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Getting your app out of the builder

People usually reach this point for one of two reasons: the monthly cost keeps climbing while progress slows, or a change broke something and the tool keeps breaking it again. Moving out is not hard, but the order matters, and three things break every time.

1. Get the code into your own repository first

Before touching anything else, make sure the code exists somewhere you control. Most builders can connect to a repository or export an archive.

How to checkClone your repository into a fresh folder, install, and build. If it does not build on a clean machine, you do not have a working copy yet.
What to changeFix the clean build before moving anything. This is the same list as the deploy page: variables, letter case, missing packages, build settings.

An archive is not a backup if nobody has ever restored it. Do the clean build now, not later.

2. Write down every service the app talks to

Database, authentication, payments, email, file storage, analytics. Each one has keys, and some of them belong to the builder's account rather than to you.

How to checkSearch the code for every address it calls and every key it reads.
What to changeCreate your own accounts for anything held by the builder, move the data, and reissue keys in your name. Do this before you cancel anything.

Cancelling the builder subscription while the database still lives inside it is how people lose their data.

3. Deploy to your own hosting with your own variables

A small project usually runs free or near free on a normal host. Set the variables for preview and production separately.

How to checkDeploy, open the preview URL, and click through every page including sign-in and payment.
What to changeOnly then connect your domain. Keep the old builder version live until the new one is verified.

The builder's preview link keeps working for a while, which hides the fact that the new one is broken.

4. Expect three things to break

Authentication redirect addresses, payment webhooks and file storage paths are tied to the old address. They fail quietly.

How to checkTest a fresh sign-up, a real payment and an upload on the new address before announcing anything.
What to changeEach of those has its own page here. Fix them in that order, because a broken sign-up hides everything after it.

Announce the move only after a real payment has gone through end to end on the new host.

5. What it costs after the move

Hosting for a small application is usually free or a few dollars a month. A managed database has a free tier that covers most early projects. The large recurring cost of the builder disappears, and so does the per-change cost.

How to checkAdd up what you pay now per month, including the changes you make.
What to changeIf that number is bigger than a normal hosting bill, the move pays for itself immediately. It is also the point where you stop paying to fix the same bug twice.

You do take on the maintenance. Budget an hour a month, or hand it to someone.

Not one of these five?

Send me the link and the exact error text. I will tell you what is broken and what it would take to fix, in writing, within 24 hours. That part is free, and you are not obliged to hire me afterwards.

If you do want it fixed: emergency rescue starts at $600, and I name one fixed number before I start.

Send me the link