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Web Development · head to head

Bolt.new vs Hookdeck

Bolt.new logo

Bolt.new

Web Development

Prompt, run, edit, and deploy full-stack web apps

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Hookdeck logo

Hookdeck

Developer Tools

Event gateway that receives, queues, retries and replays inbound webhooks

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bolt.new the free plan is capped at 300K tokens a day and 1M tokens a month; Hookdeck pricing meters delivered events, so fan-out multiplies the bill: one inbound event routed to four services counts as four deliveries.
  • They diverge on capability: Bolt.new covers Full-stack app generation, Hookdeck covers Ingest and persist.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bolt.new and Hookdeck actually diverge.

Attributes where Bolt.new and Hookdeck differ
AttributeBolt.newHookdeck
Pricing modelfreemiumPer month by delivered event count
PlatformsWebWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows
CategoryWeb DevelopmentDeveloper Tools
Founded2017Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Bolt.new

  • Full-stack app generation
  • Prompt-to-app creation
  • Real-time editing
  • Instant deployment
  • Screenshot to UI
  • Multi-framework support
  • Live preview
  • Code export

Only in Hookdeck

  • Ingest and persist
  • Automatic retries
  • Filters and fan-out
  • Transformations
  • Local development CLI
  • Rate limiting

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Bolt.new

  • Rapid prototypingnot Hookdeck
  • MVP developmentnot Hookdeck
  • UI mockup creationnot Hookdeck
  • Full-stack app generationnot Hookdeck
  • Proof of conceptnot Hookdeck

Hookdeck

  • A payments integration where losing a Stripe event during a deploy causes an order to go unfulfillednot Bolt.new
  • Fanning one provider webhook out to several internal services without each subscribing separatelynot Bolt.new
  • Debugging a partner integration by replaying the exact failing payload after shipping a fixnot Bolt.new
  • Receiving production-shaped webhooks on a developer laptop without running a public tunnelnot Bolt.new

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Bolt.new

  • The free plan is capped at 300K tokens a day and 1M tokens a month
  • Pro starts at 10M tokens a month for $25, so heavy sessions are metered rather than unlimited
  • Team seats are billed at $30 per member per month and tokens are not pooled across the team
  • Unused tokens roll over for one additional month only, so they expire after two

Hookdeck

  • Pricing meters delivered events, so fan-out multiplies the bill: one inbound event routed to four services counts as four deliveries.
  • Free-tier retention is three days, which is shorter than the time it typically takes to notice a failing integration, so the payloads needed for a replay are often already gone.
  • It becomes a single point of failure in front of every third-party integration, and an outage there means every provider webhook queues or fails at once.
  • The transformation layer runs JavaScript in a constrained environment, so anything that needs a database lookup or an external call has to happen downstream instead.
  • For a team already running Kafka or SQS the value is mostly the console and the replay UI, which is a hard cost to justify against infrastructure they already operate.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bolt.new

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Limited generations
    • Basic templates
    • Public projects
  • Pro$20/month
    • Unlimited generations
    • Advanced AI models
    • Private projects

Hookdeck

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • Up to ten thousand events per month
    • Three-day retention
    • One user
  • Team$39/month
    • Ten thousand events included
    • Unlimited users
    • Pay as you go metering above the included events
  • Growth$499/month
    • Ten thousand events included plus metered usage
    • Thirty-day retention
    • Uptime and latency SLAs
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Negotiated event volume
    • Custom retention
    • Dedicated support

Which should you pick?

Choose Bolt.new if

  • You need full-stack app generation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want prompt-to-app creation.
Bolt.new review

Choose Hookdeck if

  • You need ingest and persist.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want automatic retries.
Hookdeck review

Questions people ask

Is Bolt.new or Hookdeck better?
Neither clearly leads. Bolt.new starts at Free and Hookdeck at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bolt.new or Hookdeck?
Bolt.new starts at Free and Hookdeck at Free.
Does Bolt.new or Hookdeck run on more platforms?
Bolt.new runs on Web. Hookdeck runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Bolt.new for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Bolt.new best used for?
Bolt.new is most often used for rapid prototyping, mvp development, ui mockup creation, full-stack app generation. Of those, rapid prototyping and mvp development are not what Hookdeck is typically brought in for.
What can Bolt.new do that Hookdeck cannot?
Bolt.new covers Full-stack app generation, Prompt-to-app creation, Real-time editing, Instant deployment. Hookdeck covers Ingest and persist, Automatic retries, Filters and fan-out, Transformations.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bolt.new: Can I use Bolt for free indefinitely?

Bolt invites users to 'Try it out and start building for free', indicating a free option is available. However, the page mentions two tiers (Standard and MaxPro) and includes a '/pricing' link, suggesting paid plans exist. Specific details about free tier limits and paid pricing are not on the main page.

Source
Hookdeck: Is there a free plan?

Yes, ten thousand events a month with three-day retention and one user.

Bolt.new: What are the differences between Standard and MaxPro tiers?

The page mentions both 'Standard' (described as 'Recommended for general development') and 'MaxPro' tiers in feature comparisons, but does not disclose specific differences, pricing, or what qualifies as 'general development' vs. other use cases.

Source
Hookdeck: How is usage counted?

By delivered events, so a single inbound webhook fanned out to three destinations counts as three.

Bolt.new: Are there usage limits on the free tier?

The page does not specify what limits apply to the free tier. To obtain detailed information about free tier limits and paid plan features, you would need to visit the dedicated pricing page.

Source
Hookdeck: Can I replay a failed webhook?

Yes, individually or in bulk from the console, with the original payload.

Hookdeck: Does it work for outbound webhooks too?

Yes, the same queueing, retry and observability applies to webhooks you send.

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