04 / CHOOSING A BUILD PATH
React Native AI app template or scoped integration?
Use a React Native AI app template when you need a starting project and can own the integration. Choose scoped integration when an existing prototype needs a specific paid flow connected to its backend, billing and saved results. Build it yourself when those rules are your core advantage and you can maintain them.
Compare the work you still have to own
| Route | Best fit | Work that remains |
|---|---|---|
| Starter template | A new project with a compatible stack. | Check dependencies, adapt screens, connect your backend and verify purchases on your own accounts. |
| Build it yourself | Your workflow is unusual or central to your product. | Design the state model, implement recovery, write acceptance checks and maintain every integration. |
| Scoped integration | You have a prototype and one clearly defined missing flow. | Provide code access and platform constraints; agree what changes, who maintains it and how completion is accepted. |
A paywall screenshot tells you how the screen looks. It does not tell you whether a restored purchase belongs to the right app account, whether a timeout charges twice, or whether a delivered report survives subscription expiry.
If your Expo or React Native prototype already works
Before buying another starting project, list your current navigation, authentication, backend, billing SDK and native dependencies. Ask whether the proposed code can be integrated in place or requires a migration. A rewrite can be a larger job than the missing paid flow.
For Expo, confirm the development-build requirements of your chosen purchase library. Expo Go is not a substitute for testing native purchase behavior. An integration quote should name the target iOS and Android environments and the build that will be used for acceptance.
Example scope: keep the existing login and report screens; add a server-verified report entitlement, contextual follow-up chat and a usage ledger. Account migration, an admin console and a new visual identity are separate decisions.
Ask for these six handover answers
- Source scope: which app and server files are included, and what reuse or commercial rights apply?
- Build: can the agreed project run from setup notes using your own provider configuration?
- Data: who owns report records, conversation history, preferences and purchase associations?
- Secrets: are provider credentials held on a controlled server rather than embedded in the mobile bundle?
- Acceptance: which successful, failed, restored and expired states will be demonstrated on target platforms?
- Support: what counts as a defect, what is a new feature and who handles dependency updates?
Write the answer into the scope. “Full source included” is incomplete if the required server, deployment instructions or license terms remain undefined.
Compare total scope, not only the purchase price
Compare template license or implementation fee, integration time, ongoing provider usage, hosting, store-related costs and maintenance separately. A low upfront price can still leave purchase recovery and server settlement with you. A larger integration scope is not automatically better if you only need one small module.
AppBento does not publish a fixed quote for an unseen codebase. The first exchange should establish what already works, the result a customer buys, target platforms and the required handover. Price and support terms are confirmed before implementation.
Where AppBento fits
AppBento offers four combinable parts: paid access and usage, interactive reports, AI chat and editable memory. It is relevant when your next release needs those parts joined into a clear customer flow. A simple informational app, a one-screen chatbot or a team that only wants an instant template download may be better served by a narrower starting point.
Try the fictional Table Note demo to inspect the interaction, then read the delivery and evidence boundaries. The demo is a browser example with preset responses, not proof that a native integration has already shipped.
References and scope
The flow and acceptance criteria are AppBento design recommendations. These primary references cover platform boundaries; they are not endorsements or evidence of native acceptance for the web demo.