Lovable: From Hero To Zero With 2.0
Remember when Lovable was the darling of the AI development world? Their intuitive interface and reliable performance made them a go-to platform for developers of all skill levels. Unfortunately, that reputation has taken a dramatic nosedive since the release of Lovable 2.0, with users across Reddit and other platforms voicing their frustrations.
The Golden Era of 1.0
Before diving into the current issues, let's remember what made Lovable special:
- Intuitive UI: Users frequently praised the clean, animated interface that made development enjoyable
- Reliable Performance: Projects worked consistently with minimal debugging required
- Fair Credit System: Users understood what they were paying for and how credits were being used
- Responsive Support: Issues were addressed promptly, with clear communication
One user reminisced: "I absolutely loved 1.0 UI design. Great animations. Cool ideas. Unique UI creations. I was super impressed and using Lovable for all my projects."
The 2.0 Update: What Went Wrong?
The release of Lovable 2.0 in early 2025 brought a complete redesign of the platform. While promising enhanced capabilities, users are experiencing numerous critical issues:
1. Mysterious Credit Consumption
Users report credits disappearing without explanation:
"I put myself into chat mode, asked a couple of questions and made a manual edit to one word... suddenly I'm down to 3/5 daily credits?!? I asked Lovable to investigate and it couldn't even tell me what the credits were used for!" - u/neuralgroov2
Another user shared: "I was paying for a scale 1 subscription when this new update hit... At the time I still had 360 credits that I had already paid for, and after I canceled / downgraded my subscription, I had only 5. Are you for real, Lovable?"
2. UI Regression
The new interface has been almost universally panned:
"2.0 UI Design is awful. Please roll back!! All the sudden 2.0 rolls out and I'm using the same descriptive prompts that were creating beautiful UI art in 1.0 and now in 2.0 it's poo poo. Bland boring no animation ugly cookie cutter terrible UI ideas that seem like you rolled back to early 2000s for UI design." - u/digitalml
3. Broken Functionality
Many users report that the update has broken previously working applications:
"After giving up on Lovable for the last two days (after upping to the $100 tier just prior to the upgrade and not having heard back from their overwhelmed support staff in days), I decided to dip my toe back in... It didn't do anything I asked it to. It added two login links in the header, and removed all the home page content with 20 cards that 404'd." - u/who_am_i_to_say_so
Another user shared: "I've spent over 20 credits trying to fix a code that results in my app being frozen on a 'loading page'. The AI seems to confidently believe it's fixed however it's not, keep going back in circles."
4. Overwhelmed Support
Customer support appears to be completely overwhelmed by the volume of issues:
"I tried contacting your 'support' and received a message saying it's only available to paying users." - u/AI_4U
Even paying users report waiting days for responses: "After upping to the $100 tier just prior to the upgrade and not having heard back from their overwhelmed support staff in days..."
5. SEO Promises vs. Reality
Multiple users have pointed out discrepancies between what Lovable promises and what it delivers:
"Why do they talk about SEO when their apps are CSR and have no SEO-ability?" - u/VisionaryOS
This has led to third-party developers creating tools to address Lovable's shortcomings, with one user announcing: "I Built a tool to help you in your Lovable projects and prevent them from turning into spaghetti."
Community Response
The community response has been swift and severe. Many users are calling for Lovable to roll back to version 1.0:
"This is not a threat but consider this a warning. This is how companies (start ups) die or get cancelled. If you do not roll back to 1.0 and refund back lost credits so that we can fix the apps your upgraded platform has destroyed... you will have no option but to face cancel action." - u/r4g3z29
Others are demanding refunds:
"Lovable; you need to refund some of these credits, do something, address the issues. I think fair is fair; there needs to be come kind of refund back in terms of credits, 2.Slow isn't working right and its not just a handful of us." - u/Horror_Brother67
Code Quality Concerns
Some users have even taken to analyzing the code quality of Lovable-generated applications, with concerning results:
"I gave my github project to grok and I was like..... wow. Security Grade: 4/10, Testing Grade: 2/10" - u/adreportcard
This suggests that beyond the interface and credit issues, there may be fundamental problems with the code Lovable 2.0 is generating.
Is There Hope?
While some users are still finding success with Lovable, the overwhelming sentiment is negative. One user shared a system prompt they created to try to improve Lovable's performance:
"I've been using it for a week, and it seems to reduce stubbornness and unwanted code rewrites. While Lovable itself has recently made changes to only rewrite necessary lines, it hasn't been consistent."
This suggests that with significant workarounds, users might be able to salvage some functionality, but it's a far cry from the seamless experience promised.
Lessons Learned
The Lovable 2.0 debacle offers several important lessons for both users and companies:
- Test thoroughly before major releases: The volume and severity of issues suggest inadequate testing
- Maintain transparent communication: Many users cite lack of clear information about what's happening
- Consider phased rollouts: A gradual transition might have prevented the shock of sudden changes
- Have adequate support ready: Support systems should scale with anticipated issues
- Provide rollback options: When things go wrong, users need a way to return to what worked
What's Your Experience?
Have you used Lovable before and after the 2.0 update? Share your experiences in the comments below. And if you've found good alternatives with better support, I'd love to hear about them!
As one user aptly put it: "This 2.0 update really is the worst update I have ever seen." For a platform that once showed so much promise, that's a devastating fall from grace.