App cost
How much does it cost to build an app in the UK?
UK app development costs broken down: prices by route and by type of app, what moves a quote, monthly running costs and the hidden costs founders miss.
9 min read
The Scryptic blog
Practical guides on building, launching and growing apps, from the team that builds them.
Series
From idea to launch
What it costs, how long it takes and how to get an app built well: plain answers for founders planning their first product or their next one.
MVP
How to build an MVP, week by week
How to build an MVP in one to two months, week by week: scoping, design, build sprints, launch week and the first month with real users, with checklists.
10 min read
Hiring
A buyer's checklist for choosing an app development company in the UK
Choosing an app development company in the UK: the questions to ask, what good answers sound like, the red flags, and freelancer vs studio vs agency.
7 min read
Vibe coding
A production audit for your vibe-coded app
Seven checks a founder can run on a vibe-coded app before real users arrive: data access, secrets, auth, payments, deploys, tests and cost, with fixes.
8 min read
Series
Automation to product
Zapier, Make, n8n and spreadsheets run a lot of businesses. These guides compare the tools, and explain when a set of automations is ready to become software of its own.
Automation
Ten signs your automations should become a SaaS product
A ten point self-assessment for Zapier, Make and n8n workflows: tick the signals, read your score, and see what the first version of the SaaS should include.
5 min read
n8n
n8n vs Zapier vs Make, scored for a growing business
n8n vs Zapier vs Make scored side by side on pricing, ease of use, integrations, AI agents, self-hosting and GDPR, with a clear pick for each kind of team.
8 min read
n8n
The self-hosted n8n production runbook
A runbook for self-hosted n8n: set up Docker Compose with Postgres and HTTPS, harden the editor and webhooks, run backups and alerts, and upgrade safely.
7 min read
n8n
n8n alternatives, and when to build your own instead
The best n8n alternatives grouped by what you need: hosted tools, open source, developer platforms, Microsoft 365 and AI agents, and when custom code wins.
6 min read
Google Sheets
Google Sheets as a database and the signs you've outgrown it
Using Google Sheets as a database works until it doesn't. The warning signs in the order they appear, what to move to, and how to switch over gradually.
7 min read
Series
Choosing your stack
Head to head comparisons of the platforms and frameworks founders weigh up most, written by developers who ship production apps on them.
Web vs mobile
Web app or mobile app first?
Build the web app first unless the phone is the product. A one-table decision guide to web, PWA, React Native or native for your first release.
4 min read
Supabase
Supabase vs Firebase for a startup
Supabase vs Firebase side by side: database, pricing as you grow, lock-in, auth, realtime and offline, then a simple rule for which one a startup should pick.
7 min read
Mobile
React Native vs Flutter for a startup app
React Native vs Flutter scored for a startup: language, UI, performance, UK hiring, web support and code sharing, with a clear rule for which one to pick.
5 min read
Series
Low-code migration guides
One guide per tool on moving an app built with a low-code, no-code or AI app builder to a production stack you own: what you can export, what is missing, and a step by step plan.
AI app builders
These tools write real code, so the move is usually about hardening and owning it.
Lovable
How to take a Lovable app to production without rebuilding it
A phased runbook for hardening a Lovable app: own the repo and Supabase project, audit row level security, add environments and tests, then launch.
11 min read
Bolt.new
Seven things to fix before your Bolt.new app goes live
Seven problems that break Bolt.new apps once real users arrive, from the WebContainer gap and leaked keys to Supabase auth and Netlify deploys, and the fixes.
7 min read
v0
What v0 actually builds, explained for founders
A plain-English guide to what v0 produces, what the Next.js and shadcn/ui code means for you, and the backend work still needed before real customers use it.
5 min read
Replit
Getting a Replit Agent app ready for production, week by week
A week by week plan for taking your Replit Agent app to production: owning the code, fixing access checks, deciding on Replit Auth and cutting over safely.
9 min read
Base44
Can you move a Base44 app to your own backend?
Yes, but only the React frontend exports. The quick answer on leaving Base44: what comes with you, what you rebuild, and how users and data move across.
4 min read
No-code app builders
Most of these keep the app on their platform, so the move is a planned rebuild with your data and users.
Bubble
The complete guide to rebuilding a Bubble app in code
A reference for moving off Bubble: how each Bubble concept maps to code, exporting data and users, running both apps in parallel and planning the cutover.
13 min read
FlutterFlow
What to keep, refactor or rewrite in a FlutterFlow code export
A part by part assessment of FlutterFlow's exported Flutter code: which widgets, state, custom code, backend wiring and routing to keep, refactor or rewrite.
6 min read
WeWeb
What founders get wrong about leaving WeWeb
Five common assumptions about leaving WeWeb, from owning the exported Vue code to rebuilding everything, and what actually happens when you move to code.
4 min read
Adalo
What it really costs to rebuild an Adalo app in code
The time, money and risk in rebuilding an Adalo app as code you own: a work breakdown with durations, running costs, data traps and keeping your store listing.
6 min read
Glide
Leaving Glide? Five questions to answer before you rebuild
Thinking of leaving Glide? Five questions to settle first: tool or product, Sheets or Glide Tables, row and update limits, emailed codes, and what you lose.
4 min read
Softr
The Softr to custom app migration checklist
A checklist for replacing a Softr portal with a coded app: permissions to write down, data and users to move, a safe cutover and what to check after launch.
5 min read
Website builders
Often the answer is to keep the marketing site where it is and build the product next to it.
Webflow
Adding a real product to a Webflow site without losing rankings
How to add logins, dashboards and payments next to a Webflow site and keep your search rankings: subdomain or subpath, CMS collections and redirects.
7 min read
Framer
Keep your Framer site and build the app next to it
Outgrowing Framer? Keep the marketing site where your team edits it and build the product on a subdomain. Why that beats a full move, and when it does not.
4 min read
Wix
Where Wix and Velo hit their limits, and what to build instead
The walls founders hit building a product on Wix and Velo, from data collections to member areas and URLs, and what to build instead while keeping the site.
5 min read
Internal tool builders
When an internal tool or a spreadsheet base turns into the product customers use.
Retool
When your Retool tool becomes the product
What changes when customers start logging in to an internal Retool app, from auth and row level permissions to tenancy, billing and design, and what to do.
7 min read
Airtable
How Airtable fields map to Postgres when you outgrow your base
A field by field guide to moving Airtable into Postgres: linked records, lookups, rollups, formulas, attachments and selects, plus what replaces automations.
7 min read
Enterprise low-code
Platforms that run core business systems, where the move is about licence cost, lock-in and keeping the business running while you rebuild.
OutSystems
Leaving OutSystems in phases for a codebase you own
A phased OutSystems exit: the licence and lock-in case, a strangler-pattern plan, governance and risk, and what each OutSystems concept becomes in owned code.
12 min read
Planning an app, or stuck with one?
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