Hobby
$0
Comparison · prices checked every day
Cursor vs Lovable: which is worth paying for?
The current plans and our verdict on each tool, side by side. Prices come from each vendor's own pricing page and are checked every day.
The short answer
Choose Cursor if…
- you want a full IDE with agent capabilities and MCPs for $20/month
- you need centralized billing and SSO for a team at $40/month per user
- you prefer usage-based billing with on-demand top-ups for heavy agent work
Choose Lovable if…
Our pick for most people
- you want to export code, use custom domains, and get higher credit limits for $25/month
- you need credit rollovers and auto top-ups to keep building without interruption
- you want to build and ship apps with unlimited workspace members for free
Bottom line: Pay for Lovable to ship real apps with code export and custom domains.
Key differences
- Cursor Pro costs $20/month and includes extended agent limits and MCPs. pricing pageSource · vendor pagePricing page (cursor.com), checked Sep 30, 2026.Go to sources ↓
- Lovable Pro costs $25/month and adds code export, custom domains, and credit rollovers. pricing pageSource · vendor pagePricing page (docs.lovable.dev), checked Sep 28, 2026.Go to sources ↓
- Cursor offers a Hobby free plan with limited agent requests and Composer access. pricing pageSource · vendor pagePricing page (cursor.com), checked Sep 30, 2026.Go to sources ↓
- Lovable offers a Free plan with 5 daily build credits, Git sync, and unlimited workspace members. pricing pageSource · vendor pagePricing page (docs.lovable.dev), checked Sep 28, 2026.Go to sources ↓
- Lovable Pro includes credit rollovers and auto top-ups, which Cursor does not list. pricing pageSource · vendor pagePricing page (docs.lovable.dev), checked Sep 28, 2026.Go to sources ↓
- Cursor Teams Standard costs $40/month per user and provides centralized billing and SSO. pricing pageSource · vendor pagePricing page (cursor.com), checked Sep 30, 2026.Go to sources ↓
Plans and limits side by side
| Plans | Cursor | Lovable |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Hobby $0Agent requests Limited, Features Access to Composer | Free $0Daily build credits 5/day, 30/month, Monthly Cloud grant 20 credits, Monthly AI grant 4 c… |
| Paid plans | Pro $20/moFeatures Extended limits on Agent, Generous limits for Grok, Access to frontier models, G…Pro+ $60/moUltra $200/moStart INR 649/mo | Pro $25/moMonthly subscription credits From 100/month, Daily chat allowance Included, larger than F…Business $50/moMonthly subscription credits From 100/month, Daily chat allowance Included, larger than F… |
| Business plans | Teams Standard $40/user/moFeatures Centralized team billing and administration, Team marketplace for internal rules…Teams Premium $120/user/moEnterprise CustomFeatures Pooled usage, Invoice/PO billing, SCIM seat management, Repository, model, and M… | Enterprise CustomMonthly subscription credits Volume-based, Git sync Yes, Unlimited workspace members Yes,… |
From each vendor's own pricing page · Cursor checked Oct 2, 2026 · Lovable checked Oct 1, 2026.
Our tests
We have tested Lovable (the free tier, hands-on in the app) but not Cursor yet, so there is no head-to-head score. Lovable's results are on its own page.
What users say
Cursor
Several users praise Cursor as a great IDE, with one Reddit reviewer noting the new tab key is cool RedditUser report · positive · Redditr/cursor, posted Feb 8, 2026See the report ↓. Some users find it worth the cost because Grok 4.6 offers more usage than Opus 4.6 HNUser report · positive · Hacker NewsPosted Sep 3, 2026See the report ↓. However, others report that Cursor becomes really expensive due to the Cursor Token Rate for BYOK HNUser report · mixed · Hacker NewsPosted Aug 29, 2026See the report ↓. One user cancelled their subscription because interesting features only work with per-token pricing HNUser report · negative · Hacker NewsPosted Aug 18, 2026See the report ↓. Users also note that hitting limits quickly can be an issue, with one mentioning an audit where engineers hit the limit very quickly RedditUser report · negative · Redditr/cursor, posted Jan 29, 2026See the report ↓. Some users worry about the acquisition and inflated valuation RedditUser report · negative · Redditr/cursor, posted Jun 16, 2026See the report ↓. Others report random language switches RedditUser report · mixed · Redditr/cursor, posted Feb 21, 2026See the report ↓. One user notes that Cursor implied success without evidence RedditUser report · negative · Redditr/programming, posted Jan 16, 2026See the report ↓.
Reports cited (8)
Cursor just sent me a new “tab” key, honestly it’s pretty cool
Cursor is worth it because Grok 4.6 is around Opus 4.6 but you get much more usage with it than with Claude Code.
I’ve finally cancelled my Cursor subscription. It was an interesting product, but the fact that most interesting features only work with per-token pricing, not Cursor and Codex subscriptions, is a bummer. …
… It turns out that a few weeks before there was an audit going on because the engineers were hitting the cursor limit very quickly (and look, it's $200) and when auditing the cursor data, they saw that there were people using the cursor in other projects. …
Why the Cursor Acquisition Should Concern Every Software Developer I’ve been a Cursor user for a long time and today’s acquisition news genuinely worries me. …
Cursor Implied Success Without Evidence | Not one of 100 selected commits even built
I use Cursor at work and love it. It's a great IDE, the best IMHO. But it becomes really expensive. Since the introduction of the Cursor Token Rate, my company tells us to use Claude and Codex directly with Anthropic (or Vertex AI) and OpenAI, respectively. I'm now using Grok 4.6 most of the time. …
Cursor randomly replies in Chinese This was during a normal work day yesterday. I glanced down and it just started this chat off in a new language. Maybe I hit a stray key? Seems like Chinese (based on Google translate) which I don't speak, nothing in the context window in Chinese characters AFAIK
Lovable
Users report that Lovable is the "Wordpress of today" for non-technical people HNUser report · positive · Hacker NewsPosted Aug 13, 2026See the report ↓. Some developers have launched apps that gained significant traction, with one hitting downloads worldwide RedditUser report · positive · Redditr/lovable, posted Mar 29, 2026See the report ↓. However, others find the marketing disingenuous for a no-code platform HNUser report · negative · Hacker NewsPosted Jul 5, 2026See the report ↓. Users report that Lovable drastically increased credit usage and that stability has been subpar with wrong previews RedditUser report · negative · Redditr/lovable, posted Feb 3, 2026See the report ↓. One user noted that Lovable closed their support ticket after a security issue exposed 18,000+ users RedditUser report · negative · Redditr/ClaudeAI, posted Feb 26, 2026See the report ↓. Some users question the valuation and whether it is worth the cost HNUser report · negative · Hacker NewsPosted Apr 17, 2026See the report ↓. One user learned from scaling agentic coding at Lovable HNUser report · mixed · Hacker NewsPosted Jul 4, 2026See the report ↓.
Reports cited (7)
Lovable is the Wordpress of today. No developer worth his salt would have touched Wordpress to develop websites but it was a boon to non developers who could use its templates. …
My Lovable app hit $6,500+ revenue & 8,700+ downloads worldwide! Hi everyone! I launched this app last year when I started learning how to build & ship apps on the App Store. …
… The idea was to try building lovable using lovable and then building another lovable within that using it. They market to normal people as if anything is possible but its very disingenous to offer a no code platform with the type of marketing they do. …
… In the past few weeks, I noticed two things: * Lovable has turned the "Credit usage" knob up or did something else that drastically increased the amount of credits you need for each change. * Stability has been subpar. Wrong previews, "thinking for minutes on end" or not responding. …
I vibe hacked a Lovable-showcased app using claude. 18,000+ users exposed. Lovable closed my support ticket. Lovable is a $6.6B vibe coding platform. They showcase apps on their site as success stories. …
This tells me that Lovable is certainly not worth $6.6B.
$85,000 in tokens later: What I learned from scaling agentic coding at Lovable
Questions people ask
Which tool is better for exporting code?
Lovable Pro and Business plans allow you to download and export code, while the Cursor Hobby plan does not explicitly list code export as a feature [s60, s112].
Does either tool offer a free plan?
Yes, both Cursor and Lovable offer free plans. Cursor Hobby includes limited agent requests and Composer. Lovable Free includes 5 daily build credits and Git sync.
Which tool is cheaper for individuals?
Cursor Pro is $20/month, while Lovable Pro is $25/month [s112, s60].
Do credits roll over in Lovable?
Yes, Lovable Pro and Business plans include credit rollovers. Cursor does not list credit rollovers in its plans.
Sources
Drafted with AI from these pages, our tests and the linked user reports, and checked automatically against them before publishing: every price, score and report above is tied to the tool it is about.
Cursor
- Pricing page · checked Sep 30, 2026cursor.com/pricing ↩ text
- Pricing pagecursor.com/help/account-and-billing/pricing
Lovable
- Pricing page · checked Sep 28, 2026docs.lovable.dev/introduction/subscription-plans ↩ text
Each tool's verdict and plans
Cursor
DEPENDS DEPENDS — worth it for some people
Worth it for heavy agent users or teams; skip if basic autocomplete suffices or you prefer cheaper alternatives.
Based on pricing, docs & user reports — not yet tested by us
- Cheapest paid
- $20/mo
- What's free
- $0
- Our test score
- —
Pro
$20/mo
Pro+
$60/mo
Ultra
$200/mo
Start
INR 649/mo
Teams Standard
$40/user/mo
Teams Premium
$120/user/mo
Enterprise
Custom
Lovable
YES YES — worth paying for
Paying unlocks code editing, custom domains, and rollover credits that the free plan's strict limits make hard to use for serious work.
Tested by us on Sep 29, 2026 · with user reports
- Cheapest paid
- $25/mo
- What's free
- $0
- Our test score
- 9.6/10
Our test (hands-on): free tier 9.6/10, as of Sep 29, 2026
Free
$0
Pro
$25/mo
Business
$50/mo
Enterprise
Custom
How we make money
The "Visit" buttons go through shouldipay.ai/go/ and may be affiliate links, but commissions never decide a verdict or a comparison: the evidence does. Affiliate disclosure