Build Lab — field notes on building with AI

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★ Featured experiment

Lab 03 · the experiment

Minutes from first prompt → public URL

Bolt.new30 min

Lovable31 min

Y Build17 min

n=3 builds · same spec · median of 3 runs

Compare × Lab · 11 min read

We built the same app in Bolt, Lovable & Y Build — here's the data

One spec. Three AI builders. We logged every prompt, every manual step, and every minute from blank screen to a live, shareable URL. Here's exactly what happened — methodology included.

Marcus Tan
Founding Engineer · Jun 18, 2026 Read the teardown →

Four tracks

Build

Step-by-step builds of real apps with AI.

12 notes →

Ship

Deploy & go live on your own domain.

7 notes →

Compare

Hands-on, measured tool tests.

9 notes →

The Lab

Original experiments & data. ★

5 experiments →

Latest field notes

All notes →

cover · 2:1

01 · Build

Build a booking app with AI in 30 minutes

Full build log: auth, calendar, payments, live.

Jun 12 · 8 min

cover · 2:1

02 · Ship

Deploy an AI-built app to your own domain

No server, no DevOps — DNS to HTTPS in one pass.

Jun 9 · 6 min

cover · 2:1

03 · Compare

Best AI app builders in 2026, ranked

Seven tools, one rubric, hands-on scores.

Jun 4 · 14 min

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