so a real project will eat the month in a few sessions. Lovable's free tier is 5 build credits a day capped at 30 a month, which runs out the same way. The practical move, whichever builder you pick: prototype on the free tier first, and only start a student discount clock when you have a real project to build.
Which builder should you pick?
Pick Base44 if your project needs logins, a database, and hosting without stitching services together — the Builder student rate is the cheapest full-stack deal here. Pick Lovable if you want the cheapest discounted plan and your app is mostly frontend. Pick Replit if your project fits in one semester and you want the lowest possible price ($5 a month for six months). Pick Bolt.new if you want to build for free, a little every day, with no student verification and no card anywhere in the flow.
One more rule that applies to all four: never start a discount clock on a maybe. Base44 and Lovable both refuse to re-activate a cancelled student discount, and Replit's discount ends after six months whether you used it or not. Build a throwaway app on the free tier, learn how far the credits go, and only verify and pay once the real project exists. Our wider student roundup, how to get AI tools free as a student, covers the same discipline across chatbots, coding tools, and design tools.
- Full-stack class project or startup MVP: Base44 Builder at $20 a month (student)
- Cheapest discounted plan: Lovable Pro at $12.50 a month (student)
- One-semester project: Replit Core at $5 a month for 6 months (student)
- Free, every day, no verification: Bolt.new at 300,000 tokens a day
Ready to set it up?
Claim it through our verified deal page: exact claim steps, current terms, and the catches to watch for, all re-checked on the dates shown there.
Base44 student discount: 50% offFrequently asked questions
Which AI app builder is cheapest for students?
Replit is cheapest while its discount lasts: $5 a month for Core for the first 6 months. Over a full year, Lovable Pro at $12.50 a month is the cheapest discounted plan, and Base44 Builder at $20 a month is the cheapest full-stack plan with backend, database, and auth included.
Does Bolt.new have a student discount?
No. Bolt.new has no student discount, but its free tier gives every account 300,000 tokens a day (1 million a month cap) with no credit card, and new subscribers get 20% off for the first 3 months on monthly plans.
Can I lose a student discount by cancelling?
Yes, on Base44 and Lovable: cancelling during the discount window means the discount cannot be re-activated. Start the clock only when you have a real project to build.
Do I need a student email for all four builders?
Base44, Lovable, and Replit all require student verification through a school email. Bolt.new needs no student status at all — its free tier is open to everyone.