How do Lovable credits work?

Credits are how Lovable meters your AI usage. Every message you send to build or edit your app consumes credits: roughly 0.5 to 2 credits per message in build mode (depending on how much work the request triggers) and about 1 credit per message in plan or chat mode. So a credit is not a single feature or a single app; it is closer to one back-and-forth with the AI. That framing helps you plan: a focused, well-scoped prompt gets more done per credit than a vague one that needs several rounds of correction.

There are two kinds of credits. Daily credits refresh every day (5 per day on Free, Pro, and Business) and do NOT roll over. Monthly plan credits come with paid tiers (Pro includes around 100/mo) and DO roll over as long as you keep your subscription active. The Free plan gives you the 5 daily credits but caps you at 30 per month total, which is enough to try the tool and build something small, not enough to ship a full product without upgrading.

If you need more, you can buy top-up credits. On Pro that is $15 per 50 credits ($0.30 each) and on Business it is $30 per 50 credits ($0.60 each). You can buy up to 1,000 at a time and they stay valid for 12 months, so a big pack for a heavy build month does not evaporate at month end.

How to stretch your credits: use plan or chat mode to think through a feature before you switch to build mode, so you are not burning build credits on exploration. Give the AI clear, complete instructions so it nails the change in one pass. Batch related changes into a single well-described request rather than a dozen tiny ones. These habits meaningfully cut your credit burn.

The reassuring part: because daily credits refresh for free every day, you can keep making steady progress even on a lean budget, and unused monthly credits are not lost while you stay subscribed. Start on the free plan, watch how fast your typical work consumes credits, and you will quickly know which paid tier fits your pace.