Bolt vs Continue: Side-by-Side Comparison 2026
Bolt vs Continue comparison 2026. Side-by-side features, pricing & capabilities.
Bolt is an app builder from StackBlitz — build full-stack apps with ai. Continue is an editor extension from Continue — open-source ai coding extension.
Bolt
Browser-based AI app builder by StackBlitz that generates, runs, and deploys full-stack web applications from natural language prompts.
- ✓ Full-stack generation
- ✓ In-browser IDE
- ✓ One-click deploy
- ✓ Package management
- ✓ Live preview
Free / $25/mo · 4 plans
Continue
Continue — AI Code Assistant from Continue. Open Source IDE Extension.
- ✓ Code completions
- ✓ AI chat
- ✓ Agentic mode
- ✓ Multi-file editing
- ✓ Terminal commands
$20/mo · 3 plans
| Feature | Bolt | Continue |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Builder | Extension |
| Starting Price | Free | $20/mo |
| Model Family | Claude | Multi-model (any) |
| Test Generation | — | ✓ |
| Documentation | — | ✓ |
| Open Source | No | Yes (Apache 2.0) |
Pricing verified Mar 20, 2026. Bolt pricing | Continue pricing
Key Differences
- Category: Bolt is an app builder; Continue is an editor extension.
- Free tier: Bolt has a free tier; Continue does not.
- Starting price: Bolt starts at $25/mo; Continue starts at $20/mo.
- Model family: Bolt uses Claude; Continue uses Multi-model (any).
- Open source: Bolt: No. Continue: Yes (Apache 2.0).
- Bring your own key: Continue supports BYOK; Bolt does not.
- Platforms: Bolt runs on Web; Continue runs on Linux, Windows, macOS.
- Provider: Bolt is built by StackBlitz; Continue is built by Continue.
- Capabilities: Continue has test generation.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Bolt if you want to go from idea to deployed app in minutes. Choose Continue if you want open-source AI coding with full control over model and context. Read our full reviews to see which fits your workflow.