Chong Ming: Base44 built me a writing companion app with a cute egg. The layout felt bland, but it was a full-fledged, functional app created without using up all my credits.
Lovable’s build was similar and didn’t use all credits.
Both platforms could generate the app; the main variation was in aesthetics. I did appreciate that Base44 and Lovable let me edit the app directly in the interface.
The Cursor build process wasn’t as hands-off. Unlike Base44 and Lovable, which ran start to finish, Cursor required me to approve commands and grant permissions to override folders on my computer. As it generated code, I could pause and review it, something that would likely appeal to developers who want control.
Cheryl: The best things in life are free, and vibe coding credits are one of them. On Base44 and Lovable, both platforms make it clear to users that they’re cooking with limited credits, and that’s fair — compute is costly. The mileage on each platform, however, was slightly different.
Lovable gave me good bones for the project up front and created something that was, aesthetically and functionally, closest to what I wanted. But it burned through more free credits than my Base44 project did, and some things still weren’t working in the web app. I was stuck waiting for new credits to drop before I could make tweaks.
Base44 gave me something very close to a complete dashboard, but it lacked some key functionality — the option to delete tasks, or to drag and drop unscheduled tasks into the calendar frame. But that was ironed out within minutes with two additional message prompts.
Cursor’s steeper learning curve and multi-step process made it far harder for me to work things out. After 10 minutes of Googling, I gave in and typed into the Cursor chat: “I’m confused. What do I do now? Give me a guide.”
I was told to go to Supabase and make some adjustments to the settings, then try to ship it via a local server. At that point, I was coming up on half an hour of getting frustrated with the process.
Aditi: The development process was smooth sailing with Lovable and Base44. With one initial prompt and two additional tweaks, both platforms gave me usable apps that I thought would be handy newsroom tools.
I first tried Base44 and felt childlike wonder when it produced a clean, minimalist interface that let me drag a photo in and judge its quality.
After the initial merriment wore off, I started testing the features. One thing I had not realized was how specific my prompts needed to be, expecting it to anticipate my needs. For example, both platforms initially did not allow me to crop the image or adjust the framing, and instead automatically chose the subject for me. An easy second prompt brought the apps closer to my initial vision — although I quickly learned how to ration my prompts lest I run out of my daily free credits.
Lovable’s interface had a neat little photo-scanning animation that I thought added visual interest to the otherwise simple interface.
Now for Cursor. I had to download the app on the MacBook, while the others could run in the browser. When I finally downloaded it and fed it my prompt, it ran lines of obscure code, asked for permissions to things I didn’t understand, and made me lose motivation to build anything.
I eventually gave up on trying to make it work, but the app kept prodding me with pop-ups for permissions all day until I force-quit it.
I’ll stick to my beginner-friendly platforms until further notice.
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