Bolt Forge

Bolt Forge is a new agent inside Bolt.new, the AI app builder, that runs on open-source AI models only. It launched on September 14, 2026 as a research preview and sits in the agent picker next to the Standard and Max agents that Bolt users already work with. Forge is an agent rather than a single model, so builders can switch into it, build with open models, and switch back to Standard or Max at any time. Its headline promise is scale of usage: every individual Pro plan includes up to 50X more Forge usage at no extra cost through October 14, 2026, with no daily caps. In exchange, builders who opt in share de-identified build sessions that help train new open models, starting with the U.S. open-model lab Arcee AI. Bolt Forge was created because price has decided who gets to build with AI at speed and scale. Builders arrive at Bolt with an idea and the skill to see it through, then ration prompts like fuel: every brainstorm, every rough draft, every dead end burns credits priced for polished work. The drafting phase of building, the part where you need room to wander, is exactly the part usage caps punish. Forge removes that penalty by making the allocation big enough to draft, test, tear down, and rebuild, so builders can test a big idea, play around with new concepts, and experiment as far outside the box as they want, while saving premium credits for the work that needs them. A second motivation is the models themselves: Bolt states that AI inference costs have dropped 280x in 18 months according to the Stanford HAI AI Index 2025, a collapse that makes an allocation this large possible, and open-source models improve when they see how real software gets built, which is the one thing you cannot scrape. Opted-in Forge sessions provide exactly that, with consent. Forge runs a lineup of open models that users can see and select. As of September 2026 that means GLM 5.3 Flash with GLM 5.3 alongside it, plus Kimi K3 and DeepSeek v4 Pro as experimental options. The lineup will evolve, and when a new open model drops, Forge is the first place in Bolt it lands. Two honest notes accompany the lineup: these models are experimental inside Bolt, so builders should duplicate their project before switching a serious build into Forge and keep complex production work in Standard or Max; and they do not all cost the same to run, because Kimi K3 and DeepSeek v4 Pro burn through usage faster than the GLM pair, so starting on the default and reaching for the heavier models when the work calls for it is the recommended approach. Forge also cannot take PDF uploads yet. Capability was tested before shipping: the Forge lineup ran through the Bolt Build Index, Bolt's own benchmark for how well a model completes real Bolt projects, and came out at 92.2 against 101.0 for the top paid model, Claude Opus 5, which is 91% of the top score. The Forge allocation is a headline part of the offer. Every individual Pro plan includes it at no extra cost through October 14, drawn from a single monthly bar that resets on the renewal date, with no daily limits and a hard stop at 100%. Every Pro tier gets the same allowance, and Forge usage is separate from Standard and Max usage. When the bar hits 100%, Bolt switches the builder back to Standard rather than charging an overage, so usage can be read at a glance with no daily math and no surprise pause mid-project. Bolt describes the allocation itself as the payment for the data builders choose to share, and says the amount is big enough to draft, test, tear down, and rebuild. Training in Forge is opt-in. A one-tap consent screen spells out the trade in plain language before a builder begins working in Forge. The shared data includes prompts, code, project files and configuration, the tool calls Bolt makes, and edit histories including the fix traces Bolt creates. Bolt strips and de-identifies secrets and personal information before anything leaves its infrastructure, and validates the pipeline against seeded test data. Switching back to Standard or Max stops Forge from collecting anything new, and builders can email privacy@stackblitz.com to ask Bolt to stop using Forge content it has already collected. Teams and Enterprise workspaces are excluded from Forge and from AI training and dataset licensing, and sessions from the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland are not used for training or datasets either, so builders in those regions get the Forge allocation without the trade. The training side starts with Arcee AI, the U.S. open-model lab behind the Apache 2.0-licensed Trinity model family; Bolt has partnered with Arcee to help train a trillion-parameter-class model, and sessions shared during the preview window from September 14 to October 14, 2026 feed the first training run, which begins in October. A data license agreement governs every transfer, StackBlitz may be paid for the datasets it licenses, and those datasets may go to other AI developers as well as Arcee. Forge works in five steps from start to finish. First, pick Forge in the agent picker, where it appears as a third agent next to Standard and Max on every individual Pro plan. Second, opt in with one tap after a consent screen spells out the trade. Third, build: Forge usage draws from one monthly bar with no daily limits and a hard stop at 100%. Fourth, Bolt de-identifies shared sessions before anything leaves its infrastructure, stripping secrets, sensitive data, and personal information as a rule and validating the pipeline against seeded test data. Fifth, the sessions go into datasets that Bolt licenses to AI developers under a data license agreement, with Arcee AI as the first. Underneath, two pieces of infrastructure make the economics work. Bolt runs Forge on its own reserved hardware instead of paying a provider per request, so a fixed, predictable cost means more of what you pay goes to building instead of markup. And Forge projects run in the browser on WebContainers, the technology StackBlitz built and Bolt runs on, so there is no server rented for every build, builds stay fast, and costs stay low. Benefits of Forge centre on removing the competition between experimentation and production work. Brainstorms, MVPs, and experiments stop competing with production work for premium credits. Users get 91% of the top paid model's Bolt Build Index score included with Pro at no extra cost. Usage is readable at a glance: one monthly bar, no daily limits, and a hard stop instead of an overage bill. And builders get a hand in what comes next, because their sessions teach open models how real software actually gets built. Bolt frames it simply: every Forge build does two jobs, it ships your thing and it teaches open models how real software gets built. Already on Pro, there is nothing to buy and no line to stand in. In practice, Forge is designed for the drafting phase of building. It is the place to test a big idea, play around with new concepts, and experiment far outside the box, with enough room to draft, test, tear down, and rebuild without rationing prompts. Because the allocation is separate from Standard and Max usage and has no daily limits, builders can run brainstorms, MVPs, and experiments in Forge while keeping premium credits for production work. Users who want to try the heavier experimental models such as Kimi K3 and DeepSeek v4 Pro can do so when the work calls for it, while starting on the default GLM pair for everyday building. Duplicating a project before switching a serious build into Forge is the recommended workflow, given that the models are experimental inside Bolt. Forge is aimed at individual Pro plan builders on Bolt.new: people who arrive with an idea and the skill to see it through, and who want room to experiment without burning premium credits. Teams and Enterprise workspaces are excluded from Forge, and from AI training and dataset licensing, and sessions from the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland are not used for training or datasets. Getting started on an individual Pro plan means opening the agent picker, choosing Bolt Forge, and taking the one-tap opt-in; Bolt says you are building on open models in under a minute. Builders who are not on Pro have two doors: join the Bolt Lite waitlist, where codes go out in waves and the first seats open by September 21, 2026, or skip the line with Pro at $25 a month billed yearly, which includes up to 50X Forge usage at no extra cost and no access code required. Bolt Lite is offered at $9 a month, and anyone on Bolt Lite when sign-ups close on October 14, 2026 keeps the plan. Bolt Forge is Bolt.new's experiment in making open-source models the everyday building surface. It trades up to 50X more usage, no daily caps, and a dedicated allocation for opt-in, de-identified build sessions that help train open models with Arcee AI. The trade-off against Bolt's top paid model is nine index points; the payoff is room to draft, test, tear down, and rebuild without rationing prompts, plus a hand in what comes next for open models.