diff --git a/.changeset/solid-singers-help.md b/.changeset/solid-singers-help.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b0dea0cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/solid-singers-help.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'sv': patch
+---
+
+fix(cli): `--from-playground` will create projects with `experimental.async` enabled _(if svelte version allows it)_
diff --git a/packages/create/playground.ts b/packages/create/playground.ts
index 90cc888e..24235367 100644
--- a/packages/create/playground.ts
+++ b/packages/create/playground.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import * as js from '@sveltejs/cli-core/js';
 import { parseJson, parseScript, parseSvelte } from '@sveltejs/cli-core/parsers';
+import { isVersionUnsupportedBelow } from '@sveltejs/cli-core';
 
 export function validatePlaygroundUrl(link: string): boolean {
 	try {
@@ -196,6 +197,16 @@ export function setupPlaygroundProject(
 		}
 	}
 
+	let experimentalAsyncNeeded = true;
+	const addExperimentalAsync = () => {
+		const svelteConfigPath = path.join(cwd, 'svelte.config.js');
+		const svelteConfig = fs.readFileSync(svelteConfigPath, 'utf-8');
+		const { ast, generateCode } = parseScript(svelteConfig);
+		const { value: config } = js.exports.createDefault(ast, { fallback: js.object.create({}) });
+		js.object.overrideProperties(config, { compilerOptions: { experimental: { async: true } } });
+		fs.writeFileSync(svelteConfigPath, generateCode(), 'utf-8');
+	};
+
 	// we want to change the svelte version, even if the user decieded
 	// to not install external dependencies
 	if (playground.svelteVersion) {
@@ -204,11 +215,18 @@ export function setupPlaygroundProject(
 		// from https://github.com/sveltejs/svelte.dev/blob/ba7ad256f786aa5bc67eac3a58608f3f50b59e91/packages/repl/src/lib/workers/npm.ts#L14
 		const pkgPrNewRegex = /^(pr|commit|branch)-(.+)/;
 		const match = pkgPrNewRegex.exec(playground.svelteVersion);
-		pkgJson.data.devDependencies['svelte'] = match
-			? `https://pkg.pr.new/svelte@${match[2]}`
-			: `^${playground.svelteVersion}`;
+		const version = match ? `https://pkg.pr.new/svelte@${match[2]}` : `${playground.svelteVersion}`;
+		pkgJson.data.devDependencies['svelte'] = version;
+
+		// if the version is a "pkg.pr.new" version, we don't need to check for support, we will use the fallback
+		if (!version.includes('pkg.pr.new')) {
+			const unsupported = isVersionUnsupportedBelow(version, '5.36');
+			if (unsupported) experimentalAsyncNeeded = false;
+		}
 	}
 
+	if (experimentalAsyncNeeded) addExperimentalAsync();
+
 	// only update the package.json if we made any changes
 	if (updatePackageJson) fs.writeFileSync(pkgPath, pkgJson.generateCode(), 'utf-8');
 }
diff --git a/packages/create/test/playground.ts b/packages/create/test/playground.ts
index f7c2c34d..81fd4e0e 100644
--- a/packages/create/test/playground.ts
+++ b/packages/create/test/playground.ts
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ test('detect dependencies from playground files', () => {
 	expect(Array.from(dependencies.keys()).length).toBe(3);
 });
 
-test('real world download and convert playground', async () => {
+test('real world download and convert playground async', async () => {
 	const directory = path.join(testWorkspaceDir, 'real-world-playground');
 	if (fs.existsSync(directory)) {
 		fs.rmdirSync(directory, { recursive: true });
@@ -174,5 +174,38 @@ test('real world download and convert playground', async () => {
 	const packageJsonPath = path.join(directory, 'package.json');
 	const packageJsonContent = fs.readFileSync(packageJsonPath, 'utf-8');
 	expect(packageJsonContent).toContain('"change-case": "latest"');
-	expect(packageJsonContent).toContain('"svelte": "^5.38.7"');
+	expect(packageJsonContent).toContain('"svelte": "5.38.7"');
+
+	const svelteConfigPath = path.join(directory, 'svelte.config.js');
+	const svelteConfigContent = fs.readFileSync(svelteConfigPath, 'utf-8');
+	expect(svelteConfigContent).toContain('experimental: { async: true }');
+});
+
+test('real world download and convert playground without async', async () => {
+	const directory = path.join(testWorkspaceDir, 'real-world-playground-old');
+	if (fs.existsSync(directory)) {
+		fs.rmdirSync(directory, { recursive: true });
+	}
+
+	create(directory, {
+		name: 'real-world-playground-old',
+		template: 'minimal',
+		types: 'typescript'
+	});
+
+	const playground = await downloadPlaygroundData({
+		playgroundId: '770bbef086034b9f8e337bab57efe8d8',
+		hash: undefined,
+		svelteVersion: '5.0.5'
+	});
+
+	setupPlaygroundProject(playground, directory, true);
+
+	const packageJsonPath = path.join(directory, 'package.json');
+	const packageJsonContent = fs.readFileSync(packageJsonPath, 'utf-8');
+	expect(packageJsonContent).toContain('"svelte": "5.0.5"');
+
+	const svelteConfigPath = path.join(directory, 'svelte.config.js');
+	const svelteConfigContent = fs.readFileSync(svelteConfigPath, 'utf-8');
+	expect(svelteConfigContent).not.toContain('experimental: { async: true }');
 });