Lovable vs Replit vs Bolt vs DronaHQ – Comparing top vibe coding tools

Reviewing the best vibe coding platforms in the market to decide which works for your team.

AI app builders are everywhere right now. Most pitch the same story: give us a prompt, and we’ll give you an app. And for the first ten minutes, maybe the first hour, that feels like magic.

But when you’re trying to build something that actually works, not just something that looks good in a demo, things get messy—edits break layouts. Logic disappears. The button that worked yesterday suddenly doesn’t.

We’ve been reviewing these AI app builders, and in this blog, we get a concise comparison to help teams decide.
How Lovable, Replit, Bolt, and DronaHQ actually perform when you need to build reliable apps and tools for business ops.

What does each platform offer

The first mistake most of us tend to make is treating all AI builders the same. They aren’t. Each one targets a completely different user, solves various problems, and assumes different levels of technical knowledge.

Lovable works through a chat interface. You describe what you want, and it generates the app. The entire experience is designed for founders who don’t write code. You’re essentially having a conversation with an AI that outputs working software.

Replit gives you a full developer environment with AI assistance baked in. This is for people who already code and want the AI to speed up their workflow. You’re still writing and managing code yourself, just faster.

Bolt generates full-stack applications from a single prompt. It’s positioned between Lovable and Replit. You don’t need to be a senior developer, but you should understand how applications work. Semi-technical is the sweet spot.

DronaHQ combines visual building with AI assistance and lets you drop into React code when needed, while simultaneously also generating a complete UI layout you can edit visually. It’s built for teams creating internal tools and business applications. You can use it without coding experience, but developers can go deep when they need to.

What editing actually feels like

Most tools are very good at producing an initial layout. The moment you need to adjust that layout, differences start to show. Moving a button, adding a field, or changing spacing sounds simple. These tasks take place constantly in real projects.

Lovable allows some small edits, but the workflow still depends on prompting the AI. There is no visual canvas to drag or rearrange components. You describe the change and wait for a new version, which may or may not reflect exactly what you wanted.

Replit and Bolt place you directly in code. If you are comfortable editing JSX or HTML, this works well. If you are not, the workflow becomes slower. There is no visual layer, and you build your own library of components as you go.

DronaHQ provides a visual editor with a full component library. You drag, resize, adjust properties, and see results immediately. This makes iteration more predictable and less dependent on re-prompting. The changes you make either visually or through code reflect in the output AI has generated.

The difference here is not about which approach is better. It is about which approach matches how your team prefers to work.

How data and logic are handled in practice

The moment an app interacts with real data or workflows, complexity rises. Fetching information, showing it in a component, validating input, and running multi-step actions are where teams spend most of their time.

Lovable connects primarily to Supabase. Logic and workflows are described through prompts and then translated into code by the AI. When something does not behave as expected, you repeat the prompting cycle.

Replit supports any backend because you write the code. This gives full flexibility. It also means you handle all data binding, transformations, and error handling manually.

Bolt generates code that ties pieces together based on your instructions. It works for straightforward flows. As complexity grows, generated code may need adjustment to stay reliable.

DronaHQ offers visual data binding and workflows. You pick a source, bind fields to components, and define actions through a visual builder. When needed, you can drop into JavaScript or Python for deeper control. This creates a clearer link between UI, data, and logic.

Editing without losing progress

Prompt-based tools can sometimes regenerate large portions of the app. That works well when exploring ideas. It works less well when you have already made meaningful progress.

Lovable allows exporting to GitHub, which gives you version control outside the platform. Within the tool, re-prompting can overwrite earlier edits.

Replit uses Git workflows directly. This is powerful for developers who are comfortable with branches and commits.

Bolt also supports export, though re-prompting may still overwrite the structure the AI built earlier.

DronaHQ keeps visual editing and underlying code in sync. Version history lives inside the platform. You can roll back or review changes without relying entirely on Git.

For teams working over long periods or across multiple contributors, predictable iteration matters as much as initial speed.

Deploying to production in a repeatable way

Deployment is not only about getting an app online. It is about knowing what changed, rolling out updates safely, and fixing issues quickly.

Lovable deploys through Netlify and integrates with GitHub for versioning. This suits simple projects and individuals.

Replit hosts applications directly and supports multiple environments. It still depends on the team to manage processes around deployment.

Bolt deploys to Vercel by default. Exported code can be deployed elsewhere with manual setup.

DronaHQ includes dev, staging, and production environments along with visual versioning and rollback options. This provides structure for teams who want clearer control over releases.

Each approach works. The question is whether your workflow requires stricter deployment practices.

Working with a team rather than alone

As soon as more than one person edits an app, collaboration features become important. Access control, audit logs, and permissions affect how safely teams can work together.

Lovable supports SSO, though permissions are simple, and audit logs are not available.

Replit offers SSO and team features with basic permission levels and activity logs.

Bolt provides project sharing but lacks more advanced controls.

DronaHQ includes SSO, detailed role-based permissions, and complete audit logs. You can see who changed what and control access to editing, deploying, or viewing sensitive data.

Teams with compliance or security requirements tend to prefer clearer boundaries. Other teams may only need basic sharing.

Where platforms tend to struggle

Every tool has limits. The practical question is where those limits appear.

Lovable can lose bindings or logic when the AI regenerates UI. This makes refinement unpredictable.

Replit is stable but places full responsibility on the developer. AI suggestions vary in quality.

Bolt can regenerate structures that conflict with previous edits when prompts change. This affects long-running projects.

DronaHQ separates UI, data, and logic, which reduces breakage during edits and makes issues easier to trace.

What this means for your project

If you are exploring ideas or validating a concept, many tools will serve you well. Speed matters most at that stage.

If you are building something your team will depend on for months, the requirements shift. You need a way to edit safely, manage environments, collaborate with others, and maintain the app as it evolves.

Lovable suits founders who want to create simple apps quickly. Replit suits developers who want AI assistance while keeping full control. Bolt suits semi-technical builders creating straightforward full-stack flows.

DronaHQ suits teams that want a mix of speed, structure, and collaboration features, especially when the app will be used inside an organisation.

The goal is not to pick the most impressive demo. The goal is to choose a platform that supports how you work today and how you will work months from now.