How much does it cost to fix a vibe-coded app? Honest price comparison
You shipped (or almost shipped) an app built with Cursor, Lovable, Bolt, Replit or v0. Preview looked fine. Production does not. Now you are staring at quotes from "vibe code rescue" shops and wondering what a fair price is.
This page is an honest comparison: what you can fix yourself for free, what automated tools charge, what human rescue services charge, and where VibeRescue sits. Prices below are what those businesses publicly advertised around October 2026. They change; always check the live site before you buy. We are not affiliated with the other shops named here.
First: is this a $0 problem?
A surprising share of "broken" vibe apps are not code bugs. In our own October 2026 trial on public open-source repos, 6 of 11 truly broken apps were broken by how the code got to GitHub (web upload limits, flattened folders), not by the TypeScript. Another common $0 class: missing environment variables on the host.
Fix these yourself before you pay anyone:
- Environment variables missing in production — free if you only need keys on Vercel/Netlify/Replit.
- Preview works, deploy breaks — redirects, SPA rewrites, CORS.
- Supabase redirect and RLS — Site URL, policies, 42501.
- Vercel Module not found — casing, uncommitted files, aliases.
If the free Rescue Scan on our homepage classifies the repo as needs-secrets, we send a setup guide and charge nothing.
What human rescue shops typically charge
These are real public price points we saw while researching the SERP for "fix vibe coded app" / "lovable deploy failed" style queries. Treat them as ballparks.
| Provider (public pages) | Entry price | What you usually get |
|---|---|---|
| Aibrify-style "quick fix" | about $100 | Human-delivered fix for a focused bug |
| Gen2Prod and similar launch packages | from about $290 | Human audit + get-it-live help; higher tiers for more scope |
| Vibe Code Rescue–style audits | about $299 | Paid audit / rescue engagement |
| Agency or senior freelancer | $75–$200/hour, often $500–$1,500+ total | Flexible scope; you manage the contractor |
Human work is the right buy when you need product decisions, refactors, design, or a partner who will join your Slack. It is expensive when all you needed was a vercel.json rewrite and a Supabase redirect URL.
What VibeRescue charges (launch pricing)
| Product | Price (USD) | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Rescue Scan | $0 | Automatic triage: code-bug / missing-code / needs-secrets, with a suggested tier |
| Quick Fix | $29 | One automated fix run for build and dependency bugs; opens a GitHub PR; usually within 24h |
| Upload Restore | $29 | Rebuild a project whose GitHub upload is missing or flattened files, from a zip you email |
| Type-Safety Hardening | $79 | Fix latent type/null bugs; add typecheck to CI |
| Launch-Ready | $149 | Fix runs for up to 5 issues including server and auth; deploy/DB/env audit; basic security pass; 48–72h |
| Care Plan | $49/month | SaaS: automated uptime monitoring, dependency-update PRs, monthly health report; cancel anytime |
Payment is at checkout (Paddle is Merchant of Record once approved). Full refund if the run cannot fix it, and refund on request within 14 days. If a Quick Fix discovers that server or auth changes are required, you can upgrade to Launch-Ready or take the refund — no surprise bill.
Automated vs human: a simple decision tree
- Console shows a missing env var or Supabase localhost redirect → follow the free guides above. Cost: $0.
- Build fails on a public GitHub repo with a clear compiler/install error → Quick Fix ($29) or DIY with the Module-not-found guide.
- Repo is missing half its files after a GitHub web upload → Upload Restore ($29) with a zip of the real project.
- Auth, RLS, server routes and deploy config are tangled → Launch-Ready ($149), or a human shop if you also want product help.
- You want ongoing monitoring after launch → Care Plan ($49/mo) or a retainer with a freelancer.
- You need new features, UX, or a team → hire a developer; rescue tools will not replace that.
Hidden costs people forget
- Your time in the AI fix loop. Hours of "one more prompt" have a real cost. See escaping the AI fix loop.
- Hosting and SaaS. Vercel, Supabase, Clerk and domain fees are separate from rescue pricing.
- Scope creep in human quotes. A $299 audit that turns into "rewrite the auth system" can become four figures. Ask what is in writing.
- Payment platform fees. Merchant-of-record tools (Paddle, Lemon Squeezy) bake tax handling into their cut; raw Stripe puts VAT research on you.
What "fixed or free" should mean
Any serious offer should answer three questions in plain language:
- When is money taken (deposit, after merge, at checkout)?
- What happens if they cannot fix it?
- What is explicitly out of scope (new features, design, content)?
Our answers: pay at checkout; full refund if the automated run cannot fix the stated problem; we deliver a pull request, not a redesign. Read the Refund Policy and Terms.
Competitor landscape, without the hype
Search results for vibe-code rescue mix three businesses:
- Content sites and booking funnels that rank for "Lovable deploy failed" and sell a human call.
- Agencies that productised a package (audit + fix + handoff).
- Automated or semi-automated tools (us) that sell a run and a PR.
Gen2Prod-style players often win SEO with per-builder landing pages and comparison pages — which is why this article exists. We would rather show the price table than hide it behind a "book a call" form.
A practical budget for a first launch
For a solo builder unblocking a broken MVP:
- $0 — scan + DIY guides for env/redirect/RLS
- $29 — one Quick Fix or Upload Restore if the scan says so
- $149 — Launch-Ready if auth/server are involved
- $49/mo — only after you have real users who care if it goes down
That is usually enough to get from "red deploy" to "friends can sign up". It is not enough to build a company. Keep those budgets separate.
Try before you pay
Run the free Rescue Scan with a public GitHub repo. You get a classification and a suggested tier. If we say it is env-only, stop and fix it yourself. If we say code-bug or missing-code, you will know which product matches before checkout.
FAQ
How much does it cost to fix a vibe-coded app?
DIY with good logs is free. Automated fix runs like VibeRescue start at $29 for a single build/dependency fix delivered as a GitHub pull request. Human rescue shops commonly charge $100–$1,500+. Recurring care plans are often $49–$300/month.
Why is VibeRescue cheaper than other rescue services?
We sell automated fix runs, not hours of consulting. The software reproduces the bug in a sandbox, generates a fix and opens a PR. A human reviews only sensitive changes. That keeps prices at $29–$149 for one-off runs.
What if the fix run cannot fix my app?
You get a full refund. You can also request a refund for any reason within 14 days. Env-var-only problems get a free setup guide — we will not charge you to paste keys into Vercel.
Should I hire a freelancer instead?
If you need product design, new features or ongoing team bandwidth, hire a developer. If you need a broken deploy, auth loop or missing-file repo unblocked as a pull request, an automated fix run is usually faster and cheaper.