Launch vs. Anything

Building a mobile app can feel daunting, but new tools make the early steps much easier. Launch and Anything both aim to get you from idea to app faster. Launch provides a production‑ready React Native/Expo boilerplate with real code that you own from the start, while Anything offers an AI‑powered builder that generates apps from plain‑English prompts. Here’s a concise, non‑technical look at what each platform offers and why Launch may be the better choice for growing products.

What Anything does well

Anything’s promise is clear: turn your words into working apps. You describe what you want, and the platform creates a complete project with screens, database, user accounts, storage and payments. Its blog highlights features like built‑in Postgres databases and effortless payment flows—add a Stripe subscription or one‑time checkout without needing to code or handle webhooks. For founders exploring ideas or non‑technical users who need a quick prototype, that’s powerful. Anything also handles hosting and publishes to the web and App Store, so you can show a prototype to testers quickly.

Where Launch stands out

Launch takes a different approach: it gives you a full‑stack React Native app with a clean architecture and ready‑made integrations. You start with a codebase that already includes:

• Type‑safe backend: Postgres + Prisma/Drizzle + migrations, accessed via tRPC for strongly typed API calls.

• Real authentication: the Better Auth integration wires sign‑in/sign‑up flows, session handling and protected routes.

• Payments built in: subscriptions and one‑time purchases are integrated so you can start charging users quickly with Stripe, RevenueCat and Superwall.

• Push notifications and file uploads: mobile‑first integrations for Apple and Firebase push, plus patterns for uploading files and streaming AI responses.

• Documentation and examples: Launch shows how auth, API calls, data flows and payments fit together, with clear docs for setup and deployment.

By paying once, you own the codebase outright. There’s no need to export anything from a proprietary platform, and you aren’t tied to monthly credits. You can modify the code, choose your own hosting and scale as you see fit. This makes Launch attractive for teams planning to maintain and grow their app over time.

Key differences

Why Launch may be better for the long term

Anything’s AI builder is great for rapid prototyping, but if you’re aiming for a product you’ll maintain for months or years, Launch has advantages:

1. Full control: you aren’t reliant on a third‑party service to run your app. Because Launch uses open‑source tools, you can host your backend anywhere and swap services as needed.

2. Predictable costs: Launch’s one‑time pricing avoids the recurring credit fees that come with AI platforms. Iterating and scaling won’t suddenly become expensive.

3. Production‑ready foundation: with authentication, payments, push notifications and a type‑safe backend already configured, you can focus on product features instead of plumbing.

4. Maintainability: Launch’s consistent architecture makes it easier for future developers to understand and extend the app. AI‑generated code can vary with each prompt and might require refactoring later.

Conclusion

If your goal is to test an idea quickly without writing code, Anything is a powerful tool. It can spin up a full stack, handle payments and user accounts, and publish your prototype with minimal effort. However, if you’re planning to build a long‑term product that you own and control, Launch provides a stronger foundation. Its pre‑wired integrations—Better Auth, Stripe payments, push notifications, file uploads and a type‑safe tRPC backend—combine with a one‑time price and full code ownership to give you confidence today and flexibility tomorrow.