Common Issues general

I Paid Someone to Build My App and Now It's Broken

You hired a freelancer on Fiverr, Upwork, or another platform to build your app or website. It worked for a while, but now something is broken. Maybe the developer disappeared, isn't responding, or wants more money to fix what should have worked in the first place.

This is one of the most frustrating situations — you already spent money, you have a product that half-works, and you don't know enough about the code to understand what went wrong. The original developer might have cut corners, left messy code, or built something that was never meant to last.

You need someone new to look at the code, figure out what's broken, and actually fix it — without starting from scratch and losing everything you already paid for.

Error Messages You Might See

502 Bad Gateway 500 Internal Server Error This site can't be reached Application error Database connection failed
502 Bad Gateway500 Internal Server ErrorThis site can't be reachedApplication errorDatabase connection failed

Common Causes

  • Developer used shortcuts — Many budget freelancers copy-paste code from templates or use AI without testing properly, leaving hidden problems
  • No documentation — The developer didn't leave any notes about how the app works, making it nearly impossible to maintain
  • Hosting or server expired — The developer set up hosting under their own account, and the subscription ran out
  • Hardcoded credentials — Passwords and API keys were written directly into the code instead of being stored securely, and they've since changed or expired
  • No version control — There's no history of changes, so there's no way to undo what broke

How to Fix It

  1. Get access to everything — Make sure you have the code, hosting login, domain registrar login, and any database passwords before doing anything else
  2. Don't let the original developer make more changes — If they already broke it, more changes from them could make things worse
  3. Get a second opinion — Have a different developer review the code and give you an honest assessment of what it'll take to fix
  4. Check if the hosting is still active — Log into your hosting provider and make sure the subscription hasn't lapsed
  5. Document what's broken — Write down exactly what works, what doesn't, and any error messages you see so the next developer can start quickly

Real developers can help you.

Prakash Prajapati Prakash Prajapati I’m a Senior Python Developer specializing in building secure, scalable, and highly available systems. I work primarily with Python, Django, FastAPI, Docker, PostgreSQL, and modern AI tooling such as PydanticAI, focusing on clean architecture, strong design principles, and reliable DevOps practices. I enjoy solving complex engineering problems and designing systems that are maintainable, resilient, and built to scale. ISHANTDEEP SINGH ISHANTDEEP SINGH Senior Software Engineer with 7+ years of experience in React, JavaScript, TypeScript, Next.js, and Node.js. I’ve also worked as a tech lead for startups, owning end-to-end technical execution including architecture, development, scaling, and delivery. I bring a strong mix of hands-on coding, product thinking, and technical leadership, and I’m comfortable building products from scratch as well as improving and scaling existing systems. Sage Fulcher Sage Fulcher Hey I'm Sage! Im a Boston area software engineer who grew up in South Florida. Ive worked at a ton of cool places like a telehealth kidney care startup that took part in a billion dollar merger (Cricket health/Interwell health), a boutique design agency where I got to work on a ton of exciting startups including a photography education app, a collegiate Esports league and more (Philosophie), a data analytics as a service startup in Cambridge (MA) as well as at Phillips and MIT Lincoln Lab where I designed and developed novel network security visualizations and analytics. I've been writing code and furiously devoted to using computers to make people’s lives easier for about 17 years. My degree is in making computers make pretty lights and sounds. Outside of work I love hip hop, the Celtics, professional wrestling, magic the gathering, photography, drumming, and guitars (both making and playing them) legrab legrab I'll fill this later Vlad Temian Vlad Temian 15+ years shipping production infrastructure for startups. Former CTO at qed.builders (acquired by The Sandbox). Cursor ambassador and agentic tooling builder. I've scaled systems, automated deployments, and built observability tools for AI coding workflows. I specialize in taking vibe-coded apps from broken prototype to production-ready: fixing Supabase auth/RLS, Stripe integrations, deployment pipelines, and cleaning up AI-generated spaghetti. I build tools in this space (agentprobe, claudebin, micode) and understand both sides: how AI generates code and why it breaks. https://blog.vtemian.com/ Antriksh Narang Antriksh Narang 5 years+ Experienced Dev (Specially in Web Development), can help in python, javascript, react, next.js and full stack web dev technologies. Matt Butler Matt Butler Software Engineer @ AWS Meïr Ankri Meïr Ankri Full-stack developer specializing in React / Next.js / Node.js with 6+ years of experience. I've worked across various sectors including automotive (Reezocar/Société Générale), healthcare (Medical Link SaaS), and e-commerce (Glasman). I build web apps end-to-end, from architecture to production, with a focus on scalability, performance, and code quality. I also mentor junior developers and contribute to technical decisions and code reviews. Jared Hasson Jared Hasson Full time lead founding dev at a cyber security saas startup, with 10 yoe and a bachelor's in CS. Building & debugging software products is what I've spent my time on for forever PawelPloszaj PawelPloszaj I'm fronted developer with 10+ years of experience with big projects. I have small backend background too

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Frequently Asked Questions

Should I ask the original developer to fix it?

If they're still responsive and the project is under warranty or guarantee, you can try. But if they've disappeared or are asking for more money for basic fixes, it's usually better to find someone new who can properly assess the code.

Do I need to start over from scratch?

Usually not. A good developer can review the existing code and fix what's broken. Starting over is only necessary if the original code is so messy that fixing it would cost more than rebuilding.

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