Artificial intelligence is drastically reshaping software development. Today, every developer should use a code assistant tool to stay ahead of the competition. Bolt AI (Bolt.new) is one of the standout browser-based, agentic editors that turn prompts into working apps. Here’s the full breakdown of what Bolt AI is, its key features, who’s using it, what makes it different, and whether it delivers beyond the hype.
What is Bolt AI?
Bolt AI (often referred to as Bolt.new) is a code-first, agentic editor that enables you to describe an app in plain English and then build, run, edit, and deploy it directly in your browser. There’s no local setup: you prompt on the left and the Bolt AI code editor writes code on the right, previews it live, and can ship it when you’re ready.
Under the hood, the Bolt AI coding assistant is powered by StackBlitz’s WebContainers, a browser runtime that runs Node.js inside a secure tab. That’s why Bolt can install npm packages, run a dev server, and expose endpoints without touching your machine. Everything happens client-side.
Key Features to Use
Prompt → Code → Live preview
Describe features in natural language. Bolt AI generates code, spins a server, and shows a live preview. You can iterate in the chat or edit files directly.
Full-stack in the browser
Bolt can npm install, expose REST endpoints, and run background jobs entirely inside the browser sandbox.
Open source + self-host options
The open-source bolt.diy lets you run Bolt on your own server and choose from over 19 LLM providers, such as OpenAI or Anthropic.
End-to-end shipping
Recent updates add built-in hosting, custom domains, serverless functions, auth, and analytics, so a chat-generated prototype can go live without leaving the browser.
Who Is Using Bolt AI?
Bolt’s user base ranges from individuals with no coding knowledge to B2B teams. Growth-tracking reports show Bolt.new passed 5 million users and hit $40 million ARR within five months of launch.
Business Insider followed a parent and child duo who, with zero coding background, built and deployed a Stripe-enabled e-commerce site in about six hours using Bolt’s chat-driven workflow.
What Makes Bolt AI Unique?
- A real runtime, not just text completion: Unlike most AI code editors that stop at suggestions, Bolt spins up a full Node.js environment in your tab via StackBlitz WebContainers. You can npm install, start a dev server, hit API routes, and see changes instantly, all client-side.
- Agentic editing with human-in-the-loop: You converse in chat, but you can also hand-edit files, re-run tasks, and push the agent. This blend suits teams that want AI speed without giving up code review hygiene.
- Open ecosystem and portability: With bolt.diy, you’re not locked to a single vendor. You can select the provider that best suits your needs in terms of latency, cost, or compliance. That’s rare among code-generation tools and helpful for regulated environments.
- WebContainer foundations: WebContainers have been battle-tested since 2021 to run Node, npm, and a terminal in a tab. Bolt rides that wave, so “works on my machine” becomes “works in your browser.”
Pricing
Bolt.new offers Monthly and Yearly (save ~10%) billing. Plans scale by token, feature, and seat.
Free – $0
- For experiments and learning
- Public and private projects
- 150K tokens/day, 1M/month
- Bolt branding
- 10MB file uploads
- Hosting
- ~333K web requests/month
Pro – $25 per month
- For solo builders and freelancers
- No daily token cap
- Starts at 10M tokens/month
- No Bolt branding
- 100MB uploads
- Hosting
- Up to 1M web requests
- Custom domains and SEO boosting
- Unused tokens roll over to next month
Teams – $30 per month/member
- For small teams and startups
- Everything in Pro
- Centralized billing
- Team-level access
- Granular admin & provisioning
- Private NPM registry support
- Design-system knowledge with per-package prompts
Enterprise – Custom
- For larger orgs and compliance needs
- Everything in Pro
- SSO
- Audit logs
- Compliance support
- Dedicated account manager & 24/7 priority support
- Custom workflows
- Integrations & SLAs
- Data governance/retention
- Enterprise onboarding/training
Conclusion
Bolt AI turns the browser into a full-stack development box: a prompt on one side, a running app on the other. Powered by StackBlitz WebContainers, it can npm install, serve APIs, and even deploy with custom domains in a single flow.
Open-source bolt.diy, multi-model support, and plans that start free and scale up to enterprise SLAs make it usable for anyone, even without coding knowledge. If you need an AI pair programmer that actually executes what it writes and keeps everything portable, Bolt AI is well worth a test run.
