Bolt.gives Free: Open-Source Agentic AI Coding Platform Guide

In March 2026, Bolt.gives officially launched its free AI coding agent platform — an open-source, AI-driven coding workspace. Unlike paid alternatives like Replit Agent or Cursor, Bolt.gives offers its core hosted service completely free to the public: each user receives $1 of coding quota per day, which is more than enough for developing and iterating on small to medium-sized projects.

What is Bolt.gives?

Bolt.gives is a collaborative, open-source AI coding workspace. Its core concept is simple: describe the app you want to build in natural language, and the AI agent automatically generates the code and previews it in real-time within the built-in Preview panel.

The platform is deployed on Cloudflare Pages, uses React + Vite as its frontend stack, runs on Node.js + systemd for the backend, and stores data in PostgreSQL. The entire project is open-source on GitHub (github.com/embire2/bolt.gives), with the current stable version being v3.0.9.32 (released July 1, 2026).

Free Quota Details

Hosted FREE Tier

• Daily quota: $1 per person per day
• Underlying model: DeepSeek V4 Pro (routed through OpenRouter)
• Reset time: Automatically resets at 00:00 GMT+2 daily
• After reaching the cap: You can connect your own API Key or wait for the daily reset

This $1 daily quota is very generous for most individual developers. A typical web app prototype (such as a todo manager, dashboard, or marketing site) costs around $0.10-$0.50 in API calls, meaning you can complete 2-10 full project iterations per day.

Bring Your Own Key (BYOK)

If you need more computing power, Bolt.gives supports bring-your-own API Key, compatible with the following model providers:

Configure your own API Key through environment variables like MINIMAX_API_KEY to bypass the $1/day limit entirely.

Core Features

1. AI Coding Agent

Type a natural language description in the Chat interface, and the AI agent analyzes the requirement, generates code files, installs dependencies, and starts the preview. No manual coding required. The workspace has two main panels:

• Preview Panel: Real-time rendering of the generated web app
• Code Panel: View and edit the generated source code

2. Project Publishing

Generated projects can be published directly to free bolt.gives subdomains in the format https://your-app.bolt.gives. The publishing flow automatically configures Cloudflare A records and Caddy routing for HTTPS — no manual setup needed.

For custom domains, you can opt for $10/month hosting (via Stripe Checkout), and the platform guides you through creating an A record pointing to the server IP.

3. Template Packs

Bolt.gives ships with several first-party template packs that help the AI generate apps that match expectations faster:

• Calendar Planner: React app with week grid, agenda panel, and event creation
• Dashboard: Data visualization management panel
• Marketing Site: Responsive corporate website
• E-commerce Catalog: Product showcase with shopping cart
• Portfolio: Designer/developer portfolio showcase
• Appointment Scheduler: Full app with patient booking, doctor selection, and SMTP reminders

4. Real-Time Collaboration

The platform supports multi-user real-time collaboration through the wss://bolt.gives/collab WebSocket endpoint. Multiple developers can edit the same project simultaneously, with changes synced to all participants.

5. Self-Hosting

Since the project is fully open-source, you can self-host it. The installation script automatically configures the app, runtime, collaboration service, and web browsing service, along with a local PostgreSQL database. Caddy HTTPS auto-certificate configuration is supported. Self-hosted versions include a built-in /api/update auto-updater.

How to Use

Step 1: Visit the Platform

Go to bolt.gives/chat — no registration required to start using the free quota.

Step 2: Describe Your Project

Enter your app description in the chat. For example:

• "Build me a todo management app with dark mode"
• "Create a personal blog that supports Markdown and categories"
• "Make a weather app that shows a 7-day forecast"

Step 3: Preview and Iterate

The AI agent generates code and renders it in the Preview panel. You can:

• View and manually edit code in the Code panel
• Request modifications in Chat (e.g., "make buttons rounded""add a search box")
• Iterate until satisfied

Step 4: Publish

Click the publish button in the Preview toolbar to deploy your app to a free .bolt.gives subdomain. For custom domains, follow the custom domain flow and pay $10/month via Stripe.

Comparison with Competitors

Technical Highlights

1. Deterministic Starter Bootstrap

Bolt.gives uses deterministic starter bootstrap to prevent the AI model from issuing invalid shell commands in an empty workspace. On first run, it creates the basic file structure (package.json, index.html, etc.) before executing install and build commands, avoiding the common problem of "running commands before creating files."

2. Shell Safety Guard

The platform implements a shell safety guard that forbids writing project files through terminal redirection (like echo >, cat >, tee, sed -i). All file changes must go through explicit file action directives (<boltAction type="file">), ensuring traceable code changes.

3. Smart Preview Recovery

When the preview panel crashes due to errors, Bolt.gives automatically attempts recovery. It probes the Vite entry module graph and validates critical files like /src/main.tsx before marking the preview as healthy, avoiding false positives.

4. Auto-Update System

Hosted instances include a built-in web app updater. When a new version is available, a banner appears at the top of every page. Users can choose optional updates or mandatory updates. The update process creates a rollback checkpoint, stashes local changes, installs dependencies, builds the new version, and schedules a service restart.

Frequently Asked Questions

Summary

Bolt.gives is one of the most generous free AI coding platforms available today. With $1/day quota, open-source architecture, and bring-your-own-key support, it's the go-to tool for individual developers, students, and startup teams. Whether you're rapidly prototyping, learning to code, or building shippable apps, Bolt.gives delivers an outstanding experience.

Start using it for free at bolt.gives/chat!