Developing an app idea can be cumbersome, especially for those without a coding background. From designing a user interface to setting up a backend, the entire process can feel too complicated.
Of course, there are plenty of tools out there that allow for designing webpages via “drag and drop” or using templates (e.g., WordPress, Wix) to create a more interactive application. However, up until this point, there hasn’t been a platform that fully allows non-technical users to build a sophisticated application (API Calling, Database, Authentication, UI etc.) with no code, and just prompts.
Enter Lovable! (I tried it myself and was super impressed)
This guide will walk you through the key steps of building and publishing an app from the ground up with Lovable. I am going to use a demo project, so you can follow along.
By the end of this guide, you will be clear on the procedures to transform your application ideas into a finished product, even with the least amount of technical knowledge required.
Part 1: What is Lovable?
Lovable is a platform that builds fully functional applications by turning text-based prompts into working applications. With application creation possible through a chat interface where requirements are described, an artificial intelligence capability enables application building without prior coding knowledge. This makes app development accessible both to beginning programmers and to seasoned developers looking for rapid prototyping solutions.
It builds applications fundamentally within the frameworks of React and Vite for a responsive frontend. On the backend, the integration works with Supabase, an open-source Firebase alternative, for database storage, authentication, and cloud functions. Lovable supports GitHub integration for version control and collaborative development by the users.
Part 2: Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your First Project with Lovable
1. Getting Started with Lovable
To get started, you need to sign up on Lovable for a free account on its official portal. After signing up, users are provided with an AI-powered interface through which they can instantly start building their projects. With the free version, you get 5 prompts daily.
Next, you have to put in the first prompt, so describe the app idea with the simplest of words. This prompt becomes the very basis of the project that gives the AI some footing to generate an initial structure.
Based on your description, Lovable produces a simple app with a modern UI design and basic functionality. From here, you can play around with the generated designs, try out what works and what does not, and make further refinements until it all matches your vision.
2. Writing your first Lovable prompt
Let’s see how this works with an example.
To display Lovable’s features, let’s try to build a simple budget tracking application. The following prompt is what we will use to get started.
“I want a mobile budget tracker app: Add Income/Expenses, Categorize Transactions, and show the summary view of the financial activity of users.”
Lovable will generate a working version of the app that has simple CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) functionalities. Users will be able to log their transactions, categorize them (food, rent, entertainment), and see running balances of what is available to them.
For now, the app will store data in local storage so that the user can keep the financial record variables intact even after refreshing the page. Local storage being device-dependent would somewhat hamper users from accessing their budgets from different devices.
So, it is important to integrate a database, in your case, Supabase.
3. Upgrading to a Cloud Database with Supabase
Lovable’s native integration with Supabase allows you to manage both your front-end UI and back-end database through a single, user-friendly chat interface. This means you can design your app’s screens and set up a cloud PostgreSQL database all within Lovable, without having to leave the platform.
Steps to Connect Supabase
- Click the “Supabase” button in the Lovable interface.
- Sign up for a Supabase account or log in if you already have one.
- Create a new organization in Supabase and authorize Lovable to access it.
- Click “Create Project” to generate a database.
- Return to Lovable and connect your app to the Supabase project.
4. Adding User Authentication
For improved access control and privacy, let’s add user authentication to our budget tracker app. Built-in authentication from Supabase would allow a very simple prompt for adding login and signup functionality.
“Add user authentication so that every user has their own private mobile budget tracker app.”
Once prompted, Lovable will automatically:
- Set up authentication tables in Supabase for user account management.
- Add login and signup screens to the app’s user interface.
- Secure database access such that each user can view-only and manage their financial information.
5. Publishing your Lovable App
After your app is complete, the next step is to publish it online, thereby making it available to users. The process has been made easy by Lovable, which can be done in just a few clicks. When you click the Publish button, you initiate the deployment process, allowing the AI to take care of the technicalities of hosting and launching your app.
The moment you click publish, Lovable’s AI quietly manages deployment in the background. This may take some time while the platform configures your app for public access.
Once the deployment is successful, Lovable gives you a special link to your app. You can provide that link to anyone, so they can experience the app in real-time.
If you update or add features later, just hit Update and the latest version will be available immediately.
6. Adding a Custom Domain
By default, your application is accessible via staging subdomain (e.g., yoursite.lovable.app). However, you can connect your site to a custom domain (e.g., yourdomain.com) or a subdomain (e.g., subdomain.yourdomain.com) that you own. This is fairly easy to setup.
You can navigate to Project, then Domains and then click, Add another domain. From there, just follow the steps, and you will be verified in no time. For more information on specific domain setups, you can access the Lovable documentation.
Part 3: What other features does Lovable have?
As mentioned previously, Lovable is not just a “landing page” generator, but rather a full-stack platform, which can take care of almost all software development aspects.
1. GitHub Integration for Manual Code Edits
Lovable allows users to connect a project with GitHub for manual editing. Through this, developers will be able to edit the code in the traditional way to enhance or build their app beyond Lovable’s interface.
How to Connect Lovable to GitHub
- Create a GitHub account if you don’t have one.
- Click on the “GitHub” in Lovable.
- Then, select “Transfer project to GitHub” and choose an organization/repository.
- Once linked, you can manually modify the code using Visual Studio Code or another IDE (eg. GitHub Codespaces).
How to Edit Code in Lovable with Dev Mode
Originally, editing your code required connecting your Lovable project to GitHub, but Dev Mode provides an alternative. You can now edit your project’s code directly in Lovable, providing you more control as a developer.
You can now enable code editing in Account > Settings > Labs.
2. Monetizing Apps with Stripe Integration
Integrating a revenue stream into your app is easy with the Stripe integration in Lovable. You can add paid plans with a command such as:
“Add Stripe payments so users must subscribe to create more than 10 budgets.”
You must first put in the Stripe API key after being asked if you wish to set up payments through Stripe.
- Next, put together a pricing plan in Stripe and copy the Price ID assigned to it.
- Then, paste this Price ID into Lovable’s chat to finalize the integration.
Lastly, integrating Stripe with Lovable can enable you to monetize your application by offering subscription or single payment access to premium features.
To implement this, you can either limit certain features for free users or offer exclusive content to subscribers. By integrating Stripe, you can efficiently manage subscriptions and payments, thereby generating revenue while enhancing user satisfaction. In the example above, we have done that with a tool called the LMS Advisor.
3. Implementing Cloud Functions (with Supabase)
Cloud functions offer you automation for backend tasks such as sending email reminders for uncompleted tasks. You can use it by instructing Lovable as follows:
“Include a cloud function calling for emailing reminders to make budgets at the end of the month”
Lovable would thereby create a serverless function to run on a schedule for the sending of reminders. The sending would be done through an integration with a third-party email API, such as Resend or SendGrid, to take care of email delivery. When asked to do so, just add the API key and the service becomes active. This will allow users to receive timely notifications without any manual intervention. It can be extremely helpful in applications that need updates often.
⚠️⚠️⚠️ Reminder! In Lovable, cloud functions are implemented through Supabase Edge Functions – serverless TypeScript functions that run on Supabase’s infrastructure, distributed globally close to your users.
4. Converting Your App into a Progressive Web App (PWA)
By default, applications created with Lovable run in standard web applications. However, there are ways to make the user experience better, like installable applications for mobile devices. Just ask Lovable:
“Convert this app into a Progressive Web App (PWA) so that the users can install it on their phones.”
Once the actual installation is complete, whenever the users open the app in a mobile browser, they will see an “Install App” prompt, so they can have the app on their home screen. It brings accessibility closer as well as the native app-like experience, including faster loading times and offline availability.
5. Adding Images to Your Lovable Project
Adding images also refine your project visually and engages users. Lovable helps you bring up images through uploading directly, external imaging sites, and even GitHub storage.
1. Directly Upload Images
The easiest way to add images is the drag and drop them into the chat window or select a file from your device. Lovable is going to analyze and connect that image to your project. In fact, users can mention how to use an image in the prompt; whether as background or header or in a specific section. These prompts can be useful for speedy prototyping since Lovable controls placement.
2. Using Supabase for File Storage (Images & Media)
When your Lovable app needs to handle file uploads, such as user profile pictures, attachments, or other media, Supabase integration is the perfect solution. Supabase offers a Storage service that allows you to conveniently host files—like images, videos, PDFs, and more—alongside your database.
By adding an Upload component or an image upload feature in your Lovable app, the app will utilize Supabase Storage behind the scenes. Uploaded files will be stored in a storage bucket within your Supabase project, and you will receive a URL or reference to display or download the files later.
3. Adding Images to GitHub
This would be the best way to manage your assets as you would want to store your images in a public GitHub repository and reference them into your project. You should first link your project to GitHub.
Then you can upload your images to the public directory, commit the changes, and copy the image path (public/my-image.jpg). Finally, this path can be used in your Lovable prompt, such as: Set the hero section background to public/my-image.jpg. This method will allow full control of the assets and sync.
6. Using Custom (Google) Fonts
Fonts give a very characterful identity to an application. There is no direct mechanism for uploading a font in Lovable, but significantly, you can still use it for your design in conjunction with web-safe fonts and Google Fonts.
1. Websafe Fonts
Web-safe fonts have been installed on almost any operating system, thus ensuring their consistency across devices. They load very quickly, thus enhancing performance. Some of the more commonly used fonts include Arial, Times New Roman, Georgia, Courier New, Verdana, Tahoma, and Trebuchet MS. You can apply any of them in Lovable, for instance, use a prompt like:
“Use Courier New for all headings on the landing page.”
2. Google Fonts
Google Fonts is a repository for free fonts where very creative fonts hide. There are two possible input methods:
- By Name: Use ‘Playfair Display’ for section titles. Use prompts like:
“Use ‘Playfair Display’ as the primary font for section titles.”
- By Link: Copy the link from Google Fonts to reference it, e.g., Apply this Google Font: Dancing Script to all subheadings.
Conclusion
Ultimately, Lovable offers a comfortable and easily manageable platform where anyone can create applications without any knowledge of coding. This makes it especially great for people who are not developers and just want to build a prototype quickly.
Those developers used to working with specific tools and workflows may find it less efficient, but above all, Lovable provides an easy entry point into the coding world.
If you have any questions, feel free to do one of the following:
✅ Follow me on LinkedIn, and click the 🔔 at the top of my profile page to stay up to date with my latest content!
✅ Explore my nano LinkedIn Learning courses covering AI tips with ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Zapier, or take a look at the Generative AI category.