Bolt vs Payload Pricing (2026)

How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.

Bolt Payload
Starts at $25/mo Custom
Number of plans 4 4
Free plan
Free trial
Pricing model hybrid custom

Free

$0/mo
  • Public and private projects
  • 300K tokens daily limit
  • 1M tokens per month
  • Bolt branding on websites
  • 10MB file upload limit
  • Website hosting
  • Up to 333k web requests
  • Unlimited databases

Pro

$25/mo
  • Public and private projects
  • No daily token limit
  • Start at 10M tokens per month
  • No Bolt branding on websites
  • Share sites privately
  • 100MB file upload limit
  • Website hosting
  • Up to 1M web requests
  • Unused tokens roll over to next month
  • Custom domain support
  • SEO boosting
  • Unlimited databases
  • Expanded database capacity
  • Choice of database provider
  • Image editing with AI

Teams

Popular
$30/mo
  • Centralized billing
  • Team-level access management
  • Granular admin controls & user provisioning
  • Share with your organization
  • Private NPM registries support
  • Design System knowledge with per-package prompts

Enterprise

Custom
  • Advanced security (SSO, audit logs, compliance support)
  • Granular admin controls & user provisioning
  • Dedicated account manager & 24/7 priority support
  • Custom workflows, integrations & SLAs
  • Scalable for large teams and high-volume usage
  • Flexible billing & procurement options
  • Data governance & retention policies
  • Hands-on onboarding & enterprise training

Free

$0/mo
  • Completely open source
  • Host yourself
  • Community Support

Vercel

Custom
  • Vercel blob storage
  • Neon database
  • Users (Authentication)
  • Media
  • Frontend Template
  • Layout Builder
  • Live Preview

Cloudflare

Custom
  • Image Storage (R2)
  • D1 Database
  • Users (Authentication)
  • Media
  • Layout Builder

Enterprise

Custom
  • Self-hosted or with Payload
  • Unlimited custom domains
  • White-labeled email service
  • Roadmap influence
  • Dedicated Support
  • Enterprise Features

Bolt vs Payload FAQ

Which one is cheaper?
One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.
Can I use either one for free?
Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
How do they charge?
Different approach here. Bolt uses hybrid pricing, while Payload goes with custom. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
Which one is a better deal?
Depends on what you need. Bolt: At $25-30/mo, Bolt sits in the mid-range for AI dev tools — not a cheap hobbyist tool, but far from an enterprise-only play. The lack of a free trial on paid tiers suggests they're leaning on the Free tier itself to prove value before asking for a card.

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