Most vibe-coded apps go to production for $14,000 or more, fixed-price, after a $4,000 Week-1 build audit that finds every blocker first. A US or UK agency quotes $60k+ on an open hourly meter for the same work. Final price depends on auth, data security, payments, tests, and infra.
The honest answer is a range, not a single number, because a Lovable demo with a contact form is not the same job as a Bolt app taking real payments. But the bands are public and fixed, so you can size it before you talk to anyone.
There are two ways the money moves. First, a Week-1 build audit at a fixed $4,000. A senior engineer goes through the actual codebase and produces a list of every blocker between you and production, plus a fixed quote for the rest. The guarantee is simple: we find every blocker or the audit is free. You walk away with the report either way.
Second, the hardening itself. Full production hardening and rescue starts at $14,000, fixed price, agreed before any code is written. That covers turning a prototype into something you can actually put in front of users and not get paged at 2am.
Compare that to a US or UK agency, which typically quotes $60k+ for the same scope and runs it on an open hourly meter. The meter is the part that hurts. You sign up not knowing the final bill. The fixed-price model exists so you do.
| What you pay for | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Week-1 build audit | $4,000 fixed | Finds every blocker or it's free. Comes with a fixed quote for the rest. |
| Full hardening / rescue | From $14,000 fixed | Price locked up front, not an hourly meter. |
| Due-Diligence Rescue audit | $2,500 | Credited in full toward the rescue if you proceed. |
| AI Code Security Audit | First 15 min free | Fast read on whether your secrets and auth are exposed. |
| US / UK agency, same work | $60k+ open meter | You don't know the final number when you sign. |
The price isn't arbitrary. It tracks how many of the production-grade systems your prototype skipped. AI builders ship a working demo fast by leaving these out, and each one you need adds to the job.
The more of these are broken or missing, the closer you sit to the top of the range. A clean prototype that mostly needs auth and RLS hardening lands near the floor. One handling payments with no tests and exposed keys lands higher. That's the whole logic.
The reason the audit comes first is so the price can be fixed. We don't quote $14k blind. We read the code, find the blockers, then commit to a number. You approve it before work starts. There's no scenario where the bill doubles because something "turned out to be complicated." That risk sits with us, not you.
If you're still deciding whether to harden what you have or start over, that call usually comes down to how much of the prototype is salvageable. Often the prototype is 70% of the way there and rebuilding from scratch is the expensive mistake. The build audit tells you which way to go before you spend on either path.
Two free steps before you spend anything. Run the production readiness check to self-assess where your app sits. Then take the free first 15 minutes of an AI Code Security Audit to confirm whether your secrets and auth are exposed. Between those two, you'll have a real sense of which band you're in before a paid engagement starts.
When you're ready, book a free 15-minute audit call. Every engagement runs the same way: senior engineers only, no juniors, price agreed up front, a working demo every week before each payment, full code and IP transferred from day one, and a 30-day warranty.
It starts with a $4,000 fixed-price Week-1 build audit, then full hardening from $14,000 fixed-price. A US or UK agency quotes $60k+ on an open hourly meter for the same work. The final number depends on auth, data security, payments, tests, and infra.
Because a prototype that just needs auth and Supabase RLS hardening is a smaller job than one handling payments with no tests and exposed API keys. The $4,000 build audit reads your actual code, finds every blocker, then gives you a fixed quote so there are no surprises.
Five things, mostly: real authentication, data security like row-level security, payment handling, test coverage, and production infra such as monitoring and rate limiting. The more of these your prototype skipped, the closer you sit to the top of the range.
Hardening from $14,000 fixed beats $60k+ on an open hourly meter, and the bigger win is certainty. The price is agreed before work starts, so the bill can't balloon mid-project. That risk sits with us, not you.
Yes. Run the free production readiness check to self-assess, and take the free first 15 minutes of the AI Code Security Audit to see if your secrets and auth are exposed. Together they tell you which price band you're in before you spend anything.
Free 15-min build audit