We started Lovable with a simple belief: those closest to a problem should have the power to solve it.
For most of software's history, that wasn't possible. The distance between an idea and a working product was too wide. Crossing it required code, capital, credentials, and connections.
So most people stayed on the other side. Their ideas lived in conversations, notebooks, and their imagination, but rarely made it into the world as working software.
Over the last 18 months, that’s started to change.
This report is a first look into what the change looks like at scale, offering the first real view into the early signs of economic activity beginning to emerge. It draws directly from Lovable’s product usage data between January 2025 and May 2026 alongside user survey data from May 2026. A few signals are already clear:
Who: The types of people building software are changing
From founders to freelancers, 80% of people building are in self-identified non-technical roles. Founders, designers, and salespeople make up the fastest-growing groups on the platform. Technology is still the single largest industry represented, but nearly two-thirds come from outside it: education, retail, media, finance, healthcare, real estate, and beyond.
What: People are creating practical software, not just experiments
People are building the things businesses actually run on: websites, internal tools, CRMs, inventory systems, HR platforms, e-commerce storefronts, and more. Many of these projects are reaching the people they were built for: Lovable projects see an average of 720 million visits per month.
When: Building peaks during working hours
Building on Lovable increasingly fits into the rhythm of people’s work and ambitions: projects start during the week, and activity rebounds after holidays as people return ready to build.
Where: The largest populations with paid subscriptions are in the US, Brazil, Europe, and India, and the fastest growth is happening outside traditional software hubs
While activity remains concentrated in major technology markets, some of the fastest growth is happening across South America and Africa. Building in Colombia and Mexico, for example, is growing rapidly, reflecting a broader pattern of expansion across regions that have historically played a smaller role in the software industry. Software creation is no longer confined to the regions that historically dominated it, allowing more ideas to emerge from more places.
Why: 8 in 10 people intend to monetize what they’ve built
Over half of survey respondents said they’re building a business. Another quarter said they have side projects they’d like to make money from. Payments data on Lovable is still early, with the functionality going live in February 2026, but some users have already reached meaningful revenue milestones, including five- and six-figure revenue.
Read the full report for the complete findings, methodology, and data behind these signals.
