You built it with AI.
We make it real.
Vibe-coded an app that's getting traction — but it's breaking, insecure, or won't scale? Skilancer matches you with rigorously vetted senior engineers who take AI-built apps from prototype to production, and keep them running.
Not ready to talk to anyone yet? Run a free automated health check on your repo first — no email required.
Acme App
Built with Bolt · Next.js
Matched with Priya S.
Senior Engineer · ★ 4.9
Top ~3%
Rigorous 4-stage vetting
24–48h
Average matching speed
100%
NDA & IP ownership
Zero
Bidding war spam
The demo worked. Production is a different game.
AI gets you to a working prototype fast. Then reality hits — and the same tools can't get you out.
Security holes
Exposed keys, no auth boundaries, data anyone can read. A breach waiting to happen.
Won't scale
Works for 10 users, falls over at 1,000. No caching, no queues, runaway costs.
Tangled code
The AI can't fix its own mess anymore. Every new feature breaks two others.
No one to call
It's live, users depend on it, and there's no engineer who actually understands it.
Flexible ways to work with vetted senior engineers
Start with a low-risk audit or partner with a dedicated engineer for long-term growth. Explore all deliverables →
Security & Code Audit
⏱ 2–3 Days turnaroundKnow exactly what's broken before launching to users.
- ✓Full static & runtime security review
- ✓Auth boundary & database RLS audit
- ✓Dependency & API key leak scan
- ✓Prioritized bug & architecture report
- ✓45-min live debrief & roadmap call
Production Sprint & Harden
⏱ 1–2 Weeks sprintTake your prototype and turn it into stable production software.
- ✓Quarantine and fix all critical bugs
- ✓Untangle spaghetti code into modular structure
- ✓Secure authentication & payment flows
- ✓Automated test coverage on core paths
- ✓Production deployment & CI/CD pipeline
Scale & Performance
⏱ 2–4 Weeks engagementHandle 10,000+ users without crashing or runaway cloud bills.
- ✓Database indexing & query optimization
- ✓Redis caching & background job queues
- ✓AI / LLM prompt caching & cost reduction
- ✓Connection pooling & rate limiting
- ✓Load testing & latency benchmarks
Fractional CTO & Maintenance
⏱ Monthly retainerDedicated senior engineering leadership that owns your app.
- ✓Dedicated weekly engineering hours
- ✓Ongoing feature development & PR reviews
- ✓System monitoring & security updates
- ✓Technical hiring & architecture roadmap
- ✓Emergency incident coverage
100% Confidential & NDA Backed
You own all source code and intellectual property.
Fit Guarantee
Not happy in the first week? We replace or refund.
Fast 24–48h Matching
Hand-matched directly with zero bidding friction.
Our 4-Stage Senior Vetting Pipeline
We reject 97% of applicants so you never have to gamble your codebase on unproven developers. Read our full vetting standards →
Experience & Background Filter
Minimum 5+ years of shipping production software
We screen past work, verified GitHub repositories, and production systems they’ve built or maintained. No junior developers or prompt-only hobbyists.
Architecture & Security Review
Live technical screening with a Principal Engineer
We evaluate system design, database indexing, auth boundaries, security best practices, and familiarity with AI-accelerated dev ecosystems.
Hands-On AI Rescue Challenge
Fixing a live, messy prototype under pressure
Candidates are given a real-world messy, AI-generated codebase with hidden race conditions, memory leaks, and security holes to triage and repair.
Communication & Ownership Screen
Clarity, reliability, and business empathy
Technical skills are useless without clear communication. We vet their ability to explain complex problems simply and own deadlines independently.
Are you a senior engineer with production rescue experience?
Join our vetted network, get matched with pre-funded projects, and set your own rates.
Real AI apps. Real production rescues.
Here is what happens when senior software craftsmanship meets AI-accelerated MVPs. View all technical case studies →
Bolt.new · Next.js · Supabase
Leaked Service Keys & Open RLS in Fintech MVP
A founder built a financial dashboard in Bolt. The client bundle inadvertently exposed the Supabase service role key, and Row Level Security was disabled — allowing anyone to read other users' financial logs.
The matched Skilancer engineer quarantined the exposed keys, migrated database queries to authenticated Server Actions, instituted granular RLS policies, and added integration tests.
Cursor · Node.js · OpenAI · Redis
Serverless Timeouts & 10x Runaway API Bills
An AI document extractor was crashing on Vercel with 30s serverless timeouts. React re-render loops were firing duplicate LLM API calls, generating $4,000 in unexpected weekly OpenAI charges.
Refactored heavy LLM workflows into an asynchronous background queue with Redis & BullMQ, implemented response streaming, and added response caching and token deduplication.
Lovable · Stripe · PostgreSQL
Duplicate Orders & Checkout Deadlocks
A fast-growing marketplace experienced duplicate order charges and missed subscription upgrades due to non-idempotent Stripe webhook handling and unindexed database queries under load.
Engineered atomic database transactions, added idempotency keys to Stripe webhook handlers, set up PgBouncer connection pooling, and optimized slow Postgres queries with targeted indexes.
Have a messy codebase or scaling bottleneck? Tell us about your app →
How we compare to the alternatives
You don't need 200 random bids, an overpriced agency rebuild, or a 3-month hiring cycle. You just need one senior engineer who gets it. Read in-depth comparison →
| Feature | ⚡ Skilancer | Upwork / Fiverr | Traditional Agency | Hiring Full-Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vetting & Screening | ✓Top ~3% senior engineers tested on real AI-generated code | Self-reported profiles, high variance, bot applications | Vetted internally, but junior devs often assigned | Rigorous, but requires 2–3 months of founder interviewing |
| Matching Speed | ✓Hand-matched within 24–48 hours (1 best-fit expert) | Receive 50+ bids to sift through manually | 1–3 weeks for account scoping & contracts | 60–90 days to source, interview, and onboard |
| AI Stack Specialization | ✓Specialists in Cursor, Bolt, Lovable, v0, Supabase, Next.js | Rare; mostly traditional legacy developers | Rare; push to rebuild everything from scratch | Varies by candidate |
| Cost Model | ✓Predictable audits, fixed sprints, or flexible hourly/retainer | Race to the bottom or runaway hourly billing | $15k–$50k minimum upfront commitments | $140k–$200k+ annual salary + equity + benefits |
| IP Ownership & NDA | ✓100% IP ownership transferred, strict NDA by default | Varies by contract; legal risks | Standard contracts; high legal overhead | Full company ownership |
| Commitment Risk | ✓Low risk: start with an audit; 100% replacement guarantee | High risk of project abandonment | Locked into long multi-month contracts | Severance & severance risk if wrong hire |
How Skilancer works
We vet both sides so you never gamble on a stranger. Quality is the whole point.
Tell us what you built
Share your app, your stack, and what's hurting. We verify it's a real project with real stakes — no time-wasters for our experts.
We match a vetted expert
Not a bidding pile. We hand-match one senior engineer whose skills fit your problem — every expert screened for real, proven ability.
Ship, scale, and stay covered
Audit, harden, scale — then optional ongoing maintenance so someone always owns your app. Quality tracked with a scoring system on both sides.
Stop losing sleep over your codebase
- Every expert is vetted — you can't tell good from bad, so we do it for you
- One matched senior engineer, not 200 copy-paste bids
- Start with a low-risk audit before committing to bigger work
- Ongoing maintenance so your app is never orphaned again
Real work, real clients, no race to the bottom
- Pre-verified, funded projects — no chasing tire-kickers
- Free to join; earn a verification badge that clients actually trust
- Reputation scoring that rewards quality, not the lowest price
- Rescue & scaling work that pays what senior skill is worth
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about getting help with your app or joining our expert network. View full knowledge base →
Your app deserves an expert, not another prompt.
Tell us what you built. We'll match you with someone who can make it production-grade.