Comparison
OpenThorn vs Bolt.new
Facts last verified: . Competitor pricing changes — check their site for current numbers.
Bolt.new (by StackBlitz) is a strong in-browser AI builder. Like Lovable it resells AI usage — you buy token packs from Bolt. OpenThorn takes the BYOK route: connect your own provider key and pay raw per-token rates with no subscription. Bolt's own team also maintains bolt.diy, an open-source BYOK variant — which says something about the demand for this model.
| Feature | OpenThorn | Bolt.new |
|---|---|---|
| Platform price | Free — no subscription, no platform fee | Pro $25/month; Teams $30/member/month |
| AI usage billing | You pay your provider directly at raw per-token rates | Token packs from Bolt (~10–13M tokens/month on Pro) |
| Bring your own API key | Yes — 17 providers | No (the separate open-source bolt.diy supports it, self-hosted) |
| Model choice | Any model from OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, DeepSeek, Groq, and 12 more | Models selected by Bolt |
| Free tier | Whole platform is free; you only pay provider API usage | 1M tokens/month with a 300K daily cap |
| Code export | Full source export, no paywall; deploy anywhere | Download/GitHub available |
Common questions
Is OpenThorn a free alternative to Bolt.new?
Yes. OpenThorn charges nothing — you connect your own provider API key and pay raw token rates. Bolt.new's free tier is capped at 1M tokens/month (300K/day); meaningful usage needs the $25/month Pro plan.
Can I use my own API key with Bolt.new?
Not with the hosted Bolt.new — it bills in its own token packs. The open-source bolt.diy project supports BYOK but you must run it yourself. OpenThorn is hosted, free, and BYOK out of the box.
What is the difference between buying Bolt tokens and BYOK?
Bolt sells you a monthly allotment of tokens it buys from providers. With BYOK you skip the middleman: your key, your provider's prices, your spend limits, and unused budget simply stays unspent — there is no monthly pack to use up.
Verdict
Choose Bolt.new for its polished StackBlitz-powered dev environment and a single monthly bill. Choose OpenThorn to pay raw provider prices with no subscription — or bolt.diy if you want open source and are happy self-hosting.
New to BYOK? Read what a BYOK AI website builder is, compare model pricing, or see the other comparisons: OpenThorn vs Lovable · OpenThorn vs v0 (Vercel)