Echelar vs Bolt. The Bolt alternative for apps with real users.
Bolt is a fast way to go from a prompt to a running app in the browser. Once customers depend on it, every change needs planning, tests and review. Echelar's AI agents do that on your own GitHub repository, and you approve every pull request.
45 minutes, live, on one real change. We connect one repository, and you can remove access after.
See the differences- Lea, founder, asks in Echelar
Let customers invite a teammate to their account.
- Orchestrator & Product plans it
An invites table, an invite email through your existing provider, and an accept page. Done when an invited teammate can sign in and see the same orders.
- Builder opens pull request #57
6 files changed, 4 tests added, 14 tests pass.
- PR Reviewer blocks it
The new invites table has no row-level security policy, so any signed-in user could read every invite.
DOCS/security.md · “Every table with user data has a policy.” - Fix Session, re-review clean
Policy added, plus a test that a second user can’t read the invite. Checks passed at 3e91aa.
- Lea merges #57
29 min from ask to merge$1.86 AI spend1 finding fixed before merge
Bolt and Echelar, side by side.
Bolt gets you to a first version fast. Echelar is built for the versions after it, when customers depend on the app.
| Topic | Bolt | Echelar |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Going from a prompt to a running app in the browser, fast. | Keeping an app with real users working as it grows. |
| How you ask | Chat in the Bolt editor. | Ask in Echelar, Slack or Linear, in plain language. |
| How a change lands | Bolt applies it in the editor and can push it to a connected GitHub repository. | A pull request on your GitHub repository, planned against how your app is built. |
| How it is checked | In the editor preview, as you build. | Your tests run, and a separate PR Reviewer checks the change against your rules. Where tests are missing, it says so. |
| Hosting | Included. | Not included. Echelar works on the code; where it runs stays your choice. |
| Pricing | Plans with monthly tokens. | Your own model keys, paid to the provider directly. Early teams agree pricing with the founder. |
Stay on Bolt if
- You're still shaping the idea and want a running app in minutes.
- Nobody depends on the app yet.
- Hosting in the same tool matters more to you than review.
Bring in Echelar when
- Customers depend on the app and fixes start breaking other things.
- You want every change tested and reviewed before it ships.
- You want a codebase a developer can pick up, on your own GitHub.
Make your Bolt app production-ready.
One repository, three steps. No rewrite and no migration project: Echelar starts from the code you have.
- 01Connect Bolt to GitHub
In your Bolt project, connect GitHub and push the code to a repository. Then install the Echelar GitHub App on it.
- 02Echelar learns your app
It maps the architecture, conventions and docs, and shows you what it knows and what it doesn't yet.
- 03Ask for the next change
In plain language, in Echelar, Slack or Linear. You get a pull request that was planned, tested and reviewed, with a summary of what changed and what was checked.
Built right, every change.
Right means right for your app: its structure, its rules and its tests. Echelar applies them to every change and keeps the evidence.
- Built on how your app already works.
Every Session starts from your app's structure and rules, and keeps each change focused on what you asked for.
- Reviewed before you read it.
The PR Reviewer reads each change against your rules and blocks what would break them. The fix comes back for another review.
- You make the call.
Agents propose, build and review. Only people merge, deploy and enable. You read the summary, check the result, and merge when you're ready.
Questions about Bolt and Echelar.
Is Echelar a Bolt alternative?
For apps with real users, yes. Echelar isn't an in-browser app builder with hosting. It is a team of AI agents that plans, builds, tests and reviews changes on your GitHub repository, so it fits when a Bolt app needs to keep working as it grows.
Can I keep using Bolt with Echelar?
Yes. Bolt can pull in changes made on GitHub, so the pull requests you merge there can come back into your Bolt project. It's simplest to make each change in one place at a time.
Does Echelar host my app?
No. Echelar works on the code in your repository. Where the app runs stays your choice.
Do I need to be a developer?
No. You ask in plain language and approve pull requests. Each one comes with a summary of what changed and what was checked. Someone has to decide what to merge, and that person can be you.
What does it cost?
You bring your own model keys and pay model providers directly. Echelar is in early release, and early teams agree its pricing with the founder.
Bring the Bolt app you're afraid to touch.
We'll connect its repository live, and you'll see what Echelar learns, what it builds, what it catches, and where it waits for you.
45 minutes, live, on one real change. We connect one repository, and you can remove access after.