Stockholm-based vibe-coding platform Lovable announced in 2026 that it will give all full-time employees an automatic 10% salary increase on their work anniversary each year, a policy the company says is designed to reward loyalty and remove the need for employees to repeatedly negotiate their own compensation.
The policy applies to all full-time staff who meet performance expectations. Unlike equity-based compensation — which requires vesting schedules or employees converting stock options into shares — this is a direct cash raise built into the employment structure. Lovable currently employs around 200 people and plans to double that to 400 by year-end.
The company can afford the commitment in part because of its rapid revenue growth. Lovable, which launched its vibe-coding product in late 2024, reported crossing $400 million in annual recurring revenue as of March 2026 and has said it grew ARR by $100 million in some individual months. It has projected reaching $1 billion in ARR by around the end of the year.
Maryanne Caughey, who leads Lovable’s people team, described the program as a long-term signal about the kind of company Lovable wants to be. “The longer someone stays at Lovable, the more deeply they understand the company, contribute to its momentum, and shape its culture,” she told TechCrunch. Founder and CEO Anton Osika added that employees “shouldn’t have to worry about getting a raise or not.”
Head of Growth Elena Verna argued the policy could reduce the internal politics that tend to grow in environments where job security feels uncertain. “You don’t have to re-prove your worth every cycle,” she wrote on LinkedIn.
The approach contrasts with standard startup practice, where base pay typically stays flat while employees are compensated primarily through equity. For many companies, committing to permanent salary increases is considered too costly — cash raises add to fixed overhead in a way that stock options do not. Lovable’s rapid revenue growth may make it one of the few early-stage companies currently positioned to sustain such a policy.
Source: TechCrunch