Compare with Lovable
Weighing a Lovable alternative: code, backend and credits
Lovable generates an app backed by editable code and bills building and running from one credit balance. Compare each part with Exepad, then move a single table across as a test.
Lovable
Where Lovable fits.
Lovable calls itself a full-stack AI development platform. You describe what you want, and it generates a working app with frontend, backend, database, authentication and integrations, all backed by editable code. Each project is one app, and its codebase can sync to GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket.[1]
A codebase you own
Everything Lovable builds is standard code. The code editor is read-only on Free; paid plans can edit it and download the whole codebase. Git sync, on every plan, keeps a repository in step both ways, so a developer can work in their own editor.[3][4][5]
Exepad
Where Exepad fits.
Exepad is Your App Cloud. A Lovable project produces a codebase; an Exepad app is something you describe to the building assistant in Studio, check, and publish once it reads correctly. The app's records, files, sign-in, email, models and agents sit together in Your App Cloud.
Changes start in Studio
Ask for a change, look at the result, and inspect a restoration of an earlier version in Studio if it goes wrong. As with Lovable's revert, restoring doesn't roll back data: records, files, sent email and usage stay as they are.[11]
Name the backend pieces you need
In Lovable, asking for sign-in or file uploads turns Cloud on, automatically or after you approve it. In Exepad, these are building blocks: a database for records, file storage for uploads, authentication for sign-in, email for notices. Name the ones your Lovable app used, then check each one in the preview.[6]
An agent that belongs to the app
Lovable keeps its building agent apart from the AI features inside your app, and Exepad draws the same line. An app's agent works through that app's records with the context and actions you allow, when asked or on a schedule you set. Have someone check its output before it drives a decision.[10]
Compare the work you need to do.
| Consider | Lovable | Exepad |
|---|---|---|
| What a project produces | One app per project, backed by editable code that can sync to GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket. New apps use TanStack Start.[1][2] | A web app you describe, review and publish in Studio. You can export its code, and changes begin in Studio. |
| Working on the code | A code editor that is editable on paid plans, a codebase download on paid plans, and two-way Git sync on every plan, including local work in your own IDE.[3][4][5] | Refine the app with the building assistant. Export the code when someone needs to read it. |
| Backend | Cloud: database, authentication, storage, realtime and functions on Supabase's open-source foundation. The other option is Lovable's native Supabase integration.[6][2] | Database, file storage, authentication and email, as building blocks. Describe what the app keeps and who signs in, then check both. |
| Who sees which records | Row level security policies decide which rows a signed-in user can see or change. Lovable sets them up, and you ask in the project chat to change one, because the policies view is read-only.[7] | The access you describe for each collection. Sign in with a second account and try it before you share the app. |
| AI inside the app | An AI connector adds chat, summaries, image and video generation, semantic search and speech to text, separate from the agent that builds.[10] | Language, vision, media, voice and data models, and agents that work with the context and actions you allow. Model usage is metered separately. |
| Scheduled work | Jobs: background tasks you ask Lovable to create, listed with a run history and an enable or disable switch.[9] | Scheduled tasks, agent tasks included, on a timetable you set. Read the results before they feed a decision. |
| Undoing a change | Every change becomes a version. Reverting restores code only and does not roll back database data.[11] | Inspect a restoration of an earlier version in Studio, then publish after review. Records, files, sent email and usage are not rolled back. |
| Publishing and domains | A lovable.app address on all plans, custom domains on paid plans, and the option to host the frontend or backend elsewhere.[12][13] | Publish to an Exepad address, or to your own domain on Pro. The app opens in a browser, phones included. |
| How plans are charged | Priced by the credits a plan includes, not by seats. One balance pays for building, hosting, Cloud and AI features in published apps, and usage-specific grants are used before general credits.[16][15] | Free puts one one-page site live; an app with saved data, sign-in or email needs a paid plan to go live. See Pricing for the current plans. Building activity and app usage have their own allowances and metering, and metered work draws on a USD wallet. |
| Getting data out | Export project data holds the full database, structure and data. Storage files, function code and secrets move separately.[14] | You can export your app's data and code. Open the export and find the tables you would need first. |
Choose Lovable when
A developer will review and extend the code.
Git sync mirrors the project in a GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket repository both ways, and commits pushed to the synced branch come back into Lovable. If changes already pass through branches and code review, Lovable fits that routine.
You may need to run parts of the stack yourself.
Lovable's docs describe moving the frontend to another host and the backend to managed or self-hosted Supabase, for needs such as data residency. If your organization may require that, weigh it early.
Many people build from one shared balance.
Workspaces take unlimited members on every plan, all drawing on the workspace's credits. On paid plans, owners and admins can set a monthly credit limit for each member. Inviting more people doesn't change the subscription cost.
You want to try a backend before paying.
Lovable's Free plan includes a monthly Cloud grant for the built-in backend. On Exepad, Free puts one one-page site live, and an app with a database, sign-in or email needs a paid plan to go live.
Choose Exepad when
An agent's work is the point of the app.
Lovable's Jobs page suggests asking for a daily job that emails a summary of follow-ups. In Exepad, an agent inside the app can draft that kind of summary from the week's records, when asked or on a schedule you set. Describe what it reads and drafts, and have a person approve each draft.
You want the plan and the usage kept apart.
Lovable draws building, hosting, Cloud and in-app AI from one credit balance, after any usage-specific grants. On Exepad, the plan sets what you can put live, while building activity and app usage have their own allowances and metering. Check the rates in your account first.
The tables matter more than the generated code.
When a Lovable prototype proved the idea and what you want to keep is its data, export the tables, describe the app again in Studio and bring the records in. The code stays in your repository as a reference.
What changes when you move from Lovable.
Lovable separates its exits. Code leaves through Git sync or a codebase download, and data leaves through exports in Cloud. A rebuild in Exepad starts from the data, so export that first.
What an export brings
- Each table as a CSV. In Cloud's Database view, Export CSV downloads one table's records. Repeat it for every table the new app will use.[7]
- The whole database. Export project data, under Advanced settings, holds the full database with structure and data, users' accounts and password hashes included. Lovable emails a link when it is ready.[14]
- The code, for reference. Git sync or Download codebase gives you the code, including migration files that record the database structure. The repository never holds the data itself.[4][3]
What stays behind
- Stored files. The database export leaves out files in storage. Download them from the Storage view, where several files come down as one zip.[14][8]
- Secrets and managed credentials. Secrets stay out of the repository and the export. The credentials behind Lovable AI and app connectors are managed by Lovable and can't be copied out.[4][14]
- Sign-in settings. Sign-in provider settings and API keys are not part of the database, so they have to be set up again wherever the app goes next.[14]
- Exports once Cloud is removed. Removing Cloud deletes the instance for good, and exports can no longer be downloaded afterward. Export before you remove anything.[14]
Rebuild it in Exepad
List the screens, jobs and AI features
Walk through the Lovable preview and note every screen and form. Add each job from the Jobs view and each AI feature, written in plain words rather than as code.
Start with the table everything hangs off
Pick the one other tables refer to, such as bookings or orders. Give Studio the CSV you exported from Lovable, say which columns link elsewhere, and check a few linked records against Lovable. The upload is a copy, so decide where later changes will be made.
Restate the access rules
Read Lovable's RLS policies view and put each rule into a sentence, such as tutors see only their own sessions. Then describe the access for each collection and test it with a second account.
Rebuild jobs and AI features as building blocks
Describe each job as a scheduled task. For each AI feature, check which model the app can use for it, and decide who reads what an agent prepares before it reaches anyone.
Plan the switch for people who sign in
Decide how existing users will sign in to the new app and try it with a sample account. Keep the Lovable app published until the new one passes your checks, then publish after review.
Try it with one task.
Move a sessions table first
An illustrative pilot for Bayside Tutors, a sample tutoring service in San Diego that runs its bookings in a Lovable app. Prove one table before you move the rest.
In Lovable, open the Sessions table in Cloud's Database view and use Export CSV.
In Studio, describe a sessions app with tutor, student, date, subject and a status of Booked, Done or Canceled, and attach the CSV.
Describe the access: each tutor sees their own sessions and the office sees all of them. Sign in as a tutor, then as the office, to check.
Add an agent that drafts each tutor's weekly summary on a schedule you set, and read three drafts before any tutor receives one.
Compare twenty sessions with Lovable's table, then decide when new bookings start going to the Exepad app.
Together in your app cloud
The pieces behind the possibility.
Choose the models and services that support the experience you want to create.
Database
Keep data and context for apps and agents
File storage
A home for your documents and media
Authentication
Give the right people access
Language models
Reason, write, and understand
Email
Keep conversations moving
A little more context
Good questions.
Can I bring my Lovable code into Exepad?
Treat it as a reference, not an input. Exepad builds from what you describe in Studio and the data you upload, so keep the repository or the downloaded zip and list what each screen does. The migration files in that repository show which tables exist, which helps you describe them one at a time.
How do I get my data out of Lovable Cloud?
Use Export CSV in the Database view for single tables, or Export project data in Advanced settings for the full database. Download storage files separately from the Storage view, and write down secrets and sign-in settings, which the export leaves out. Do this before you remove Cloud, because exports can't be downloaded afterward.
Does an Exepad app need its own Supabase project?
No. The database, file storage, authentication and email are building blocks of Your App Cloud that you describe along with the app, not a backend account you connect. Lovable's built-in Cloud doesn't need one either, though it runs on Supabase's open-source foundation and its docs name Supabase as the place to move it.
How does billing differ between Lovable and Exepad?
Lovable prices plans by the credits they include, not by seats, and one balance pays for building, hosting, Cloud and AI features in published apps. On Exepad, Free puts one one-page site live and an app with saved data, sign-in or email needs a paid plan to go live, while model and service usage is metered separately. Check current rates in both accounts against one real task.
Can an Exepad app run an agent of its own?
Yes. Lovable's AI connector adds features that run inside the app, apart from the agent that builds it. In Exepad the building assistant in Studio makes the app, and an agent inside it works with the context and actions you allow, when asked or on a schedule you set. A person reviews results that lead to decisions.
What happens to the people who sign in to my Lovable app?
Lovable's export includes their accounts and password hashes, and its docs say users keep their passwords when the export is restored into a Supabase project. For the Exepad app, describe how people sign in, test it with a sample account, and tell existing users what changes before you point your domain at the new app.
Can I export my app from Exepad if I move again?
Yes. You can export your app's data and code. Lovable splits those exits, with Git sync or a zip for the code and Cloud exports for the data, so check both halves here too: run an export, open it, and confirm the records and code you would need are there before you rely on it.
Explore Pricing for plans, included capabilities, and usage details.
Related guides.
Compare other tools.
Sources.
Lovable details checked September 25, 2026. Confirm them on Lovable's site before you decide.
- Lovable: product overview ↗
- Lovable: FAQ ↗
- Lovable: viewing and editing your project's code ↗
- Lovable: Git sync with GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket ↗
- Lovable: subscription plans ↗
- Lovable: Lovable Cloud ↗
- Lovable: database ↗
- Lovable: storage ↗
- Lovable: jobs ↗
- Lovable: AI features for your app ↗
- Lovable: version history ↗
- Lovable: how Lovable hosts your app ↗
- Lovable: hosting and ownership options ↗
- Lovable: Cloud advanced settings and data export ↗
- Lovable: credits and usage ↗
- Lovable: pricing questions ↗
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