Vibe Coded an App? We Help You Drive Users, Retention & Revenue

Vibe coding is the practice of building software primarily by describing what you want to AI tools (Cursor, Claude Code, Lovable, Replit, Bolt, v0) and having them generate working code. The term emphasises iterating on intent and feel rather than handcrafting every line. It's enabled a new generation of non-engineer founders to ship working apps in days that previously took months and a development team. The trade-off is that the surrounding work - validation, UX, retention, monetisation, App Store Optimisation, AI-discovery - still requires human specialists who understand how apps actually grow.

Probably not yet, but it's almost certainly closer than you think. Most vibe-coded apps we audit have working core flows but real gaps around product strategy, onboarding, first session experience, paywalls, performance, retention, and discovery. The biggest impact almost always comes from fixing the product strategy, onboarding, and first session flow - that's where the majority of MVP success or failure is actually decided, not in the code. The fix usually isn't a rebuild, it's a focused optimisation pass that addresses the highest-impact gaps first. Our 1-2 week code and UX review will categorise every issue as quick win, structural fix, or out-of-scope, so you know exactly what's worth investing in next.

Almost always, yes. After 250+ app projects across 15+ years, we've worked with every code architecture imaginable, including the patterns that AI tools generate. Most vibe-coded apps need targeted refactors in the data layer, API integration, and state management rather than a wholesale rewrite. Where we genuinely recommend a rewrite, we say so up front and explain why. Most of the time, the smarter investment is fixing the business model, onboarding, and structural issues, plus validating with real users, then growing on what you already have.

Almost never, in our experience. Most agencies that look at a vibe-coded app instinctively recommend a rebuild because that's how their pricing model works - more billable hours, larger fees, longer engagement. We don't operate that way. The truth is, code quality is rarely what kills an MVP - broken product strategy, poor onboarding, and a weak first session experience are. We work WITH what you've shipped, fixing the product, onboarding, and structural issues that matter, then shipping optimisation work that compounds. The only times we recommend a full rebuild are when the underlying architecture genuinely won't survive the next stage of growth, and even then we phase the work so your live app keeps running while a new one gets built behind it.

The same way you get users for any app, just usually on a tighter budget and timeline. The playbook is App Store Optimisation (ASO) for organic discovery, paid acquisition (Apple Search Ads, Google UAC, Meta, TikTok) once you know what's converting, and AI-citation optimisation (structured data, schema, factual claims) so ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini surface your app in conversational queries. The big mistake vibe coders make is launching paid acquisition before fixing the onboarding and first session experience - which burns capital fast because traffic into a broken funnel just becomes expensive uninstalls. We fix the funnel first (product, onboarding, first session, paywall), then layer paid on top.

Yes, and arguably better than for traditionally-built apps because you usually have more flexibility to iterate on metadata, screenshots, and listing copy fast. The fundamentals don't change: keyword research, conversion-optimised screenshots, listing copy that surfaces in algorithmic search, and ratings strategy. We've grown apps to 234,982+ installs from ASO alone with zero paid spend, which proves the playbook works as well for vibe-coded apps as for traditionally-built ones.

Validation is most valuable BEFORE you've sunk weeks of vibe-coding into a feature set that nobody wants. Our 5-stage validation framework runs in 4-6 weeks and gives you a definitive GO, PIVOT, or NO-GO answer for $5,000 to $20,000, which is a fraction of the time and capital you'd otherwise spend iterating in code on the wrong concept. Real ad spend, real landing pages, real users in your target audience. If your idea is strong, validation confirms it. If it's weak, you find out before you commit your seed round to building it.

Engagements typically start at $5,000 to $20,000 for a code and UX review with a prioritised optimisation roadmap. From there: optimisation work ($10,000 to $50,000 for a focused 4-8 week engagement), validation ($5,000 to $20,000 over 4-6 weeks), or full launch and growth ($25,000 to $100,000+ depending on scope and ad budget). The reason these numbers are lower than traditional MVP builds is that you've already done a chunk of the work yourself, so we're improving and growing what you've shipped rather than starting from scratch.