TL;DR
Plan what you want to implement ahead of time.
Don’t use Lovable just for chatting.
Design key screens in dedicated AI design apps.
Focus on using lovable for implementing what’s actually ready.
Step 1: Plan ahead
Credits burn when you use Lovable as a whiteboard or brainstorming partner. Don't. Do the messy thinking elsewhere, to have as few edits as possible.
Start with ChatGPT or ChatPRD for brainstorming. Write a lightweight PRD document that spells out:
What problem is your product/prototype solving?
User flows you actually need.
Features that are must-haves vs nice-to-haves.
Step 2: Design before building
Instead of wasting credits on endless iterations, design the app and user flows first.
There are specialised and much cheaper AI tools if you have no design skills and want to keep the beauty of AI handling this part.
One such tool is Banani. Similar to Lovable, you describe an idea via prompts, but unlike Lovable, you can see multiple screens side by side to better plan for UX and test different styles.
It will allow you to compare visual changes and see features without compromising the vibe-coding feeling.
Step 3: Group edits
When running short on credits, treat Lovable as a real developer. You probably won't bug senior dev with every little request and question.
It's not about NOT making edits or changes, but the same as in Step 1, do more strategic planning of things you want to change at the same time.
Vibe coding appeal is to think less, but it never hurts to avoid sending five messages related to the same thing.
Why do credits get used fast
Every time you spin up a project, add a new feature, or even make a tiny edit, credits vanish. Paid Pro or Business plans give you 100 monthly credits, which, based on our calculations, averages 50 AI edits.
If you keep experimenting inside Lovable, you’ll hit the ceiling quickly. That’s why you need to think before you implement.
Switching to AI alternatives won't solve the problem, as they all have similar plans.
Prompt | Changes | Credits used |
Make the button green | Changes the button styles | 0.5 |
Remove the pricing section | Removes the footer component | 0.9 |
Add FAQ page | Creates a new page | 1.4 |
Change the screen theme to green | Updates styles across the page | 2.0 |
Saas landing page | Creates a landing page with a theme and sections | 2.0+ |
Summary
Lovable is beautiful because it does everything in one place. But credits aren't infinite. Plan in ChatGPT, design in Banani, and then let Lovable do the heavy lifting in a more structured way. That's how you spend fewer credits and actually get more done.
