Built it with Bolt?
Keep changing it from GitHub.
Bolt keeps your project and a GitHub repository in step, both ways. Refinar opens that repository, runs the app in the cloud and lets your team change it.
Where Bolt leaves off
Merged isn't the same as live
Bolt pulls changes made on GitHub into the project, but a site published on Bolt's hosting keeps the old version until the owner or a co-owner presses Update (Bolt's publishing docs).When both change at once, Bolt wins
If Bolt and GitHub both change within moments of each other, Bolt keeps its own edit and overwrites the one on GitHub (Bolt's sync docs). A developer pushing while someone prompts is how a fix disappears.Only the owner's sessions sync
Only the project owner can manage the GitHub link, and a collaborator's edits wait to reach GitHub until the owner opens the project again (collaborating in Bolt).Bolt and Refinar, side by side
- Made for
Bolt: Building a new web or mobile app from a prompt, and hosting it
Refinar: Changing an app that already exists on GitHub
- Code it can open
Bolt: Its own projects, or a GitHub repository imported as a new project
Refinar: Any GitHub repository you connect, including the one Bolt syncs
- Who can put a change live
Bolt: The owner or a co-owner, by pressing Update in Bolt
Refinar: The person who asked, for looks and wording. A developer, for sign-in, payments and customer data
- Merging a branch
Bolt: On GitHub, since Bolt can't merge branches itself
Refinar: Publish merges it, or Send for review hands it to a reviewer
- Database
Bolt: Bolt Database by default, or your own Supabase on Pro and Teams
Refinar: Whatever the app already uses. Refinar runs the app, not the database
- Starting price
Bolt: Free plan. Pro from $25 a month for 10 million tokens
Refinar: $50 a month for about 100 requests, with 20 teammates
| Bolt | Refinar | |
|---|---|---|
| Made for | Building a new web or mobile app from a prompt, and hosting it | Changing an app that already exists on GitHub |
| Code it can open | Its own projects, or a GitHub repository imported as a new project | Any GitHub repository you connect, including the one Bolt syncs |
| Who can put a change live | The owner or a co-owner, by pressing Update in Bolt | The person who asked, for looks and wording. A developer, for sign-in, payments and customer data |
| Merging a branch | On GitHub, since Bolt can't merge branches itself | Publish merges it, or Send for review hands it to a reviewer |
| Database | Bolt Database by default, or your own Supabase on Pro and Teams | Whatever the app already uses. Refinar runs the app, not the database |
| Starting price | Free plan. Pro from $25 a month for 10 million tokens | $50 a month for about 100 requests, with 20 teammates |
Bolt details from its own help centre, read on 11 October 2026.
Things to know first
The keys don't come with the code
Bolt's template leaves the .env file out of the repository, so a fresh copy has no database address or public key, and the app can't load its data until someone adds them. With your own Supabase project, both are in its project settings. For a Bolt Database, Bolt doesn't document where to read them; claiming it into your own Supabase account, on Pro or Teams, is its documented route to full access (claiming).The preview uses your real database
Once the keys are in, Refinar's preview reads and writes the same data as the published app. A test booking made in the preview is a real booking, so try changes with an account you don't mind cleaning up.Server functions are a developer's job
Bolt projects keep server functions and database migrations in the repository, but Bolt doesn't say whether a change to them made on GitHub gets deployed. Treat any change to either as one for a developer to ship by hand.Check what older repositories hold
Some older Bolt repositories saved the database address and key in .bolt/config.json, and the odd one a password. If yours is public, look in that folder before anyone else does.From Bolt project to first change
01
Link the project to GitHub in Bolt
The project owner connects it from Bolt, which creates a private repository on main and keeps it in step from then on (Bolt's GitHub guide). If it's linked already, skip this.
02
Give Refinar that repository
Sign in with GitHub and pick the repository Bolt created. Refinar sees only the repositories you choose, and access can be taken back at any time (connecting GitHub).
03
Add the database keys
Paste in the address and public key the app reads, VITE_SUPABASE_URL and VITE_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY in most Bolt apps. Refinar keeps them out of the repository, and the preview starts with them.
04
Ask for a change
Describe it, or click the part of the preview you mean, and watch the agent make it. Nothing is final until you publish.
05
Publish it, then press Update in Bolt
Publishing merges the change into your default branch, and Bolt pulls it into the project. On Bolt's hosting it reaches customers when the owner presses Update; if the repository deploys to a host such as Vercel or Netlify, that happens by itself. Changes to sign-in, payments or customer data go to a developer as a draft pull request instead.
Questions from Bolt users
Do I have to stop using Bolt?
No. The sync runs both ways, so building in Bolt and changing the app in Refinar can carry on side by side. Just don't do both at the same moment: when Bolt and GitHub change together, Bolt's version is the one kept.
Does it work on a Bolt mobile app?
Partly. Bolt builds mobile apps with Expo, and Refinar previews Expo apps as their web version, which is enough to change screens and wording. Camera, maps, push notifications and other native features don't run in that preview, and Refinar may first need to add the packages Expo uses for the web, which shows up in the change.
Bolt Database or my own Supabase: does it matter?
Not to Refinar, which needs only the address and public key. It matters inside Bolt: claiming a Bolt Database into your own Supabase keeps the data, while connecting a different Supabase project replaces the connection, which Bolt warns may cause data loss (Bolt on Supabase).
Do teammates need Bolt or GitHub accounts?
No. One owner or admin connects the repository through Refinar's GitHub App, and teammates join the Refinar team by invitation. Twenty are included in every plan.
What does it cost?
Plans begin at $50 a month, which covers about 100 requests, and unused credits carry over while the plan is active (pricing).
Bolt details come from its help centre on GitHub sync, publishing, Bolt Database and Supabase, and its pricing page, read on 11 October 2026, and from the layout of public repositories Bolt created. For the wider field, see AI app builders for an app you already have.