Comparison · updated
Best AI coding agents of 2026: Lovable vs OpenCode vs Browser Use
Three very different ways to get an AI to build or automate for you. Lovable builds a whole web app from a description, OpenCode is an open source coding agent that works inside your own projects, and Browser Use gives an agent a real browser to drive. Everything below comes from our 60-second breakdowns of each tool, including the date we checked pricing.
At a glance
| Lovable | OpenCode | Browser Use | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | AI app builder in your browser | Open source (MIT) AI coding agent | Open-source (MIT) browser agent |
| Where it runs | In the browser; publish to a lovable.app address | Terminal, desktop app, web app or IDE | Python library on your machine, a CLI for coding agents, or Browser Use Cloud |
| Models | Built in | 75+ providers (Claude, GPT, Gemini, local), or a Copilot / ChatGPT Plus login | Your own key (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and others), or billed via Cloud |
| Free option | Free plan: 5 build credits a day, up to 30 a month | The agent is free; a few free models included | Library is free with your own model key; $1 free Cloud credit |
| Paid | Pro from $25/month (100 credits); Business from $50/month | Go $10/month (Go Plus $40); Zen pay-as-you-go from $20 | Cloud pay as you go: browsers $0.02/hour, proxies $5/GB, models at provider price + 20% |
| Best for | People with an app idea and no developer | Devs who want a Claude Code-style agent without model lock-in | Developers handling web chores no API covers |
| Main catch | Small free plan; no code editing, download or custom domain on free | Strong models usually aren't free; 1.x plugins don't run in 2.0 | About 64% of graded cloud runs marked successful; keep a human check |
Which to pick
- Lovable: Pick Lovable if you have an app idea and no developer: it builds a working app with real code from a plain-language description and publishes it to a live link. If you already code every day, a coding agent in your own editor will probably feel more natural.
- OpenCode: Pick OpenCode if you're a developer who wants a Claude Code-style agent that edits files and runs commands in your own projects, with the model of your choice. The agent is free; budget for the model.
- Browser Use: Pick Browser Use if the job lives on websites with no API: pulling data from dashboards, filling repetitive forms, QA-testing your own app. Its CLI also gives coding agents like Claude Code, Codex and Cursor a browser.
Lovable
Lovable is an AI app builder in your browser: describe the website or web app you want in plain language, and it builds a working version with real code (frontend, backend, database and login if you ask for them) that you can publish to a free lovable.app address, with a free plan of 5 build credits a day.
Who it's for
People with an app idea and no developer: founders testing a product, PMs and designers who want a clickable prototype instead of a slide, marketers who need a landing page or dashboard, and ops folks who'd rather build a small internal tool than buy another per-seat app. Developers use it too, to scaffold a project fast and then take the code into GitHub. If you already code every day, a coding agent in your own editor will probably feel more natural.
Pricing and free tier
Free plan: $0, with 5 build credits a day (up to 30 a month), unlimited workspace members, private projects, Git sync and free publishing to a lovable.app address. Pro: from $25 a month for 100 monthly credits, or $250 a year (about $21 a month), plus the same 5 daily build credits with no monthly cap, custom domains, code editing and download, and badge removal. Higher Pro tiers go up to 10,000 credits for $2,250 a month. Business: from $50 a month for 100 credits ($500 a year), adding SSO, role-based access, a security center and training opt-out by default. Enterprise is custom, volume-based pricing. Plans are priced by credits, not seats, so you can invite as many people as you like. Verified students and teachers get 50% off Pro (100 credits, billed monthly) for up to 12 months. Pricing checked on lovable.dev/pricing and docs.lovable.dev (Subscription plans, Credits and usage) on Oct 23, 2026.
The catch
The free plan is small. You get 5 build credits a day, but only up to 30 a month, so if you use all 5 every day you're done after about 6 days until the 1st of next month. Credits are spent by how much work a message takes: Lovable's own examples are 0.50 credits to make a button gray, 1.20 to add sign-up and login, and 1.70 for a landing page with generated images, and Plan mode costs 1 credit per message. On free you can't edit or download the code inside Lovable, connect a custom domain, or remove the "Edit with Lovable" badge; those start at Pro, though Git sync works on free. Paid plans are priced by credits, so a bigger month means a bigger tier. Monthly plan credits expire two months after they're issued, and credits aren't refundable. On Free and Pro, your workspace data can be used for AI model training unless you opt out in your account; Business and up exclude it by default.
OpenCode
OpenCode is a free, open source AI coding agent that writes and fixes code in your terminal, desktop, or IDE, with almost any AI model you pick.
Who it's for
Devs who want a Claude Code-style agent without model lock-in, founders on a tight budget, and creators who want help with scripts or a site.
Pricing and free tier
The catch
The agent is free, but strong models usually aren't. A few free models are included. Beyond those, you pay your own provider or use OpenCode's: Go is $10/month (Go Plus $40/month) for open models, and Zen is pay-as-you-go from a $20 balance. On 1.x? Old plugins don't run in 2.0. Pricing checked on opencode.ai/go and opencode.ai/zen on Oct 14, 2026.
Browser Use
Browser Use is an open-source browser agent (MIT, 118k+ GitHub stars) that clicks, types, and fills forms on real websites from a plain-English goal, run free on your own machine or on its pay-as-you-go cloud.
Who it's for
Developers and technical founders who want an agent to handle the web chores no API covers: pulling data from dashboards, filling repetitive forms, checking listings, QA-testing their own app. If you already use a coding agent, it's the quickest way to give it a browser.
Pricing and free tier
Open-source library: free (MIT), bring your own model key. Cloud: pay as you go, $1 free credit to start, $5 minimum top-up, browsers $0.02/hour, proxies $5/GB, models at provider price + 20%. Pricing checked on browser-use.com/pricing on Oct 19, 2026.
The catch
It's an agent, so it's not perfect: Browser Use's own stats say only about 64% of the cloud runs customers chose to grade were marked successful, so keep a human check on anything that matters. Locally, the library is free but you pay your model provider per token, and long tasks add up. On the cloud there's no subscription, but browsers cost $0.02 per hour (billed by the minute), residential proxy traffic is $5/GB and on by default, and model usage is billed at provider rates plus 20%. The minimum top-up is $5, and credits never expire. Always stop cloud browsers explicitly, since closing the connection doesn't stop the billing.
Read the full Browser Use breakdown (Issue #5) → · browser-use.com
Want more free picks? See the best free AI agents of 2026.