TechPlusBlog Tech News, Web Development, Gadgets
By TechPlusBlog Staff | Published: 04 March, 2025
What in the World is Bolt.new?
Picture this: It’s 2 AM. You’re mindlessly scrolling through an online store, your cart filled with items you absolutely don’t need but desperately want. You reach the checkout page and—BAM!—you’re hit with a form longer than your last relationship. Name, address, credit card details, blood type, your first pet’s astrological sign, and the secret password to your diary from fifth grade.
Okay, maybe not the last three, but you get the point.
Enter Bolt.new, the browser extension that promises to make online shopping checkouts faster than your ex moved on. But does it deliver? Is it truly the retail therapy revolution we’ve been waiting for? Or is it just another tech solution to a problem we didn’t know we had—like Bluetooth-enabled toasters or AI-powered cat litter boxes?
Today, I’m diving deep into the world of Bolt.new, armed with nothing but a credit card, a questionable shopping addiction, and the kind of journalistic integrity that comes from drinking four cups of coffee before noon.
What Exactly Is Bolt.new (Besides a Name That Sounds Like a Superhero’s Catchphrase)?
Bolt.new is a browser extension that aims to simplify the online checkout process. It stores your payment and shipping information securely, allowing you to complete purchases across thousands of retailers with just a few clicks. Think of it as the digital equivalent of having a personal assistant who remembers all your details but doesn’t judge you for buying that third pair of “limited edition” sneakers this month.
The company behind Bolt has been around since 2014, founded by Ryan Breslow, who apparently looked at the online checkout process and thought, “This needs to be faster because I have important things to do, like creating more tech startups.”
According to their website, Bolt.new works with over 10,000 retailers, which is impressive considering I can barely maintain relationships with five people. They’ve raised hundreds of millions in funding, which either means they’re onto something revolutionary or venture capitalists have run out of ideas for where to throw their money.
Installation: Easier Than Explaining NFTs to Your Grandparents
Getting started with Bolt.new is surprisingly straightforward. You visit their website, click a button to add the extension to your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge), create an account, and voilà—you’re ready to speed through checkouts faster than your paycheck disappears after rent day.
The signup process asks for your name, email, phone number, and a password. Then, you add your payment and shipping information. I appreciated that they didn’t ask for my social security number or a DNA sample, which feels increasingly rare these days.
The entire process took me approximately three minutes, which is less time than I spend deciding what to watch on Netflix before ultimately rewatching “The Office” for the seventeenth time.
The User Interface: Minimalism That Would Make Marie Kondo Proud
Once installed, Bolt.new sits quietly in your browser toolbar, like that one friend who doesn’t talk much at parties but suddenly becomes the life of the gathering when someone mentions their niche hobby. In this case, the niche hobby is “buying things online without filling out forms.”
The extension’s interface is clean and intuitive—a refreshing change from some tech products that seem designed by someone who thinks user confusion equals user engagement. The main dashboard shows your saved addresses, payment methods, and recent orders. Everything is organized in a way that suggests the designers have actually used the internet before, which shouldn’t be remarkable but somehow is.
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There’s also a “Bolt Account” section where you can manage your profile, see your order history across different stores, and adjust settings. It’s all very straightforward, like if IKEA instructions suddenly started making sense.
Bolt.new in Action: Testing It on Real Websites (and My Bank Account)
To put Bolt.new through its paces, I decided to embark on a shopping spree that my financial advisor would definitely not approve of. For journalistic purposes, of course.
Test #1: The Fashion Retailer
My first stop was a trendy clothing website that I won’t name (but rhymes with “Shmashos”). As I added a shirt to my cart that I absolutely didn’t need but convinced myself would “elevate my Zoom call aesthetic,” I noticed the Bolt icon appear during checkout.
With a click, a small popup appeared, asking if I wanted to use Bolt.new for this purchase. I clicked “Yes” faster than I say “No” to salad.
The extension automatically filled in my shipping address, payment details, and even my email. All I had to do was click “Complete Order,” and my unnecessary purchase was confirmed. The entire process took about 10 seconds, which is dangerously efficient for someone with my impulse control issues.
Test #2: The Home Goods Store
Next, I visited a home goods store to buy a plant that I will inevitably kill within two weeks. Again, the Bolt icon appeared at checkout. This time, I noticed something even more impressive: the extension remembered my preference for shipping speed (as fast as humanly possible, because patience is not my virtue).
Once again, a few clicks and my future dead plant was on its way to me. The checkout process was so seamless that I almost felt cheated out of the traditional online shopping experience of typing my address wrong three times and wondering why my credit card keeps getting declined (it’s never because I’m broke, obviously—must be a technical issue).
Test #3: The Obscure Artisanal Boutique
For my final test, I wanted to try Bolt.new on a smaller, less mainstream website. I found a boutique that sells handcrafted items that nobody needs but everyone wants after seeing them on Instagram.
This is where I expected Bolt.new to falter. Surely this tiny store wouldn’t be integrated with this service?
To my surprise, the Bolt icon appeared during checkout. However, the process wasn’t quite as smooth this time. There was a slight delay, and I had to manually select my shipping address from a dropdown menu instead of having it automatically filled. Still, it was faster than the traditional checkout process, which on this particular site looked like it was designed in 1998 and never updated.
The Pros: Why Bolt.new Might Actually Be Worth the Disk Space
After my shopping adventure (and the subsequent guilt of spending too much money), I compiled a list of what makes Bolt.new genuinely useful:
1. Speed Is Indeed Their Forte
The primary selling point of Bolt.new is speed, and they deliver. Checkouts that would normally take 2-3 minutes were reduced to seconds. For someone who values efficiency (or just has the attention span of a goldfish), this is a game-changer.
2. Universal Application
The fact that Bolt.new works across thousands of retailers is impressive. It’s like having a universal remote for online shopping, except this one doesn’t require an engineering degree to program.
3. Security That Doesn’t Make You Feel Like You’re in a Spy Movie
Bolt.new uses encryption and tokenization to protect your payment information. They don’t store your actual credit card details on their servers, which is reassuring in an age where data breaches are more common than celebrity breakups.
4. The Order History Feature Is Surprisingly Useful
I didn’t expect to care about the order history feature, but it’s actually quite handy to have all your purchases across different websites in one place. It’s like having a digital receipt drawer that doesn’t overflow and cause you to question your life choices every time you open it.
5. It’s Free (For Now)
Bolt.new doesn’t charge users for the service. They make money by charging retailers a processing fee for transactions, similar to how payment processors operate. This means you get all the benefits without any direct costs, which is rarer than finding a matching pair of socks in my laundry.
The Cons: Where Bolt.new Could Use Some Tightening
No technology is perfect, and Bolt.new has its share of quirks and limitations:
1. Not Truly Universal
While Bolt.new works with thousands of retailers, it’s not available everywhere. Several major sites I tried didn’t support it, including some where I spend an embarrassing amount of money. This limitation means you can’t completely abandon your autofill settings just yet.
2. Occasional Technical Hiccups
During my testing, I encountered a few instances where the Bolt.new popup appeared but then disappeared when I tried to click on it, like a digital game of whack-a-mole. This required refreshing the page, which somewhat defeated the purpose of a speed-focused tool.
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3. The Privacy Question Mark
While Bolt.new has a privacy policy that seems reasonable, the reality is that you’re giving another company access to your shopping habits, payment information, and personal details. For the privacy-conscious, this might be a deal-breaker, no matter how convenient the service is.
4. Limited Payment Options
Bolt.new currently supports major credit cards and some digital wallets, but if you prefer more obscure payment methods or buy-now-pay-later services, you might find yourself out of luck.
5. The Dependency Factor
The more you use Bolt.new, the more dependent you become on it. What happens if the service shuts down or changes its terms? You might find yourself having to manually enter your information again, like some sort of digital caveperson.
The Weird and Unexpected: Things I Didn’t Anticipate
During my time with Bolt.new, I encountered some unexpected aspects that didn’t fit neatly into “pros” or “cons”:
1. The “Did I Just Buy That?” Phenomenon
The checkout process is so quick that several times I found myself double-checking my email to confirm that I had actually completed a purchase. It’s like the digital equivalent of driving somewhere on autopilot and not remembering the journey.
2. The Impulse Shopping Enabler
Bolt.new removes one of the few remaining friction points in online shopping—the checkout process. Without this moment of pause to reconsider your choices as you type in your credit card number for the fifth time that day, impulse purchases become even more impulsive. My bank account has filed a formal complaint against Bolt.new for enabling this behavior.
3. The “Ghost in the Machine” Moments
Occasionally, Bolt.new would pre-fill information I don’t remember providing, like my preference for gift wrapping or my aversion to marketing emails. While convenient, it gave me that slight “is my phone listening to me?” paranoia that defines modern tech use.
4. The Competitive Shopping Edge
I discovered that Bolt.new gave me an unexpected advantage during flash sales. While others were fumbling with form fields, I was checking out with lightning speed. I managed to snag a limited-edition item that sold out in minutes, leaving me feeling like I had discovered a cheat code for online shopping.
The Social Experiment: What Do Other People Think?
To add some perspective to this review, I convinced (coerced) several friends and family members to try Bolt.new. Their reactions were varied and occasionally hilarious:
My Tech-Savvy Friend, Alex:
“This is neat, but I already use [competitor browser extension]. What makes this different? Oh, it works on more sites? Okay, that’s actually pretty cool. But does it have two-factor authentication? It does? Fine, I’ll admit it’s good.”
My Mom:
“Is this safe? How do they have my information? Why are you making me do this? Oh, that was easy! Can it remember my passwords too? No? What good is it then? But I do like how fast it was…”
My Partner:
“Great, just what you need—another way to spend money faster. But can I use it too? Will it remember both our addresses? It will? downloads immediately“
My Colleague Who Works in Cybersecurity:
“The encryption seems solid, but I’m going to need to read their entire privacy policy, terms of service, and probably stalk their chief security officer on LinkedIn before I commit. But the UX is nice, I’ll give them that.”
The Verdict: Is Bolt.new Worth Your Click?
After spending two weeks with Bolt.new (and making several purchases I’m still trying to justify to myself), I’ve come to a conclusion: Bolt.new is genuinely useful, but with caveats.
If you frequently shop online across multiple retailers and value efficiency, Bolt.new is a no-brainer. The time you’ll save on checkout forms alone makes it worthwhile, and the security measures seem robust enough to trust with your payment information.
However, if you’re privacy-conscious, have unique payment preferences, or are trying to curb impulse spending, you might want to think twice. The convenience Bolt.new offers comes with the trade-off of sharing your data with yet another tech company and removing one of the few remaining barriers to one-click consumerism.
For most people, though, the benefits will outweigh the drawbacks. In a world where we’re constantly bombarded with requests for our time and attention, anything that gives us back a few minutes is valuable.
Beyond the Checkout: What Does Bolt.new Tell Us About the Future?
Bolt.new is part of a larger trend toward frictionless commerce. From Amazon’s patented 1-Click ordering to Instagram’s in-app shopping features, the goal is clear: make buying things as easy as possible.
This raises interesting questions about where we’re headed. As checkout processes become virtually instantaneous, will we see a rise in buyer’s remorse? Will retailers need to adjust their return policies? And what happens to the concept of mindful consumption when purchasing becomes as thoughtless as breathing?
On the flip side, removing tedious form-filling from our lives could free up mental space for more important things. Perhaps the time saved not typing your address for the thousandth time could be spent on creative pursuits, meaningful conversations, or finally learning how to fold fitted sheets properly.
Final Thoughts: The Bolt.new Experience in a Nutshell
Bolt.new does exactly what it promises: it makes online checkout faster and more convenient. It’s well-designed, widely compatible, and genuinely useful for frequent online shoppers.
Is it revolutionary? Not quite. Is it going to change the world? Probably not. But it might change how you shop online, and in our increasingly digital world, that’s not insignificant.
If Bolt.new were a person, it would be that efficient friend who always knows the fastest route, has their keys ready before reaching the door, and somehow never has to wait in line—slightly intimidating in their competence, but someone you definitely want around when things need to get done.
So, should you install Bolt.new? If you value your time and shop online regularly, yes. If you’re trying to curb your online shopping habits or are deeply concerned about data privacy, maybe give it a pass.
As for me, I’ll be keeping Bolt.new installed—at least until my credit card company calls to check if my account has been compromised due to the sudden increase in transactions. “No, that’s just me shopping more efficiently now,” I’ll explain, as I add yet another unnecessary item to my cart with just two clicks.
Because in 2023, the only thing more valuable than money is time—and if an extension can give me back a few minutes of my day, that’s a price I’m willing to pay. Even if it means occasionally buying things I don’t need, because let’s be honest: I was going to do that anyway.
Disclaimer: The author’s bank account was significantly depleted during the research for this article. No plants were harmed in the making of this review, but several are not expected to survive the month.
About the Author: Jackober is a tech enthusiast and chronic online shopper who has been writing for TechPlusBlog since 2013. When not testing new apps and services, they can be found explaining to delivery drivers why they receive so many packages and trying to convince themselves that they don’t need another gadget.
