Pillar
The review phase is quick: our Discovery runs 2 to 3 weeks, with kickoff 7 to 10 business days after signing, and anything actively bleeding (crashes, data loss, exposed credentials) gets stabilized first once work begins. The modernization itself depends on how much of the system needs replacing, which is exactly what the review prices out phase by phase. Be wary of anyone promising a full rescue timeline before they've read the code, since the honest answer starts with what the review finds.
Can I keep building on code from Bolt, Lovable, or v0?
Often, yes, if you treat the generated code as a first draft instead of a finished foundation. That means adding tests around the core workflow, tightening authentication and authorization, and firming up the data model before growth makes changes risky. Watch your velocity for the warning sign: when every new feature takes longer than the last and small changes break unrelated screens, the codebase is telling you which subsystems need rebuilding. Ask a reviewer to name those subsystems specifically, since 'it all has to go' is rarely the finding when someone actually reads the code.
How much does it cost to make an AI-built MVP production-ready?
It depends which path the code supports. Hardening a sound codebase is the smallest spend, a scoped list of fixes priced individually. Refactoring prices per subsystem, so an auth rework or a data-model rebuild comes with its own line item. A full rebuild lands where any focused first version does, typically $25,000 to $75,000 depending on scope. The way to get your number instead of a range is a $1,199 fixed-price Discovery with a code review, which ends in line-item pricing for the path your code actually needs.
What breaks first when an AI-built app gets real users?
Usually the parts you can't see in a demo: authorization that lets any logged-in user reach any record, a data model that buckles under concurrent writes and real reporting, and error handling that fails silently under load. The interface tends to hold up fine, which is why founders get surprised. The useful reframe is that these are subsystem problems, and subsystems can be rebuilt inside a working product. That's why a targeted refactor is the most common right answer for an AI-built app that's starting to strain, and a full rewrite is the rarest.
How do I decide whether to keep, refactor, or rebuild an AI-built MVP?
Read the code before deciding anything. A structured code review looks at the architecture, data model, authentication, test coverage, and deployment, then matches what it finds to a path: keep and harden when the foundation is sound, refactor when two or three subsystems carry all the risk, rebuild only when the structure fights every change. The review matters because a vendor asked for a rebuild quote will produce a rebuild quote. Ask any partner to show you written findings before they show you a price, and treat a quote with no findings behind it as a sales document.
What should a startup look for in a mobile app development company?
Beyond the usual agency checks, ask for apps you can download from both stores today, a reasoned answer on native versus cross-platform for your product specifically, clarity on who builds and runs the backend, a process for handling app review rejections, and a maintenance plan with numbers in it. Mobile products decay without updates because OS releases and store policies change on someone else's schedule. A partner who can't describe life after launch is quoting half the product.
Do I need a mobile app or is a web app enough?
If your product doesn't need push notifications, offline use, or device hardware like the camera or GPS, a responsive web app is usually enough, and it's cheaper, faster to iterate, and free of app store review. Plenty of projects that arrive as "we need an app" ship better as web apps. The honest test is listing the phone-specific capabilities your product genuinely uses; if the list is empty, start on the web. A good partner will walk through that list with you before quoting mobile work, not after.
Should I launch on iOS or Android first?
Launch on the platform your first paying users actually carry, and let the second platform wait until the first proves the product. iOS tends to fit US consumer and B2B professional audiences; Android wins on global reach and many field-workforce use cases; your own waitlist or early-adopter data is the tiebreaker. Building cross-platform keeps the second store cheap to add later, so sequencing costs you little. Be wary of anyone who insists on launching both at once without a market reason, since that doubles testing and review risk before you have a single user.
How much does it cost to build a mobile app for a startup?
A focused, MVP-scale mobile product typically runs $25k to $75k, the same territory as custom software of similar scope, with the platform count and the backend driving where you land in the range. One cross-platform codebase sits at the friendlier end; two native codebases can approach twice the build. Get the real number before committing: a $1,199 Discovery scopes your specific product and returns line-item pricing you can take to any team, which beats budgeting off a blog post's ranges.
