Boltvsbolt.diy
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
Bolt
StackBlitz · Web app builder
#159MCP
Panel
4.91 spec wins
- Reliability
- 4.5
- Usefulness
- 5.3
- Cost
- 4.3
- Longevity
- 5.5
“Open source until December 2024, metered ever since, and the meter mostly counts uploading your own files to the model.”
bolt.diy
stackblitz-labs community · Web app builder
#73OSSMCP
Panel
5.56 spec wins
- Reliability
- 5.0
- Usefulness
- 5.3
- Cost
- 6.7
- Longevity
- 5.0
“Started life as oTToDev, which remains the best name anything on this board has given up.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | Bolt | bolt.diy |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | Web app builder | Web app builder |
| Runs | sandbox, cloud | local, sandbox |
| Platforms | web | macos, linux, windows, web |
| Context window | not documented | not documented |
| Protocols | ||
| MCP client | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | No | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-file edits | Yes | Yes |
| Git operations | Yes | Yes |
| Browser control | NoNo browser-driving or app-testing agent is documented; Standard and Max differ only in how much the agent reasons per step (https://support.bolt.new/building/using-bolt/agents.md). | No |
| Sandboxed execution | Yes"Bolt relies on WebContainers, a browser-based runtime from StackBlitz that enables a full-stack development environment in the browser" — an in-browser VM, not a container you manage. | No |
| Multi-agent orchestration | No | No |
| Headless / CI mode | No | No |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | Claude | OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Ollama, OpenRouter, any of 19 providers |
| Bring your own model | No"Bolt handles model selection behind the scenes" — no model or provider picker, custom endpoint or key. | Yes |
| Local models | No | Yes |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | subscription | byok |
| Starts at | $25/mo | $0/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Bring your own key | No | Yes |
| Openness | ||
| Open source | No | Yes |
| License | proprietary | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 16,569 | 19,929 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | Bolt | bolt.diy | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 5.5 | 6.0 | bolt.diy — Pick bolt.diy if you want Bolt without the credit meter and can live inside a browser sandbox that only runs JavaScript; pick Dyad if you want a desktop builder with a real local project. |
| El Crítico | 4.8 | 5.5 | bolt.diy — The MIT fork sits on the WebContainer API, which needs a commercial license for production commercial use, so the open part is the UI and the proprietary part is the runtime. |
| El Profesor | 4.8 | 5.3 | bolt.diy — Node runs inside the browser, edits land on an in-browser filesystem, and verification is whatever the integrated terminal shows; no benchmark is claimed and none would apply. |
| La Inversora | 6.0 | 4.0 | Bolt — StackBlitz pivoted from an IDE to an app builder, open-sourced a core it stopped updating, and now competes on features in the most crowded category on this board. |
| La Jefa | 5.0 | 4.5 | Bolt — JavaScript only, no headless mode, enterprise on request, and a meter that grows with repository size; a demo tool for the design team, not yet for engineering. |
| El Hacker | 3.5 | 7.8 | bolt.diy — MIT, keys in .env.local, nineteen providers including Ollama and LM Studio for a fully local run, MCP servers, and docker compose --profile development; this is the Bolt I would run. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.