cto.new

Ready-made AI teams

Hire a pre-staffed team from the marketplace, such as Guide Shop, whose four roles include a shop lead and an engineer.

Chat-built website and app

Build and publish a site or app by chatting with the team, then keep iterating as the business changes.

Stripe payments and invoicing

Connect Stripe to accept payments and send invoices from the same workspace.

Custom domains

Find and connect a custom domain so the business has its own address.

Agent-run business inbox

Give the AI team an email inbox so it can send messages and help handle replies.

Ads on ChatGPT

Place ads on ChatGPT to reach new customers, available on paid plans using ad credits.

API and MCP integrations

Hook the workspace into other tools through API and MCP connections, which the free plan includes.

One-process trial

Pick a single process with a clear end state, like publishing a services page with a Stripe checkout, and give the free team a week to finish it while you only review.WHOFreelancer with a repeatable servicePAYOFFA real read on agent reliability before anything larger depends on it.

Agency in a Box launch

Start from the Agency in a Box team, define one offer such as website audits, and route incoming requests through the business inbox so the Service Maker drafts each deliverable for your approval.WHOOne-person agency ownerPAYOFFA productized service where agents do the first pass and you sign off.

Premium trigger rule

Upgrade only when free usage stalls a task you have already proven works, or when you want ChatGPT ad placements; skip the upgrade if the goal is just trying a different model.WHOFounder on the free planPAYOFFPaid spend tied to a measured bottleneck.

Verdict on the price

The Free tier carries most of the value since it covers agent chats and integrations at no cost; Premium's 'at least 5x' usage is vague enough that you should measure your free consumption first.

Public feedback is thin and split, with praise for the GitHub-connected agents and concrete complaints about usage limits, account access and support.

Lovable

Browser-based AI app builder that turns natural-language prompts into working web apps.PICK IT WHENYou want a prompt-to-app builder with a usage-credit model, the comparison the r/vibecoding thread drew directly.

Bolt.new

Prompt-driven web app creation in the browser.PICK IT WHENYou need a quick prototype and have no use for agent teams or a business inbox.IN THE LABThe Lab reviewed bolt.new on 2026-07-20

Replit

Browser development environment with AI assistance, hosting and deployment.PICK IT WHENYou plan to write and run code yourself and want one all-in-one workspace for it.

What models does cto.new run on?

The agent teams run on OpenAI and Anthropic models, and the chat defaults to an Auto model setting. The vendor pages do not name specific model versions, and Premium adds a 'Premium' model set.

Can developers still use it as a coding agent?

Its GitHub Marketplace listing describes it as a free background code agent that works in its own VM to turn issues into pull requests. The current homepage leads with business building, so check which mode your account exposes before planning repo work around it.

Do I own what I build on it?

cto.new lists 'Do I own everything I build?' among its FAQs, but the answer was not visible on the pages read. Check the terms before putting a revenue-generating product on the platform.

Worth a free afternoon and one job with a clear finish line; pay for Premium only after the free allowance has become your actual bottleneck.

Field research: 2 pages scraped · 3 search passes · 8 community sources. Reviewed by the Koda desk on 2026-10-27.