The problemYour workload-unit bill is climbing faster than your users, and pages keep slowing down.
In shortBubble development from Pixel & Oak is for founders and small businesses whose Bubble.io app has become slow, expensive in workload units, exposed by weak privacy rules, or left half-built. We fix it inside Bubble or plan a move to code. Fixed-price work starts at $3,000 and typically takes 2–8 weeks; a full first version usually runs $5,000–$15,000.
If you need to hire a Bubble developer, it is usually because something specific went wrong. The workload-unit bill jumped. Pages that loaded fine with ten users crawl with a few hundred. You are not sure a stranger cannot read your users' data. Or the last developer broke the live app and stopped replying. Most of that comes from how the app was built, not from Bubble itself.
We are code-first engineers who also work inside Bubble. That lets us tell you honestly whether to fix the app where it is or move it to code, because we are not selling only one of those. Every engagement starts with a short paid review and written findings. AI agents do the work under Haider Ali, the founder, who reviews the findings and signs off every change before it reaches your live app.
Maintained by Haider Ali, Founder & CEO · Updated
These are the problems Bubble app owners describe on the forums, usually the week things go wrong.
Monthly costs you cannot forecast, and the fear that the app becomes unaffordable just as it starts working. One owner described a simple email webhook eating thousands of units a day.
What we doWe find the workflows and searches burning units in Bubble's metrics, constrain searches on the server, move heavy work into scheduled backend workflows, and stop searches running on every page load.
Users bounce, demos stall in front of customers or investors, and Bubble gets the blame when the cause is usually the build.
What we doA debug-mode audit of what loads on page open. We replace nested searches with constrained ones, flatten data types that force extra lookups, and remove needless server round trips.
Privacy rules only grant access, so one rule that passes on an empty field can expose customer names, emails or invoices. You find out from a customer, or worse.
What we doWe use the app as a logged-out stranger and as each role, check the Data API and the development version, mark API keys private, and fix the leaking rules. Findings go in writing.
Paying users hit broken flows, upgrades stop working, revenue leaks, and you spend your week chasing the old developer instead of shipping.
What we doA short paid review first, then a fixed quote. Every change is made in the development version, the live app is touched only on deploy, and you get a written handover at the end.
Sunk cost with no launch date, and every new freelancer burns paid hours just learning the app.
What we doAn audit that sorts the app into keep, fix and finish, then a fixed-scope completion. If a rebuild really would be cheaper, we say so plainly.
Bubble apps cannot be exported as source code, which can slow a fundraise or a sale and leave you feeling trapped on the platform.
What we doAn honest stay-or-leave call. If leaving is right, we rebuild in Next.js and Postgres and run it beside Bubble until it is proven, moving users with a sign-in link because passwords cannot be exported.
We would rather tell you now than take the project and disappoint you.
| Starts from | $3,000, fixed price |
|---|---|
| Full first version | Usually $5,000–$15,000 |
| Typical timeline | 2–8 weeks |
| First step | A short paid review of the editor, database and privacy rules, with written findings |
| Best for | Bubble apps that are slow, costly in workload units, leaking data or half-built |
| Not for | Native mobile apps with heavy offline use or device features |
| Access | You add us as a collaborator; the app stays in your Bubble account |
| If you leave Bubble | Next.js, TypeScript and Postgres, run side by side until proven |
Worth knowing: Bubble bills by workload units, a measure of how hard its servers work for your app. A slow app is usually an expensive one too: the same unconstrained searches and repeated workflows that make pages sluggish also burn through your plan. Fixing the data structure often cuts both the load time and the bill.
Data types designed before the first page, reusable elements, and workflows a future developer can follow.
We use your app as a logged-out stranger and as each role. If a page or the Data API leaks another user's records, you hear it from us instead of a customer. A hands-on check, not a certified audit.
Searches constrained on the server, data structures flattened where they hurt, and backend workflows scheduled sensibly.
The API Connector set up properly for Stripe, OpenAI, your CRM and anything else with an API, with private keys kept off the page.
Picking up where a previous developer stopped, starting with an honest assessment of what is worth keeping.
When you outgrow it: data exported, the app rebuilt in Next.js and Postgres, and users moved across with a sign-in link.
A 22-second look at the work: heavy Bubble workflows and runaway loops found and fixed, privacy rules tested, and half-built apps finished. From $3,000, 2–8 weeks.
Your workload-unit bill climbs faster than your users. Monthly costs you cannot forecast. Slow pages in front of investors. One privacy rule exposes customers. There’s a better way. Bubble development that fixes speed, cost and privacy. Speed and workload fixes. Privacy rules tested. Rescue of half-built apps. From $3,000 · 2–8 weeks · fixed quote. Get a fixed quote. pixelandoak.com/services/bubble-development
Moving off Bubble is expensive and only worth it for a reason you can name. These are the ones that hold up:
If none of those apply, staying on Bubble and fixing how the app is built is usually the better use of your money.
Hourly rates vary widely. Sommo's hiring guide puts freelance Bubble developers at about $25–$50 an hour for juniors, $50–$100 for mid-level and $100–$200 for seniors. This is how the main ways to hire compare:
| Option | How you pay | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer | Hourly, roughly $25–$200 depending on seniority | Small, well-defined changes | No known total; availability and drop-off |
| Bubble development agency | Project or retainer | Large builds that need several people | Larger minimum budgets; ask who actually does the work |
| Pixel & Oak | Fixed price from $3,000; first versions usually $5,000–$15,000 | Fixes, rescues and migrations with a known total | One founder directing AI agents, not a bench of Bubble specialists |
Bubble for what it does well, and ordinary code for what it does not.
Editor, backend workflows, privacy rules, option sets, reusable elements
API Connector, Stripe, OpenAI, Zapier, Make, n8n
Bubble database, or an external Postgres or Supabase back end
Next.js, TypeScript, Postgres, Supabase Auth
Not sure whether Bubble is what you actually need? Send over what you are trying to fix and we will tell you straight — including if a smaller job would do it.
Ask us first →For existing apps, a short paid review of the editor, the database and the privacy rules, with findings in writing.
One price for the agreed work. If we find something worse along the way, you hear about it before we spend money on it.
Changes go into the development version first. The live app is only touched when the change is deployed.
A short written guide to how the app is structured, so you or your next developer are not guessing.
AI agents from our Engineering, Quality & Security and Design & Film divisions do the work, in parallel. Haider Ali, founder and CEO, agrees the plan with you and signs off everything before it reaches you.
Our fixed-price projects start at $3,000 for a small app or a defined set of fixes, and a full first version usually runs $5,000–$15,000. Freelance Bubble developers bill by the hour, roughly $25 to $200 depending on seniority, according to one hiring guide. A fixed quote mainly means you know the total before you start.
Usually because of how the app was built. Searches that run on every page load, lists filtered in the browser instead of with search constraints, nested repeating groups and backend workflows that run too often all burn units. Bubble's metrics show which workflows cost the most, and those are the ones to fix first.
Usually. The common causes are searches running on page load, lists filtered in the browser instead of with search constraints, nested repeating groups, and data types that force extra lookups. Each has a known fix, and many apps improve a great deal without a rebuild.
Only testing tells you. Privacy rules grant access rather than block it, so a rule that passes on an empty field can expose records. We test the app as a logged-out stranger and as each user role, check the Data API and the development version, and give you the findings in writing. It is a hands-on check, not a certified security audit.
Yes. We start with a short paid review that sorts the app into what works, what is broken and what is missing, then quote a fixed price to finish it. Every change happens in the development version first. If a rebuild would genuinely be cheaper than finishing, we tell you before you spend more.
No. Add us as a collaborator on the app instead. The app stays in your Bubble account, you control what access we have, and you can remove it at any time. Keep your own backups too, so you never depend on any one developer, including us.
No. Bubble apps cannot be exported as source code. You can export your data through the Data API or as CSV files. If owning the code matters to investors or a buyer, the route is a planned rebuild in code, run beside the Bubble app until it is proven.
Yes. Data comes out through Bubble's Data API or CSV export, the app is rebuilt in Next.js and Postgres, and both run side by side until the new one is proven. Bubble does not export passwords, so users set a new one through a sign-in link the first time they log in.
For many businesses, yes. Plenty of companies run on Bubble with paying customers. It struggles with heavy real-time features, complex computation and native mobile apps. If your product is mostly forms, lists, dashboards and payments, Bubble can carry it a long way.
Tell us about your business and we'll design a custom homepage concept within 48 hours — free, no strings attached.