How much does it cost to finish an AI-generated app?

Updated June 2026 · 6 min read

You paid $25/month for the tool that built your prototype, so a four-figure quote to finish it can feel like whiplash. Here's the honest math — our actual rates, what typical rescues cost, and how to keep the number down.

The short answer

Most vibe-coded app rescues land between $800 and $8,000. Our minimum engagement is $800; a typical "it mostly works, finish it properly" project is in the $2,000–$5,000 range; a complex app with payments, multiple user roles, and a real data migration can go beyond that.

How we price: day rate × complexity

We read your repository before quoting (the analysis is automated and free), grade the complexity, and quote a fixed price built from these day rates:

• Trivial — $300/day. Config-level fixes: env vars, deploy wiring, a redirect URL. Often a single day.
• Simple — $500/day. One or two broken systems (auth, a flaky form-to-database path), small codebase.
• Moderate — $800/day. Several interacting systems, real database work, a security pass. Most projects live here.
• Complex — $1,100/day. Payments, multi-role auth, data migrations, integration with existing systems.
• Enterprise — $1,400/day. Compliance requirements, existing infrastructure, stakeholders with opinions.

The quote is fixed once we've read the code: scope, timeline, and price in writing, valid for 30 days. If we find something mid-project that changes scope, that's a conversation before it's a charge — never a surprise invoice.

What actually drives the price

• The state of the data model. A sane database makes everything cheaper. A single table of JSON blobs makes everything more expensive — sometimes enough that rebuilding on your existing design is the cheaper path. We'll tell you which, with reasons.
• Payments. Stripe done properly — webhooks, failure states, refunds — is consistently 1–3 days on its own. Budget for it if you're charging money.
• How much is demo-ware. Features that exist only as UI over hardcoded data aren't "fixes," they're builds. The free analysis catalogues these so the quote reflects reality, not the demo.
• Security debt. Auth theater, exposed keys, and missing row-level security are almost always present and always in scope — shipping without fixing them isn't a service we'll sell you.

Cheaper alternatives, honestly compared

• Do it yourself. Genuinely viable for the config tier — our Lovable repair guide and Bolt deployment guide are the full playbook. The cliff is the security work, where mistakes are invisible.
• Freelance marketplaces. Can be cheaper per hour. The catch is scoping: most freelancers quote vibe-coded rescues blind, and underestimated fixed bids turn into abandoned projects. Whoever you hire, make sure they read the code before they name a number.
• More AI. Asking the tool to fix itself works until it doesn't — and on auth, payments, and security, "looks fixed" and "is fixed" diverge in ways you can't see from the preview.