{
 "last_checked": "2026-10-15",
 "note": "Prices checked against official pricing pages on 15 Oct 2026 (see each tool's 'verified' field). Prices change often.",
 "tools": [
  {
   "id": "lovable",
   "name": "Lovable",
   "category": "builder",
   "pricing": "Free (5 build credits/day, up to 30/mo); Pro from $25/mo (100 credits), $21/mo billed annually",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 25,
   "difficulty": 1,
   "tags": [
    "no-code",
    "full-stack",
    "supabase",
    "web",
    "fast"
   ],
   "url": "https://lovable.dev",
   "reason": "Chat-to-app builder with native Supabase integration - the gentlest path to a real full-stack web app.",
   "verified": "verified via docs.lovable.dev subscription-plans (pricing page doesn't show prices in text)",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "bolt",
   "name": "Bolt.new",
   "category": "builder",
   "pricing": "Free (1M tokens/mo, 300K/day); Pro $25/mo (10M tokens); Teams $30/member",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 25,
   "difficulty": 1,
   "tags": [
    "no-code",
    "web",
    "mobile",
    "fast",
    "prototype"
   ],
   "url": "https://bolt.new",
   "reason": "In-browser AI builder that scaffolds and deploys web apps (and Expo mobile apps) from a prompt.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "replit",
   "name": "Replit Agent",
   "category": "builder",
   "pricing": "Free Starter; Core $20/mo ($18/mo billed annually); Pro $100/mo",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 20,
   "difficulty": 2,
   "tags": [
    "web",
    "backend",
    "hosting-included",
    "bots",
    "api"
   ],
   "url": "https://replit.com",
   "reason": "Agent builds and hosts the app in one place, good when you need backend logic, bots or APIs.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "v0",
   "name": "v0 by Vercel",
   "category": "builder",
   "pricing": "Free ($0, 7 messages/day); paid team plan $30/user/mo incl. $30 credits; Business $100/user/mo",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 30,
   "difficulty": 2,
   "tags": [
    "web",
    "ui",
    "landing",
    "nextjs"
   ],
   "url": "https://v0.dev",
   "reason": "Best-in-class UI generation that deploys straight to Vercel - great for landing pages and polished frontends.",
   "verified": "verified on v0.app/pricing; paid tier name not shown in page text",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "bubble",
   "name": "Bubble",
   "category": "builder",
   "pricing": "Free plan; Starter Web $32/mo billed monthly or $29/mo annually (rising to $39 monthly / $32 annually from 20 Oct 2026)",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 32,
   "difficulty": 2,
   "tags": [
    "no-code",
    "visual",
    "marketplace",
    "web",
    "hosting-included"
   ],
   "url": "https://bubble.io",
   "reason": "Mature visual no-code platform with built-in database and hosting - nothing to wire together.",
   "verified": "pricing page body didn't load; verified via manual.bubble.io + Bubble blog announcing 20 Oct 2026 change",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "cursor",
   "name": "Cursor",
   "category": "builder",
   "pricing": "Free (limited agent); Plus $8/mo (Grok models only); Premium $30/mo (adds third-party models at API list price); Super $100/mo; Ultra $200/mo; Teams from $30/user/mo; prices exclude tax",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 30,
   "difficulty": 3,
   "tags": [
    "code",
    "any-stack",
    "scale",
    "control"
   ],
   "url": "https://cursor.com",
   "reason": "AI code editor with full control over real code. Best once you are comfortable reading code.",
   "verified": "re-verified on cursor.com/pricing 2026-10-16: Free, Plus $8, Premium $30, Super $100, Ultra $200, Teams $30+/user (ex tax)",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-16"
  },
  {
   "id": "windsurf",
   "name": "Windsurf",
   "category": "builder",
   "pricing": "Free; Pro $20/mo (up from $15 since 19 Mar 2026); Max $200/mo",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 20,
   "difficulty": 3,
   "tags": [
    "code",
    "any-stack",
    "budget"
   ],
   "url": "https://windsurf.com",
   "reason": "Agentic code editor (from the Devin team), a solid Cursor alternative at $20/mo.",
   "verified": "official /pricing returned 404 to our fetcher; verified via Windsurf's own pricing blog post (Mar 2026)",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "glide",
   "name": "Glide",
   "category": "builder",
   "pricing": "Free; Basic $25/mo (100 credits); Plus from $50/mo; Pro from $125/mo",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 25,
   "difficulty": 1,
   "tags": [
    "no-code",
    "internal",
    "spreadsheet",
    "mobile"
   ],
   "url": "https://www.glideapps.com",
   "reason": "Turns a spreadsheet into an app - ideal for simple internal or directory apps.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "supabase",
   "name": "Supabase",
   "category": "backend",
   "pricing": "Free (500 MB DB, 2 projects, pauses after 1 week idle, 50k MAU); Pro from $25/mo",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 2,
   "tags": [
    "postgres",
    "auth",
    "storage",
    "lovable",
    "bolt"
   ],
   "url": "https://supabase.com",
   "reason": "Postgres database + auth + file storage in one, and the default backend for Lovable and Bolt.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "firebase",
   "name": "Firebase",
   "category": "backend",
   "pricing": "Free Spark plan; Blaze pay-as-you-go with free quotas (Firestore 1 GiB, 50K reads/day)",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 2,
   "tags": [
    "nosql",
    "mobile",
    "realtime",
    "google"
   ],
   "url": "https://firebase.google.com",
   "reason": "Google's backend with realtime database and auth - strong for mobile and realtime apps.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "convex",
   "name": "Convex",
   "category": "backend",
   "pricing": "Free & Starter (pay-as-you-go beyond free); Professional $25/developer/mo",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 3,
   "tags": [
    "realtime",
    "typescript",
    "code"
   ],
   "url": "https://www.convex.dev",
   "reason": "Reactive TypeScript backend - realtime by default, great with code editors like Cursor.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "neon",
   "name": "Neon",
   "category": "backend",
   "pricing": "Free (100 CU-hours/project, 0.5-1 GB/project); Launch pay-as-you-go, no monthly minimum",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 3,
   "tags": [
    "postgres",
    "serverless",
    "code",
    "vercel"
   ],
   "url": "https://neon.tech",
   "reason": "Serverless Postgres that scales to zero - a lean database for code-first projects.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "clerk",
   "name": "Clerk",
   "category": "auth",
   "pricing": "Free Hobby up to 50,000 monthly retained users/app; Pro $25/mo ($20 annually)",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 2,
   "tags": [
    "prebuilt-ui",
    "nextjs",
    "code"
   ],
   "url": "https://clerk.com",
   "reason": "Drop-in sign-in UI and user management with a generous free tier.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "supabase-auth",
   "name": "Supabase Auth",
   "category": "auth",
   "pricing": "Included with Supabase: 50,000 MAU free; 100,000 on Pro",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 1,
   "tags": [
    "supabase",
    "lovable",
    "bolt"
   ],
   "url": "https://supabase.com/auth",
   "reason": "Already included with your Supabase backend - no extra service to connect.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "firebase-auth",
   "name": "Firebase Authentication",
   "category": "auth",
   "pricing": "Free for email/social sign-in; 50K MAU free with Identity Platform; SMS billed per message",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 2,
   "tags": [
    "firebase",
    "mobile"
   ],
   "url": "https://firebase.google.com/products/auth",
   "reason": "Comes with Firebase; Google/Apple/email sign-in in a few clicks.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "stripe",
   "name": "Stripe",
   "category": "payments",
   "pricing": "No monthly fee; 2.9% + 30c per successful domestic card charge (US)",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 2,
   "tags": [
    "subscriptions",
    "marketplace",
    "bookings",
    "lovable"
   ],
   "url": "https://stripe.com",
   "reason": "Industry-standard payments; most AI builders can wire up Stripe Checkout from one prompt.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "lemonsqueezy",
   "name": "Lemon Squeezy",
   "category": "payments",
   "pricing": "No monthly fee; 5% + 50c per transaction (merchant of record)",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 1,
   "tags": [
    "digital-products",
    "merchant-of-record",
    "global-tax"
   ],
   "url": "https://www.lemonsqueezy.com",
   "reason": "Merchant of record - handles global sales tax for you; ideal for digital products and SaaS.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "paddle",
   "name": "Paddle",
   "category": "payments",
   "pricing": "No monthly fee; 5% + 50c per transaction (merchant of record)",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 2,
   "tags": [
    "saas",
    "merchant-of-record"
   ],
   "url": "https://www.paddle.com",
   "reason": "Merchant of record built for SaaS subscriptions.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "vercel",
   "name": "Vercel",
   "category": "hosting",
   "pricing": "Free Hobby (personal, non-commercial only); Pro $20/mo",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 1,
   "tags": [
    "nextjs",
    "v0",
    "frontend"
   ],
   "url": "https://vercel.com",
   "reason": "One-click deploys from GitHub; the natural home for v0 and Next.js apps.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "netlify",
   "name": "Netlify",
   "category": "hosting",
   "pricing": "Free (300 credits/mo); Personal $9/mo; Pro $20/mo",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 1,
   "tags": [
    "static",
    "bolt",
    "frontend",
    "commercial-ok"
   ],
   "url": "https://www.netlify.com",
   "reason": "Simple static and frontend hosting with a free plan that allows commercial use; Bolt deploys here.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "cloudflare-pages",
   "name": "Cloudflare Pages",
   "category": "hosting",
   "pricing": "Free (static assets; Workers 100K requests/day); Workers Paid from $5/mo",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 2,
   "tags": [
    "static",
    "budget",
    "fast"
   ],
   "url": "https://pages.cloudflare.com",
   "reason": "Very generous free static hosting on a global CDN.",
   "verified": "verified on Cloudflare Workers & Pages plans page",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "railway",
   "name": "Railway",
   "category": "hosting",
   "pricing": "Free ($1/mo usage credit); Hobby $5/mo incl. $5 usage; Pro $20/mo",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 5,
   "difficulty": 3,
   "tags": [
    "backend",
    "docker",
    "code"
   ],
   "url": "https://railway.com",
   "reason": "Easy hosting for backends, workers and databases when you outgrow static hosting.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "render",
   "name": "Render",
   "category": "hosting",
   "pricing": "Free Hobby workspace + free web service (512 MB, sleeps when idle); paid compute from $7/mo",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 3,
   "tags": [
    "backend",
    "code"
   ],
   "url": "https://render.com",
   "reason": "Heroku-style hosting for full backends.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "resend",
   "name": "Resend",
   "category": "extras",
   "pricing": "Free 3,000 emails/mo (100/day); Pro $20/mo for 50,000",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 2,
   "tags": [
    "email"
   ],
   "url": "https://resend.com",
   "reason": "Transactional email (confirmations, receipts) with a simple API.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  },
  {
   "id": "posthog",
   "name": "PostHog",
   "category": "extras",
   "pricing": "Free 1M analytics events + 5K session replays per month, forever",
   "free_tier": true,
   "launch_cost": 0,
   "difficulty": 2,
   "tags": [
    "analytics"
   ],
   "url": "https://posthog.com",
   "reason": "Product analytics so you know whether people actually use what you built.",
   "verified": "verified on official pricing page 2026-10-15",
   "last_checked": "2026-10-15"
  }
 ]
}