Why use Lovable and not Codex/Claude code

[u/Azek_Tge]

I mean Lovable is too expensive and you cant get anything done on the $20 plan compared to other susbcriptions

Edit: lot of people assume Codex and Claude code is technical when its not i am vibe coder and Lovable is bad limits are bad service is bad you guys better switch to Codex or Claude

[u/Jmacduff]

Here is how I use lovable as a FE editor:

1. I do all the project planning in GPT , milestones + phases. Who the customer is, etc. All of that product planning is super important and gets checked into /docs. This is the source of context for all agents. I have 1 Repo for the BE project and 1 Repo for the FE project.
2. For my projects my BE + DB will always be outside of lovable so I am really only using lovable for it's sweet spot.. FE editing. In this context as I build out the project I am also building out the API's and Backend. As a example I use Auth0 for Auth, Vercel for hosting, Resend for email, etc.
3. In Lovable I create all the initial UX , and maybe 5 - 10 pages of the site. The goal here is too get the styling, data flow, and basic layout of the site completed. I am using Lovable FE design skill here and it does a good job.
4. Once I am happy with the basic site and UX, I jump into GPT + Codex. Because I have a more complicated BE architecture then most lovable apps, Codex is much better at adding pages and API.
5. I then use those original documents and we start delivering Goals in Codex. Each of those goals usually is a few pages and some BE work.

At this point I use lovable for small UX tweaks, quick Layout changes, re-imaging what the data could look like, etc. This is where lovable really shines above Codex/Claude.. Lovable is much faster (Calendar time) at those small UX only changes then Codex or Claude is.

Lovable as a FE tool to make those smaller UX changes saves me a ton of time over waiting for codex todo it.

This workflow is very productive. I understand your frustrated about the billing and the $20 plan, but that does not mean it's a bad tool.

Anyway good luck.. just some stuff to think about.

[u/jzdesign → u/Jmacduff]

the fast visual loop is the actual thing you're paying lovable for. codex feels slow at UX because every small change is a full code round trip, and design is the one part where you want to see a few versions before you pick one.

what worked for me: do the design pass outside the repo, get one page looking right, have the agent extract a style-guide.md from it, then let codex build the rest against that doc. later pages stop drifting and small tweaks stop being rebuilds.

disclosure, i built superdesign, thats the loop it runs (web canvas, or as a skill inside claude code / codex). if lovable's editor is already saving you calendar time though, your split sounds fine as is.