Search lovable github and you get a confusing picture: a GitHub organization that looks official, a repository called open-lovable with tens of thousands of stars that is not made by Lovable, and a stream of forum posts about connecting Lovable to your own repositories. Three different things are getting tangled together. This article separates them, with numbers pulled from the GitHub API on September 15, 2026, and then covers the repositories that actually do what people are usually looking for when they run that search.
Quick Answer
- Lovable is not open source. Its GitHub organization,
lovable-dev, exists but publishes zero public repositories as of September 15, 2026. There is no source code to read, fork or host. - A lovable github search usually means one of three different things: looking for Lovable's source code, looking for Lovable's GitHub sync feature, or looking for an open source builder to use instead.
firecrawl/open-lovable(28,420 stars, MIT) is not Lovable and is not a general app builder. It clones existing websites into React.- The genuine open source alternatives are
dyad-sh/dyad(21,546 stars, local, bring your own model keys) andtotalumlabs/lovable-alternative(MIT, self-hosted, hosting and database included, resellable). - Lovable does have a real GitHub integration that syncs your generated project to your own repository. That is a product feature, not open source code.
The three things people mean by "lovable github"
1. "Is Lovable open source? Where is the code?"
It is not, and there is none. The lovable-dev organization on GitHub is real, and it currently publishes zero public repositories. There is no self-hosted edition, no community edition and no source-available license. Lovable is a closed-source hosted product that runs on Lovable's servers and is billed per message.
This is a perfectly normal way to run a company. It is only worth stating plainly because a lot of blog posts imply otherwise, and because it settles the question people are actually asking: you cannot read it, you cannot fork it, and you cannot host it.
2. "How do I connect Lovable to GitHub?"
This one exists and works. Lovable can push the project it builds for you into a repository you own, so the generated application's source is available to you even though the builder's source is not.
That distinction is the whole thing, and it trips people up constantly:
- The app Lovable builds for you: yours, and you can sync it to GitHub.
- Lovable itself, the builder: theirs, closed, and not on GitHub.
If your goal was to own the output, the GitHub sync feature solves it. If your goal was to own the tool, it does not.
3. "Show me the open source version of Lovable"
This is what most of the search volume actually wants, and it is where the confusion peaks, because the repository that ranks best for it is not what it sounds like.
The open-lovable trap
firecrawl/open-lovable has 28,420 stars and a name that reads like an open source Lovable. It is neither made by Lovable nor an app builder.
Its own description is accurate and worth quoting: "Clone and recreate any website as a modern React app in seconds." It is a website-cloning demo built by the Firecrawl team. Point it at a URL, get a React front end that resembles that site.
That is a genuinely clever tool, and it is not a replacement for a prompt-to-app builder. It does not give you a database, auth, hosting, a live preview workspace, iteration through follow-up prompts, or a deploy flow. Its last commit at the time of writing was November 19, 2025, roughly ten months ago.
If you starred it expecting a self-hostable Lovable, this is the paragraph that saves you an afternoon.
What is actually on GitHub, compared
Here is the landscape with live numbers, pulled from the GitHub API on September 15, 2026. Star counts move, so treat them as a snapshot rather than a standing fact.
| Repository | Stars | License | Last commit | What it actually is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
lovable-dev (org) |
n/a | none | no public repos | Lovable's GitHub presence. Nothing published. |
firecrawl/open-lovable |
28,420 | MIT | Nov 19, 2025 | Website cloner, not an app builder. |
dyad-sh/dyad |
21,546 | Apache 2.0 with FSL terms | Sep 15, 2026 | Local desktop AI app builder, bring your own model keys. |
stackblitz-labs/bolt.diy |
19,875 | MIT | Feb 7, 2026 | Community fork of Bolt. Any LLM, bring your own hosting. |
totalumlabs/lovable-alternative |
new | MIT | Sep 15, 2026 | Self-hosted builder UI; hosting, database, auth and deploys included via one API key. Resellable. |
Two observations that the star counts hide.
Stars measure attention, not fitness. The most-starred repository on that list is the one least likely to do what a Lovable refugee wants. Popularity here is partly a function of a very good name.
Maintenance velocity varies a lot. dyad shipped code the day this was written. bolt.diy's last commit was seven months earlier. Neither fact is disqualifying on its own, but if you are going to build on something, it belongs in the decision.
Choosing between the real options
The three serious open source builders are not competing for the same job, so the choice is mostly about one question: who runs the infrastructure that the generated apps need?
dyad, if you want nothing to leave your machine
dyad runs locally, uses your own model keys, and the code never goes anywhere. It is the right answer when privacy or model choice is the binding constraint, and it is the most popular open source Lovable alternative for good reason. You supply the model keys, and you arrange hosting and a database for anything you build.
bolt.diy, if you want maximum model flexibility
The community fork of Bolt, MIT licensed, designed around using any LLM you want. Same trade: you bring the keys and the hosting.
lovable-alternative, if what you liked was the hosted experience
totalumlabs/lovable-alternative is the repository we maintain. It is the builder interface, MIT licensed, and it is a thin client in front of one API key that supplies the coding agent, sandboxes, hosting, managed databases, deploys, custom domains, GitHub sync and logs.
The practical consequence is the setup:
git clone https://github.com/totalumlabs/lovable-alternative.git
cd lovable-alternative
npm install
cp .env.example .env.local # set TOTALUM_VCAAS_API_KEY=tlm_sk_...
npm run devOne environment variable, and an app you describe is live on a public HTTPS URL a few minutes later, with its own database. No Supabase project, no Vercel account, no model provider key.
The trade in the other direction is equally plain, and you should weigh it: it depends on a hosted API, so it does not run offline and it does not take your own model keys. If that is unacceptable, dyad is the better tool and we would rather say so here than waste your time.
There is also a second, non-obvious property: because the builder is a thin client, it is resellable. Rebrand it, add a login and Stripe, and it is your own AI app builder product. We cover that path in full in the open source Lovable alternative deep dive and the self-hosting walkthrough.
What the generated apps look like, and why it matters
One difference between these repositories shows up long after you have chosen, so it is worth knowing early.
Lovable's default output, and that of most builders in this category, is a client-rendered single-page React app: an empty HTML shell plus a JavaScript bundle that draws the page in the browser. For an internal tool that is entirely fine.
lovable-alternative generates server-rendered full-stack Next.js projects with an integrated database. Crawlers and AI search engines receive complete HTML rather than a blank shell, per-page metadata and sitemaps are first-class, and data-driven pages render on the server so every record can have its own indexable URL.
If the apps you build are landing pages, directories, marketplaces, blogs or stores, that is the difference between something that can rank and something that structurally cannot. Our roundup of open source AI app builders goes through how each option handles this.
One thing to check before you clone anything
Every self-hostable builder in this category ships with the same sharp edge, and it is worth checking in whichever repository you pick: does it have authentication?
In lovable-alternative the answer is a deliberate no. Every route is public and the app acts on one API key, so anyone who can reach the URL can spend that key's credits. The repository says so in the README, and the two guard functions you need to implement are named explicitly in src/app/api/vcaas/_shared.ts. Locally or on a private network it does not matter. On a public domain it matters a great deal.
Check the equivalent in dyad or bolt.diy before you expose either one. A builder with no login and a funded API key is the most expensive kind of open port.
A checklist for evaluating any open source AI app builder repo
Star counts and README screenshots are poor predictors of whether a repository will still be serving you in three months. These six checks take about ten minutes and are the ones that have actually mattered.
1. Read the license, not the badge. MIT and Apache 2.0 permit commercial use and reselling. Additional terms such as FSL clauses can restrict building a directly competing product, which is fine for internal use and decisive if you intend to sell. dyad carries such terms; bolt.diy, open-lovable and lovable-alternative are plain MIT.
2. Check the last commit date, not the star count. A repository with 28,000 stars and a ten-month-old last commit is a snapshot, not a project. Open the commits tab and look at the last thirty days.
3. Ask what the generated app needs to actually run. This is the biggest hidden cost and almost nobody puts it in the README comparison table. A builder that emits code is only half a solution if you then have to provision a database, arrange auth, set up file storage, configure a deploy pipeline and buy hosting for every app. Count the vendors you will be holding after the first successful build.
4. Count the required environment variables. It is a crude proxy for integration cost and it is a remarkably good one. One variable means the setup is a thin client. Eight variables means you are assembling a platform.
5. Look for the auth story. Find out whether the builder has a login, and if not, whether the README tells you the truth about that and names the files where your guards go. A repo that is vague on this point is a repo that has not been run in front of real users.
6. Open the file that holds the API keys. There should be exactly one, it should be server-only, and no client component should import it. If secrets are scattered or reachable from the browser bundle, that is a structural problem rather than a bug you can patch.
What each option leaves you holding
The single most useful way to compare these repositories is to ask what still needs solving after the agent finishes writing code.
| After the build, who provides... | dyad | bolt.diy | lovable-alternative |
|---|---|---|---|
| The AI model and its billing | You | You | Included in one key |
| A sandbox to run the app | You | You | Included |
| A database for the app | You | You | Included, browsable in the builder |
| Auth and file storage for the app | You | You | Included |
| Hosting with HTTPS | You | You | Included, one click |
| A custom domain and its certificate | You | You | Included, guided DNS |
| Version history and rollback | Git | Git | Built in, with a diff viewer |
Neither column is the right answer in general. The left columns buy you independence and cost you assembly. The right column buys you speed and costs you a hosted dependency. What is not defensible is choosing without noticing the trade, which is what happens when the comparison stops at stars and licenses.
FAQ
Is Lovable open source?
No. Lovable is a closed-source hosted product. Its GitHub organization lovable-dev publishes zero public repositories as of September 15, 2026, and there is no self-hosted, community or source-available edition.
What is the official Lovable GitHub repo?
There is not one. Lovable publishes no public source code. Repositories with Lovable in the name, including firecrawl/open-lovable, are third-party projects with no affiliation to Lovable Labs.
Is open-lovable the same as Lovable?
No. firecrawl/open-lovable is a website-cloning tool from the Firecrawl team that turns an existing site into a React front end. It is not built by Lovable, and it is not a prompt-to-app builder with a database, hosting or a deploy flow.
Can I export my Lovable project to GitHub?
Yes. Lovable's GitHub integration syncs the project it generates for you into a repository you own. That gives you the source of your app, not the source of the builder.
Which open source Lovable alternative should I use?
If you want everything local with your own model keys, use dyad. If you want maximum model flexibility, look at bolt.diy. If what you wanted was the hosted product experience, meaning apps that arrive with hosting, a database, auth and a domain, delivered as code you can self-host and resell, use totalumlabs/lovable-alternative.
Are these repositories free for commercial use?
open-lovable, bolt.diy and lovable-alternative are MIT licensed, which permits commercial use and reselling. dyad is Apache 2.0 with additional FSL terms, so read its license before building a competing commercial product on it.
Ready to build with Totalum?
If you came to this article from a lovable github search because you wanted source code you can run, the repository is github.com/totalumlabs/lovable-alternative. It is MIT, it takes one API key, and the quick start is four commands.
If you would rather see the output before cloning anything, start free at totalum.app and describe an app. The first 50 credits are free, and you can push the generated project to your own GitHub repository at any point.
If you run an agency or a SaaS and the resellable part is what caught your attention, book a 30 minute call and we will walk through the white-label program and what the integration looks like in your stack.
Star counts and commit dates in this article were read from the GitHub REST API on September 15, 2026 and will drift over time. Creable and totalumlabs/lovable-alternative are independent open source projects, not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Lovable Labs Incorporated. "Lovable" is a trademark of its owner, used here only to describe what these projects are alternatives to.