How do Lovable credits work?
Lovable credits are the currency you spend each time the AI agent works on your app. One message costs roughly 0.5 to 2 credits depending on complexity (a small style tweak is cheap; a full page is more). Free users get 5 credits/day (up to 30/month); paid plans add a monthly credit balance starting at 100.
Why — the first-principles explanation
Every time Lovable's AI agent reads your request, plans a change, and writes code, it burns compute on large language models—which cost real money. Credits are how Lovable meters that compute so heavy users pay more than light users, instead of charging everyone a flat unlimited rate the models could never support.
Because a big request (build a dashboard) uses far more model work than a small one (make this button blue), credits are variable in the default agent mode: a simple change might cost about 0.5 credits while a complex build can cost 2 or more. There is also a Plan/Chat mode that discusses changes before writing code, which is typically a flat, lower cost per message.
Credits refill on a schedule. Free-plan daily credits reset each day and do not roll over. Paid plans add a monthly credit grant on top of the daily drip, and those monthly credits expire after a set window (about two months for monthly billing). This design pushes you to actually use what you pay for rather than hoard a giant unspent balance.
An example that makes it click
Think of credits like tokens at an arcade. A quick game (change a color) costs half a token; a big game (build a whole checkout page) costs two. The free arcade hands you 5 tokens each morning, but any you don't use by closing time vanish—they don't stack up overnight.
When you buy a Pro membership, the arcade drops 100 tokens into your bucket for the month plus the daily 5, and those bucket tokens last about two months before they expire. Spend wisely on the games that matter, and skip the ones you can do by hand.
How to do it
- Check your credit balance in the top corner of the Lovable editor.
- Use Plan/Chat mode to think through a feature first—it costs less than building blindly.
- Write specific prompts so the agent gets it right in one pass instead of burning credits on retries.
- Batch related changes into one clear message rather than many small ones.
- Buy top-up credits or upgrade your plan if you run out before the reset.
Key facts
- Default agent messages cost roughly 0.5–2 credits based on complexity.
- Plan/Chat mode is typically a flat, lower per-message cost.
- Free plan: 5 credits per day, up to 30 per month; daily credits do not roll over.
- Paid plans start at 100 monthly credits, added on top of daily credits.
- Monthly-plan credits expire about 2 months after they are issued; top-up credits last 12 months.
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How do Lovable credits work? Credits are what you spend every time the AI agent builds or edits your app. Because a big request uses far more computing power than a small one, credits are variable: a quick style change might cost half a credit, while building a full page can cost two or more. Free users get five credits a day, up to thirty a month, and unused daily credits don't roll over. Paid plans add a monthly balance starting at one hundred credits, which expires after about two months. To stretch your credits, write clear, specific prompts, use plan mode to think before building, and batch related edits together. In short: credits meter the AI's work, so you pay for what you actually use.
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People also ask
Do unused credits roll over?
Daily free credits do not roll over. Monthly paid credits carry a balance but expire about two months after they are issued.
How much does one message cost?
Usually 0.5 to 2 credits in default mode, depending on how complex the change is.
Can I buy more credits?
Yes. You can purchase top-up credits, which stay valid for 12 months, or upgrade your plan for a larger monthly grant.
What happens when I run out of credits?
The agent pauses new builds until your daily reset, a top-up, or your next monthly grant.