Hey Warrior,

I’ve just uploaded a new video to my YouTube channel where I take you step-by-step in building a chrome extension with AI from scratch. Have a look here:

Now let’s get into today’s post:

There's a new AI coding app that's been turning heads lately.

It's called Bolt, and I have to admit, it's pretty impressive.

So people have been wondering, how does Bolt compare to Cursor (which arguably is still the reigning kind of AI coding apps)?

Well, today I'll be comparing these two tools and showing you when to use each one.

Here's what we'll cover:

• What is Bolt (and what is Cursor again)?

• What Bolt is really good at… and what it's not so good at

• When Cursor might be the better choice over Bolt

Read time: 5 minutes

💡 What is Bolt (and what is Cursor again)?

Bolt (bolt.new) is a web-based, AI-powered development environment.

The interface is pretty straightforward.

After you’ve entered your first prompt, there’s a prompt section on the left and a section on the right where code is written and then turned into a preview - kind of like with Claude artifacts.

You can technically edit the code but the UI is not really made for that. You’re supposed to prompt and just see the code being written by the AI.

With Bolt you can create simple web application really quickly. For example, I created a simple note taking app and deployed it in literally 2 minutes!

Cursor, on the other hand, is an AI-powered code editor.

It functions more as a code editor that has AI assistance on the side.

It's mainly designed for developers who want to use AI to help them write code better and faster.

However, the AI features are so good, that many beginners (including myself) use it primarily to write the code with AI, without even touching the code itself.

⚡️ What Bolt is really good at… and what it’s not so good at

Bolt shines in several areas:

1) Fast Deployment 

It's super easy to deploy apps quickly with Bolt. (Deploying means putting an app live on the internet.)

With Cursor, you'd need to take your code over to other applications like Replit or Vercel to deploy it.

But with Bolt, since they integrate with Netlify out of the box, you can just push a button and the app you just built is live!

2) Scaffolding (Building the Skeleton of Your Project) 

When you start building a project, you usually need to set up a bunch of things in the app before you actually start building.

These are things like project dependencies, frameworks, components, and so on.

The AI in Cursor can theoretically do that for you, but it doesn't do it very consistently (I usually just run manual commands in the Terminal to install packages).

But with Bolt, you can just select the framework that you want to build in, on the initial screen!

It'll set up this skeleton, and you can start prompting from there.

So, you can build a very basic version of the web app you want, and then take that code and keep developing it in Cursor.

3) More Beginner-Friendly with an Easier UI 

When you're a beginner and you use Cursor for the first time, it can look a bit daunting. You're seeing code and you don't know where's what - it's just a bit scary.

But with Bolt, it literally feels like you're using ChatGPT or Claude.

You just type in your command, and the code is written immediately. Then you can start testing it in the preview.

It's a lot more beginner-friendly, and I can see this UI winning out in the end as these applications get better.

However…

Right now, Bolt is good for simple projects' scaffolding and prototyping.

Good luck building something more complex with it! I've tried, and it runs into a lot of errors at some point and gets into loops of fixing its own errors.

So, currently, it's not very useful beyond that.

🔧 When to use Cursor instead of Bolt

1) For more complex projects 

If you want to develop a more complex app that is production-ready, can be shipped, monetized and used by many people, then Cursor is still the best choice.

Your project is also a lot more customizable in Cursor. With Bolt, you technically cannot edit any portion of the code - you can only prompt.

The only way to go into the code and edit specific sections is to take it out of Bolt and into the main application of Stackblitz.

Whereas with Cursor, you can just select the files you want to edit and start prompting AI to work on specific parts of the files.

2) Building apps other than web apps 

Bolt is also mostly only useful for web applications currently.

If you want to build other types of applications like mobile apps or Chrome extensions, Bolt really isn't very helpful because you won't be able to preview these in the interface.

You're much better off using Cursor to build and then preview those applications on a different platform.

For example, in the case of a Chrome extension, you can load it into your Chrome browser to test it. Or in the case of an iOS app, you can get it into Xcode and load the iPhone simulator.

🤖 Conclusion

I have to say, Bolt is awesome!

Right now though, I'd say it's mostly useful for prototyping and scaffolding (i.e. creating the first skeleton of your project).

And you can then take that skeleton and bring it into Cursor to keep developing it. (That's how I use it currently.)

BUT the future of this is extremely exciting.

I think Bolt has nailed the UI. This is likely what the future of app development will look like.

Once it gets better and you can actually develop more complex stuff with it, there's no reason why anyone should still be writing or even seeing the code.

You should just be able to prompt and see the application being created for you.

It's a super exciting future, and we're getting a bit of a teaser here with Bolt!

Can’t wait to see what we'll be able to create with just a few prompts in the near future.

Want to dive deeper?

If you're eager to start building apps with AI, you'll love my Cursor Mini Course.

It is tailored for beginners and non-techies that have never written a single line of code in their life.

In it, I'll teach you how to use Cursor to bring your own web app from idea to live, without writing any code, purely by talking to AI in natural language.

You'll also be able to watch videos of me building other projects entirely from start to finish.

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this, consider forwarding this newsletter to a friend or colleague.

What would you like me to write about in the next post? Reply to this email and let me know.

Moritz

P.S.

We now also have a Prompt Warrior community, where we hang out and build software with AI together.

I try to post my unfiltered learnings and findings throughout the week in there, like this one about how the context in Cursor works.

Come join 1000+ other AI builders: