- CodeMago
- CodeMago against the other AI app builders
- CodeMago or Bolt.new: tokens, credits and what is left at month's end
CodeMago or Bolt.new: tokens, credits and what is left at month's end
Bolt.new is fast — from prompt to working URL it is probably the fastest in the category. The question is what happens after the first week, when the app grows and every message carries a bigger project with it.
| CodeMago | Bolt.new | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | US$ 18 a month (US$ 216 a year) · R$ 94.99 in Brazil | US$ 25/mo (Pro) |
| What the month gives you | 9,000 credits a month, and 1 credit is US$ 0.001 of real AI usage | 10 million tokens a month — spend rises as the app grows |
| How spend is counted | By what the request actually consumed. “Make the button blue” costs a fraction of “rebuild the orders screen”. And you pick the effort: fast, balanced or maximum. | By tokens read and written — and a bigger project makes the model re-read more each time. |
| Trying it without paying | 100 free credits when you create the account, no card | 1 million tokens a month (300k daily cap) |
| The fine print | No card to try it. Cancel from the dashboard, no phone call. | unused tokens roll over |
| Billing currency | US dollars, or Brazilian reais with no currency spread | US dollars |
| Database, login and custom domain | Included in the plan, no third-party service to wire up | Usually needs third-party services (database, auth, domain), each with its own account and its own bill. |
Competitor prices checked on their official page on September 22, 2026. Prices change: check https://bolt.new/pricing before deciding.
Tokens are a unit that works against you
Bolt counts tokens: 10 million a month on the US$ 25 Pro plan. A token is the chunk of text the model reads and writes, and here is the trap: the bigger your project, the more text the model has to re-read on every request. The same “make the button blue” costs little in week one and a lot in month two, without you changing anything about how you ask.
On CodeMago the credit is real usage too, but with two defences. The first is the effort selector: you say whether the request is fast, balanced or maximum, and the spend follows. The second is the provider chain — the platform picks among several providers, and the saving from that choice lands in your balance, not only in the seller's margin.
Where the difference shows up in the work
Bolt gives you framework freedom — React, Vue, Svelte, Astro — and that is a real advantage if you know what you want. In exchange, what you get is a project: hosting, wiring a database and handling the address stay your job, with third-party accounts.
CodeMago goes the other way: the published app ships with a database, Google login and a working address, in the plan. Less freedom over the stack, fewer things to configure before anyone can actually use what you made.
What happens when you run out
On Bolt, unused tokens roll over, which helps. But when they run out mid-month you buy more or you wait.
Here the balance is visible in the dashboard, the quota is monthly, and the short usage window is 20% of the month — so you see it coming rather than hitting a wall.
When Bolt.new is the right choice
If you want to choose the framework and the stack, Bolt delivers that and we do not: here the platform picks the stack so it can publish on its own.
If your case is a throwaway prototype — build fast, show someone, bin it — Bolt's speed is hard to beat.
If you need a compiled mobile app via Expo, that path exists there and not here.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, CodeMago or Bolt.new?
Entry tier is US$ 18 here against US$ 25 for Bolt Pro. But the bigger difference is not the sticker price: tokens get more expensive as your project grows, and credit spent by chosen effort does not.
Why does my Bolt spend keep rising?
Because token cost scales with how much of your codebase the model has to read each time. It is inherent to the unit, not a bug.
Can I export the code?
CodeMago publishes a working app with its own address. If your main requirement is walking away with the source to continue elsewhere, Bolt serves that specific need better.
Start now, for free
Describe it in your own words. The AI builds the app, you refine it by chatting, and you publish it at its own address. No code to write.