Built it with Lovable?
Keep changing it from GitHub.
Lovable's Git sync keeps your app's code in a GitHub repository you own. Refinar opens it, runs the app in the cloud and lets your team change it.
Where Lovable leaves off
The first version is the easy part
Lovable is very good at the first version. Describe the app, watch it appear, press Publish. The questions change once customers depend on it, and most of them are about control rather than speed.Anyone with editor access can publish
On every Lovable plan below Enterprise, anyone with editor access can press Publish, and the preview you test in shares its backend and data with the live app (Lovable's publishing docs).It only opens the repository it created
Lovable can't open a repository it didn't make, so an app a developer has moved or rebuilt elsewhere is out of its reach (why that is).Lovable and Refinar, side by side
- Made for
Lovable: Building a new web app from a prompt, and hosting it
Refinar: Changing an app that already exists on GitHub
- Code it can open
Lovable: Projects it created, synced to a new repository
Refinar: Any GitHub repository you connect, including the one Lovable made
- Who can put a change live
Lovable: Anyone with editor access, unless you're on Enterprise
Refinar: The person who asked, for changes to looks and wording. A developer, for sign-in, payments and customer data
- How a change arrives
Lovable: Committed to the synced branch as you build
Refinar: Published to your default branch, or opened as a draft pull request
- Hosting
Lovable: Lovable hosts the app, and a change goes live when someone presses Publish
Refinar: Optional. One live site per team, at a refinar.app address or your own domain, updated on every publish
- Starting price
Lovable: Free plan. Pro is $25 a month for 100 credits
Refinar: $50 a month for about 100 requests, with 20 teammates
| Lovable | Refinar | |
|---|---|---|
| Made for | Building a new web app from a prompt, and hosting it | Changing an app that already exists on GitHub |
| Code it can open | Projects it created, synced to a new repository | Any GitHub repository you connect, including the one Lovable made |
| Who can put a change live | Anyone with editor access, unless you're on Enterprise | The person who asked, for changes to looks and wording. A developer, for sign-in, payments and customer data |
| How a change arrives | Committed to the synced branch as you build | Published to your default branch, or opened as a draft pull request |
| Hosting | Lovable hosts the app, and a change goes live when someone presses Publish | Optional. One live site per team, at a refinar.app address or your own domain, updated on every publish |
| Starting price | Free plan. Pro is $25 a month for 100 credits | $50 a month for about 100 requests, with 20 teammates |
Lovable details from its own documentation, read on 5 October 2026.
Things to know first
The preview runs on live data
Lovable commits your backend's address and public key to the repository's .env file, so Refinar's preview talks to the same database as the published app, just as Lovable's own preview does. Since 5 October 2026 every Lovable Cloud project has one database for building and for the live app. A test sign-up made in the preview is a real sign-up.Backend files don't deploy through GitHub
A changed edge function or a new migration file waits in the repository until someone asks Lovable to deploy it or runs the SQL by hand (Lovable's sync docs). Refinar already sends changes like these to a developer, and this is one more reason to.Connectors stay with Lovable in newer apps
In apps created since 13 May 2026, Lovable's connectors and Lovable AI don't work outside Lovable: the credentials behind them stay with Lovable, and the app's server code runs wherever the app does. Older apps make those calls from the Lovable Cloud backend, so they keep working.Refinar hosts apps, not databases
Even when Refinar hosts the front end, a Lovable Cloud backend stays with Lovable, which supports exactly that split (Lovable on hosting elsewhere). Moving the backend into a Supabase account of your own is a manual job: Lovable added an SQL export in July 2026, but storage files and secrets still move by hand.From Lovable project to first change
01
Turn on Git sync in Lovable
Connect the project to GitHub from inside Lovable. It's on every plan, Free included, and creates a new repository that stays in step with the project (step by step).
02
Give Refinar that one repository
Sign in with GitHub and choose the repository Lovable made. Refinar can read only the projects you pick, and you can take access away whenever you like (connecting GitHub).
03
Let it start the app
Refinar works out how the app runs, installs it and opens a live preview in the cloud. Nothing runs on your computer.
04
Ask for a change
Type what you want, or click the button or heading you mean in the preview, and watch the agent make it. Until you publish, each change can be taken back.
05
Publish it, or send it for review
Publishing writes the change to your default branch, the one Lovable syncs unless someone switched it, so it shows up in the Lovable project too. If Refinar hosts the app, it goes live by itself a few minutes later; if Lovable still does, it goes live the next time someone presses Publish there. Work that touches sign-in, payments or customer data goes to your developer as a draft pull request with notes on what's left, or to Refinar's developers within four hours on business days.
Questions from Lovable users
Do I have to stop using Lovable?
No. The sync runs both ways, so you can keep building features in Lovable and use Refinar for changes that need a second pair of eyes. Let one finish before starting the other on the same branch. If the two histories split, Lovable moves its own edits to a branch called lovable-sync, and the next sync from GitHub replaces its copy.
Can Refinar host the app instead of Lovable?
Yes, if it's a React and Vite app, which every Lovable app was until 13 May 2026. Each team gets one live site on any plan, at a refinar.app address or on your own domain, and every change you publish goes live a few minutes later. Newer Lovable apps run on TanStack Start, which needs a server Refinar's hosting doesn't run, so those stay on Lovable's hosting or move to a host such as Vercel. Either way the backend stays where it is.
What if I've already moved off Lovable Cloud?
Refinar starts from the repository, so the host doesn't matter to it, and an app on your own Supabase project opens the same way as one on Lovable Cloud.
Who checks the risky changes if nobody on the team codes?
One of Refinar's developers, within four hours on business days. They see the request, the change and the running preview, and nothing in those areas goes live until it's approved.
What does it cost?
Plans begin at $50 a month, which covers about 100 requests. Twenty teammates are included, and unused credits carry over while the plan is active (pricing).
Lovable details come from its documentation on Git sync, publishing, the preview and Lovable Cloud, read on 5 October 2026. For the wider field, see Lovable alternatives for an app you already have.