Lovable says that most people building on it are not developers, and that many of them build internal tools, CRMs, inventory and HR systems (Lovable). For those apps the plan price is rarely the problem. The upkeep is.
Upkeep is where an internal tool differs from a launch page. Staff use it all day, the data matters, and the business keeps asking for small changes. This guide is for that case: a stock list, a CRM, an orders or jobs app that your team works in.
Why internal tools strain on Lovable
- Every change is a prompt, and prompts cost credits. Lovable gives each account 10 free fixes for build errors and security-scan findings, and each comes back 24 hours after use. Past those, a fix is a normal message and uses credits, and asking in chat to fix a bug always does. Pro is $25 a month for 100 credits, and Lovable's pricing page says credits aren't refundable.
- A fix can break something else. Lovable checks that the app still builds, but nothing checks a new change against what the app did before, unless you or a developer test it.
- The data needs looking after. The database lives in Lovable Cloud, built on Supabase's open-source foundation. Lovable backs it up daily and keeps about 14 days, but a restore can't be undone, and data recorded after the backup is lost. Who can read which rows depends on security rules that most non-developers never look at.
- The code is yours, which is also the catch. When the app needs a change Lovable can't make, you need someone who can read it.
Pick by your reason
| Your reason | Look at |
|---|---|
| You want everything in one place, with no separate database | Base44 |
| You'd rather configure than prompt | Softr |
| You want the code on your own computer, with your own AI key | Dyad |
| You want a developer's tools with hosting included | Replit |
Base44
Base44 builds the whole app from prompts, with its own database, logins and hosting, and you never have to see the code; exporting it needs the Builder plan or higher. For a non-developer that is simpler than Lovable plus Supabase. It has the same kind of upkeep problem, though: fixes are prompts, and prompts use credits. Base44's own docs say credits are not refunded for AI mistakes. Data backups you can restore from start on the Elite plan, at $160 a month billed yearly; Starter is $16.
Softr
Softr builds apps from blocks on top of a database, its own or Airtable, and you change them by arranging blocks and settings rather than prompting. A change to one page rarely breaks another. It suits portals and internal tools where different people see different records. Basic is $19 a month billed yearly, with 50,000 records and automatic database backups.
Glide, often named next to Softr, now builds apps with an AI agent too, so it shares the prompt-driven upkeep described above.
Dyad
Dyad is the open-source answer to Lovable: it runs on your computer, uses your own AI key, and writes ordinary code you keep. The code is Apache-2.0, apart from its paid features, and the app is free on macOS and Windows with your own AI key. Dyad Pro is $20 a month for AI credits. It suits someone comfortable around code. There is no built-in database: it connects to your own Supabase or Neon account.
Replit
Replit is a full development environment in the browser with an AI agent and hosting. Core is $20 a month, or $18 billed yearly. A production database can be restored to any point in the last 7 days on Core, but the agent's checkpoint rollback doesn't restore production data. It gives you more control than Lovable, and expects more technical comfort.
Before you leave Lovable
- Sync the code to GitHub if you haven't, so you keep a copy whatever you do next.
- Export the database. Lovable can export a project's whole database once every 24 hours.
- List what the app does as examples. "When a job is marked done, it moves to the invoicing list." Those examples are what you rebuild, in any tool, and the fastest way to check the new one works.