Why Lovable credits feel unpredictable
Officially, a small Build-mode edit can cost 0.5 credits and “add authentication” about 1.2. On r/lovable the same people report 50 credits for a brochure, 500 when they keep restyling, and 1,000+ for a web app. Both can be true: the first prompt is cheap, the retry loop is not.
This estimator adds those loops back in. Plan prices come from Lovable’s pricing page. The ranges come from community totals plus Lovable’s published Build-mode examples. Treat the number as a budget, not a quote.
How the estimate is built
- Landing page: 20–35 credits, plus extra screens.
- Brochure site: 50–80 credits for about 5 pages, then 5–10 per extra page.
- Web app: 160–280 credits before auth or payments.
- Authentication: +30–70. This is the most common “it said it was fixed” loop.
- Stripe: +40–80, mostly webhooks and “paid but not unlocked.”
- Polish: “looks good enough” ×1.4. Pixel-perfect before launch ×2.
- First project: ×1.3 for the extra reverts.
Pro credits are priced at $0.25 on the 100-credit tier ($25 / 100). Daily build credits (5/day) are extra and do not roll over.
Frequently asked questions
How many Lovable credits does a website cost?
A focused landing page is often 20 to 50 build credits. A brochure site is usually 50 to 150. A web app with auth and payments is commonly 200 to 800. Pixel-hunting or debug loops can push it past 1,000.
Is 1 Lovable prompt equal to 1 credit?
No. Plan mode costs 1 credit per message and does not change code. Build mode is usage-based. Click the three dots under a Lovable reply to see what that message cost.
Which Lovable plan should I buy?
Pro 100 at $25/month is the usual start. Free is capped at 30 build credits a month and cannot use a custom domain. If you expect auth, Stripe or a lot of polish, start at Pro 200 so you are not rationing prompts mid-build.
Is this estimator official?
No. Plan prices come from Lovable. The ranges come from community builds and published examples. Your chat length will move the number.
Once you have a budget, write a tight first prompt with the prompt generator, then check the live app with the security checker and the SEO checker.