Stop Paying for Vibe Coding Tools — Test these 3 Free AI Builders!
AI TOOLS
Which Free Vibe Coding Tools Can Replace Lovable and Replit?
In short: Trae is a free desktop app that not only builds what you describe but also decides which LLM (from providers such as ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini) suits your project, at no cost.
Key takeaways
- Trae is a free desktop app that not only builds what you describe but also decides which LLM (from providers such as ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini) suits your project, at no cost.
- Bolt.diy is free to download from GitHub, but you bring your own LLM provider and API key, which means a small paid API balance is still required.
- Firebase Studio runs in the browser with a Gmail login and generated a professional website prototype from a description, a photo, and a LinkedIn link, entirely for free.
Vibe coding tools like Lovable and Replit are popular, but they share a familiar problem: you start a project, and in the middle the tool asks you to upgrade to a paid plan. In this tutorial, tech consultant Ani Björkström tests three alternatives that let you describe an application in a chatbot and have it built without that paywall.
What is Trae and why is its free tier exceptional?
Trae is a desktop vibe coding application you download from trae.ai, install, and open, where a chatbot waits for you to describe whatever you want to develop. Its standout feature is that it decides which LLM suits your project and chooses it for you, drawing on providers such as ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, totally free. That combination of automatic model selection and zero cost is quite exceptional.
How is Bolt.diy different from Trae?
Bolt.diy is also a free desktop application, downloaded from github.com for your operating system, but it makes you choose your own LLM provider, pick the model you think fits your project, and enter your own API key. In the tutorial the provider chosen is Anthropic. An API key requires a paid subscription, so while the tool itself is completely free and API usage is quite cheap, you still need some credit on your key. That is the practical difference between Bolt.diy and Trae.
What can Google's Firebase Studio build for free?
Firebase Studio needs no download: open your web browser, find Firebase Studio, and log in with your Gmail. You get the same chatbot pattern, describe the application you want, and it builds a prototype. In the demo, the request was a professional website, supplied with a photo and a LinkedIn profile link, and the prototype came back free of charge.
| Tool | How you get it | LLM setup | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trae | Download the desktop app from trae.ai | Picks the best-suited LLM for you (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) | Totally free |
| Bolt.diy | Download from GitHub for your OS | You choose provider and model, and supply your own API key | Tool free; API key requires paid credit |
| Firebase Studio | Browser, log in with Gmail | Built in; just describe your app | Free |
Which of the three should you start with?
If you want zero cost and zero configuration, Trae and Firebase Studio are the direct answers, since neither asks for an API key. Bolt.diy suits you if you want control over exactly which provider and model power your project and you are comfortable paying the small API cost that comes with your own key.
FAQ
Do any of these tools require a paid plan mid-project?
No, that is the point of the selection. Unlike Lovable, which can ask you to upgrade in the middle of a project, Trae and Firebase Studio are free to use, and Bolt.diy itself is free with only your own API usage to pay for.
Does Bolt.diy work without an API key?
No. You must choose an LLM provider, select a model, and enter an API key, and providers like Anthropic require a paid subscription for API access, though the usage cost is quite cheap.
Is Firebase Studio a desktop application?
No. Trae and Bolt.diy are installed desktop apps, while Firebase Studio runs in the web browser after you log in with your Gmail account.
Full transcript of the video (642 words, 5 sections)
0:01 Hey guys, my name is Annie. I'm a tech consultant and in this tutorial I will show you how to wipe code totally for free. The tools like lovable or replet are quite popular right now. But the issue with those tools is that you start to use for example lovable and then in the middle of the project it will ask you to upgrade to the paid plan. That is why today I will show you three vibe coding tools that you can use for free. So the first one is tree. You can see it on my screen. In order to get the tree, you will just open your internet browser and then you will type for tree.ie and you will land on this screen. And here you will just click on download tree. And once you download it, you will install it and then you will open the desktop application on your screen.
0:52 So this is how it will look like. Basically you can see that you have a chatbot and here you will write whatever you want to develop. So you describe your application. One thing to remember is that tree has the option to decide which LLM tools will suit your project and it will define and also choose the LLM tool for you. It will also use LLM tools from for example chat GPT or from cloud or Gemini and is totally for free. This is quite exceptional. So if you want me to create a separate tutorial only on tree let me know in the comments and I will do that. The next tool V coding tool that is free and I want to share with you is bold dy.
1:44 So you basically will go to github.com and then download bold yy for your own os. And here for example for me it's windows. So I will download this one. And once it is downloaded I will go and install that. And then you can open again the application on your desktop. So here you can see the thing with uh bold is that you will need to choose your own um LLM provider. For example, here I choose entropic and then you will choose the model that you think will suit your project best. And then you also need to enter the API key. And as we know in order to have an API key for example in entropy you need to pay for that.
2:35 It's quite cheap but still you need to have a paid subscription for API. So that is the difference between bold and tree and again this is quite cheap and the vibe tool on its own is totally free but again you will need to have some credit on your API key. And the next tool that I wanted to share with you is Google's uh Firebase. And again, in order to get the Google Firebase, you will open your web browser and you will find Firebase Studio and then you will just log in with your Gmail. Once you do that, you again will have this chatbot and here you will describe the application that you want to develop.
3:23 For example, here I asked to create a professional website. I entered my picture and I gave the link to my LinkedIn profile. And you can see that here is then the prototype. And yes, and all of this is for free. And again, if you want me to create a more specific tutorial about tree or Google's Firebase Studio or about Paul Dy, just comment below. And also I will u send all the links I will enter all the links for those tools in the description. So it will be easy for you just to click on links. That was it and have a good day. Fight.
Want this working inside your finance team?
Ani Björkström — founder of QvantX Sweden AB, a Stockholm consultancy building AI solutions for banks, asset managers and finance teams. Anthropic partner. Every article starts from a real client build, minus the confidential parts. LinkedIn →
Keep reading — AI Tools
OpenAI "Solved" Navier-Stokes for $1,000,000. Everyone's Angry. Here's Why.
How I Learn Claude AI on Anthropic Academy | Free Claude AI Courses 2026
How to use claude designMore: all 54 articles · Claude vs ChatGPT for finance · best AI tools for finance teams · work with QvantX