Bolt.diy is an open source AI app builder that runs in your browser — the community version of Bolt.new that lets you prompt, run, edit, and deploy full-stack web apps using your own choice of AI model, from OpenAI and Anthropic to a local model via Ollama.

What is Bolt.diy?

Bolt.diy is an open source AI app builder that generates, runs, and edits full-stack web apps directly in your browser. It’s the official community version of Bolt.new, and its key difference is model choice: you bring your own AI keys and pick from 19+ providers — OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, DeepSeek, Mistral, and others — or run a local model through Ollama or LM Studio.

What is Bolt.diy best for?

Developers and tinkerers who want Bolt.new-style “prompt to app” building without a hosted subscription, and who care about which model they use or want to keep everything local. It suits prototyping web apps, experimenting with different LLMs on the same task, and anyone who’d rather pay per-token to their own provider than a platform’s credits.

What can Bolt.diy do?

Build full-stack Node.js web apps from natural-language prompts, running live in the browser
Choose from 19+ AI providers, or run local models via Ollama, LM Studio, and OpenAI-compatible endpoints
Edit code in an integrated editor with a terminal, file diffs, and version history
Deploy to Netlify, Vercel, or GitHub Pages, and sync with Git
Connect a Supabase database and scaffold React Native / Expo apps
Run as a desktop app (Electron) or via Docker instead of the browser

Where does Bolt.diy fall short?

WebContainers licensing. The in-browser runtime is StackBlitz’s WebContainers API, which is free for prototypes and POCs but requires a commercial license for production use in a for-profit setting — the MIT license on Bolt.diy’s own code doesn’t cover it.
Browser-sandbox limits. Apps run inside a WebContainers sandbox, which is safe but slower and more constrained than executing on real hardware, and it’s scoped to Node.js web projects rather than arbitrary stacks.
Rougher than the hosted product. As a fast-moving community project you configure providers and API keys yourself, and it lacks the guaranteed uptime, polish, and support of the managed Bolt.new.

Is Bolt.diy free?

Yes — Bolt.diy is free and open source under the MIT license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You pay only for the AI usage on whichever provider’s key you plug in (or nothing, if you run a local model). Note the separate WebContainers commercial-license requirement if you use it in production for a for-profit business.

What does Bolt.diy replace?

Bolt.diy is a self-hostable, bring-your-own-model alternative to hosted AI app builders like Bolt.new, Lovable, and v0, and it overlaps with the app-building side of Replit. It does the same prompt-to-app job, but you run it yourself and aren’t locked into one platform’s models or credit pricing.

FAQ

Is Bolt.diy open source? Yes. Bolt.diy’s own code is MIT licensed and developed in the open. The WebContainers runtime it depends on is a separate StackBlitz product with its own commercial-license terms for production for-profit use.

Can I self-host Bolt.diy for free? Yes. You can run it locally with Node.js and pnpm, via Docker, or as an Electron desktop app. The software is free; you only pay for the AI provider you connect — and even that is free if you use a local model.

Is Bolt.diy a good Bolt.new alternative? For technical users who want model choice and no subscription, yes. If you want a managed, always-on service with support and don’t want to configure keys and providers yourself, the hosted Bolt.new is the smoother option.

What do I need to run Bolt.diy? Node.js (LTS) and the pnpm package manager, or Docker, plus an API key for at least one supported AI provider — or a local model served through Ollama or LM Studio.