Vibe-coded apps turn into business risks

So, you had to move fast. Quickly knocking up a proof of concept, an MVP, a quick win - in a bid to just get something working and out the door. Hooray! It did its job. But now, months later, you’re still building on top of that early code. It wasn’t meant to last, and it’s starting to show. Your users are growing, but your stability isn’t. Your roadmap’s expanding, but every release causes a regression. Then, when someone asks why something was built a certain way, the answer is usually silence.

This is the fallout of vibe coding: a scrappy but well-intentioned approach that often works in the short term, but rarely holds up when time goes on or the pressure hits.

What it costs you

Quick fixes eventually unravel. When early-stage code isn’t stabilised, it can produce obstacles and drains (both operational and financial) across your business. Here’s what you’re up against:

• Fragile features that break under real-world usage
• Security holes from careless handling of credentials or data
• Dev slow-down as teams reverse-engineer logic just to make a simple change
• Poor visibility into what’s reliable, what’s fragile and what’s safe to build on

We’ve seen entire roadmaps stall because no one wanted to touch a risky part of the code. But when things break in production, it’s your entire team that has to start firefighting, not just the devs.

Why people wait too long

It’s easy to dismiss early problems as “just tech debt” or delay cleanup with a plan to “refactor later.” But that mindset hides the real risk: systems that break under scale, developers who burn out, and businesses that can’t move forward because no one feels confident touching the code. The red flags are often clear:

• Hardcoded layouts instead of reusable components
• No error handling or logging
• Public API keys visible in the repo
• Performance that tanks with even modest traffic

That all sounds scary, but you can manage this problem if you tackle it head-on. You don’t need to throw everything out. But you do need to know what’s lurking.

What to do instead

• Start with an audit
  • Before you add anything new, get visibility. A short code audit can uncover the brittle parts of your stack and highlight high-risk areas you didn’t know were there.
• Stabilise the base
  • Fix the fragile logic, lock down your API keys, clean up the worst offenders. These aren’t bells and whistles, they’re the foundations. Targeted remedies now will help you avoid a bigger bill later.
• Bring in structure
  • Implement version control, set up code reviews, use linting tools, enforce naming conventions. You don’t need to halt development to bring order, you just need to be consistent from here on out.
• Upgrade your testing
  • Automated tests, regression coverage and load tests can reveal breakpoints before your users find them. Again, we’re not talking about over-engineering here, it’s just about protection.
• Bring in fresh eyes
  • Sometimes the internal team is too close, or too overwhelmed. A trusted partner can spot what’s salvageable, stabilise what’s valuable, and strip out what’s holding you back - all without a full, expensive rewrite.

Is your foundation working against you?

If your app was vibe-coded into production, you’re not alone. But what started as a shortcut can’t become the standard.

Let’s run an audit on your app to uncover what’s worth fixing, what’s working, and what’s quietly eroding your delivery speed. You don’t need a rebuild. You need a plan.