Compare your options

Side-by-side comparisons of the ways a founder can get a product engineered and kept running, written by Plutonapps and checked against the linked sources. Each one says when the alternative is the better choice.

Agency vs freelancer vs in-house developer vs subscription

Four ways to get a product engineered, compared on cost, speed, risk and who runs it after launch, including when each is the better fit.

Development subscription vs agency: which should you choose?

How each prices work and change, what happens after launch, and when a fixed-scope agency project is the better fit.

In-house developer vs development subscription: the real cost

What a US software developer costs once benefits are counted, from BLS data, against a flat monthly subscription, and when hiring still wins.

Lovable vs Bolt vs Replit: which should you start in?

Pricing, backend, hosting, code ownership and mobile support from each vendor's own docs, and what all three leave to do before production.

Which comparison should you read?

Your situation	Read
Still choosing where to build the first version	Lovable vs Bolt vs Replit
One defined project with a clear finish and a brief you can write	Development subscription vs agency
Software is your core business and you can recruit and lead engineers	In-house developer vs subscription
Weighing every option at once, from a freelancer to a hire	Agency vs freelancer vs in-house
A live product that changes every week and needs a team to run it	Plans and pricing

How do you choose between them?

Start with the work, not the price. The right choice depends less on hourly rates than on who owns the app after launch, and on how clearly the work can be defined. The four options the comparisons cover each fit a different kind of work.

A freelancer for a small, well-defined task you can check yourself, such as one integration, one screen or one set of access rules. One person is a single point of failure for holidays, illness and out-of-hours incidents, and nobody reviews their work unless you arrange it.
An agency for a defined project with a clear finish and a brief you can write. Changing your mind becomes a change request, and when the project ends the people who understand the code move on unless you buy a retainer. See development subscription vs agency.
An in-house hire when software is your core business for years to come, you have the budget, and you or a fractional CTO can recruit and lead engineers. It is the slowest option to start and the hardest to scale down. See in-house developer vs subscription.
A development subscription for a product that is live or about to be, changes every week, and needs one team to build, secure, test, release and run it without you hiring that team. For a one-off job with a clear end, a freelancer or an agency will usually cost less. See what a development subscription is.

What should you ask every option before you sign?

Who owns the code, the security and the on-call after launch? The code should be yours in every case, so check the contract. Security and on-call are where the options differ.
What happens when you change your mind? Extra hours, a change request on fixed-price work, or changes absorbed within a plan's capacity.
What do the first twelve months cost? Count the bug fixes, security updates, new features and incidents after launch, not the cost of the build alone.
Who reviews the work, and who covers holidays and sick days? One engineer is not a team: someone still has to review their code.

Each comparison shows its sources and the date its facts were checked, and says when the alternative is the better choice. Plutonapps sells a development subscription, so weigh our view with that in mind. The full comparison of all four options sets them side by side. Choosing which AI app builder to start in is a separate question, which Lovable vs Bolt vs Replit answers from each vendor's own docs.