What is Cursor Live Apps?

A Cursor feature released November 5, 2026 that lets a cloud agent build a web app, provision a Postgres database if needed, put it behind Cursor sign-in, run deterministic and AI security checks, and publish it to a URL you choose. It is available on all paid Cursor plans with cloud agents enabled. Apps are private, team-wide or (on individual plans) public; public sharing is off by default on Teams and Enterprise.

Cursor Live Apps vs Lovable vs Replit vs Retool: which is best for internal tools?

As of November 8, 2026: Cursor Live Apps if your company already uses Cursor and wants engineers and non-engineers to ship small internal apps behind company sign-in with admin oversight; Lovable for the fastest prompt-to-app path with a built-in backend, from $25 a month; Replit for full-stack apps with databases and many artifact types, Core $20 a month; and Retool when the tool is a CRUD interface over existing databases and APIs that needs permissions, audit logs and long-term maintenance.

Is Cursor Live Apps secure enough for company data?

It has stronger defaults than most prompt-to-app builders: four always-on publish checks block secrets in app files, credential files, .env files and source maps; an AI security review blocks serious issues; team admins see every app and secret, can add review rules, approve blocked publishes (except malicious code or exposed credentials) and unpublish any app; and the agent never sees secret values. Still, treat apps built by non-engineers as unreviewed code and keep sensitive systems behind least-privilege credentials.

How much does Cursor Live Apps cost?

Cursor's documentation lists no separate hosting price; Apps is included on paid plans with cloud agents. On Cursor's current individual price list, cloud agents start with the $30-a-month Premium plan (Plus at $8 does not list cloud agents). Model usage beyond the plan and third-party models are billed separately, so watch agent usage rather than hosting.

Quick Answer

Cursor Live Apps vs Lovable, Replit, Retool: Internal Tools

Published: November 8, 2026

The short answer

Cursor just entered the internal-tools market: on November 5, 2026 it shipped Live Apps, which take a prompt to a hosted, signed-in web app with a database. As of November 8, 2026:

Cursor Live Apps — best if your company already runs on Cursor and wants governed, shareable internal apps.
Lovable — best for the fastest prompt-to-app path, including for non-developers.
Replit — best for full-stack apps and broader artifact types (dashboards, decks, mobile).
Retool — best for long-lived CRUD tools over existing databases with permissions and audit logs.

The comparison

	Cursor Live Apps	Lovable	Replit	Retool
How you build	Prompt a cloud agent	Prompt (Build/Plan mode)	Prompt Agent; edit code	Visual builder + AI; code where needed
Database	Postgres provisioned automatically	Lovable Cloud backend	Production databases, object storage	Connects to your databases and APIs
Auth	Cursor sign-in (SSO); public only on individual plans	Built into Cloud	App-level auth	Retool users; SSO on Enterprise
Code ownership	Repo on Cursor Origin or GitHub	Exportable code	Code in your Repl	Retool apps (Git on Enterprise)
Pre-publish security	4 always-on checks + AI security review	Usage limits and admin controls	Checkpoints and restores	Permissions, audit logs (Business+)
Admin oversight	Admins see every app and secret, unpublish any app	Workspace limits and alerts	Team plans	Granular roles (Enterprise)
Entry price (Nov 8, 2026)	Included with paid plans that have cloud agents (Premium $30/month individual)	Pro from $25/month (100 credits)	Core $20/month ($20 credits); Pro $100/month	Free up to 5 users; Team €9 per builder + €5 per internal user/month (annual, EU list)

Facts from each vendor’s docs and pricing pages on November 8, 2026.

Cursor Live Apps — governed apps from the editor you already use

You start a cloud agent and say explicitly that you want an app. Cursor scaffolds it, spins up Postgres if needed, puts it behind Cursor SSO, provisions hosting in an isolated per-team account, and asks for any secrets it needs to reach your systems (the agent never sees the values). At publish you pick a URL, then four always-on checks run — blocking secrets in app files, credential files, .env files and source maps — followed by an AI security review that admins can extend with their own rules. Admins see every app and secret, can approve blocked publishes (except malicious code, hardcoded secrets or exposed credentials) and unpublish anything. Apps can come from new repos on Cursor Origin or existing GitHub repos; GitLab is “coming soon”. Scripts and bots reach private apps with a Cursor API key in the x-cursor-app-token header.

Pick it if you want sales, ops and finance teams shipping small tools without a shadow-IT problem. Skip it if you do not use Cursor, or need external customers to log in.

Lovable — fastest from idea to working app

Lovable uses one credit balance for building, chatting, hosting its built-in Cloud backend and AI features in deployed apps. Pro starts at $25 a month for 100 credits (Business from $50), and every plan gets 5 daily build credits plus a monthly Cloud grant. Admins can cap credits per member or project and set alerts.

Pick it if speed matters most and the builders are not engineers. See Lovable vs Bolt vs Replit vs v0 for the wider app-builder field.

Replit — full-stack and beyond web apps

Core costs $20 a month ($204 a year) with $20 of monthly credits, full Agent with Plan and Build modes, five collaborators and unlimited published apps; Pro is $100 a month for up to 15 builders, 10 parallel Agent tasks and credit rollover. Paid Agent work uses effort-based pricing, and Replit asks before a paid action starts.

Pick it if you need a real backend, databases with restore windows, or non-web artifacts such as dashboards and slide decks.

Retool — the long-lived internal tool

Retool is built for interfaces over data you already have: admin panels, approval queues, dashboards. The Free plan covers up to five users; Team costs €9 per builder and €5 per internal user a month on annual billing (EU list); Business (€46 builder, €14 internal user) adds audit logs, rich permissions and external users. Every plan includes pooled AI credits.

Pick it if the tool will live for years, touches production databases and needs permissions an auditor will ask about.

How to choose

Who builds it? Non-engineers: Lovable or Cursor Live Apps. Engineers: any.
Where does the data live? Existing databases: Retool. New data: Cursor, Lovable or Replit.
Who signs in? Only employees: Cursor Live Apps or Retool. Customers: Lovable, Replit or Retool Business.
How long will it live? Weeks: any prompt-to-app builder. Years: Retool or a Git-backed Cursor app with code review.

Last verified: November 8, 2026.