How to pick a FlutterFlow agency: a buyer's checklist.
The nine questions that separate a real FlutterFlow agency from a no-code shop with a fancy site — from someone who's worked on the platform itself.
TL;DR
Hire an Official FlutterFlow Partner Agency that gives you a fixed quote, ships source code to your GitHub from Day 1, is happy to write custom Dart and native Swift/Kotlin, and is willing to tell you on the call when FlutterFlow is the wrong tool. Everything else is negotiable.
A FlutterFlow agency is not a no-code shop, and pretending they're the same thing is the most expensive mistake we see founders make. A no-code shop gives you a Bubble app. A real FlutterFlow agency gives you a production Flutter codebase that ships to the App Store as a native binary and is still maintainable when you hire a Flutter engineer in year two.
I worked on the FlutterFlow platform itself before starting LunarBuild. I get the "which agency should I pick" email about once a week. This post is the checklist I send back.
The 9-question checklist
Send all nine to any agency you're considering. The good ones will answer all nine in one email. The bad ones will dodge two or three of them, and that's the signal.
- Are you an Official FlutterFlow Partner Agency?
- What does your standard timeline look like — and what's bundled into your "MVP" line item?
- Is your pricing fixed-quote or hourly?
- When do I get the GitHub repo and the FlutterFlow project transferred to my account?
- Can you write custom Dart, and Swift/Kotlin native modules, when FF can't reach?
- How do you handle backend wiring — Firebase, Supabase, Stripe, RLS, security rules?
- Can you show me at least one verified Clutch review from a named client?
- When is FlutterFlow the wrong tool — and what would you build instead?
- What does Day 14 actually look like — what do I receive, what's still left to do?
Below: what a good answer looks like for each.
1. Are you an Official FlutterFlow Partner Agency?
Why it matters: FlutterFlow vets partner agencies based on real builds launched, code quality, and client outcomes. The listing is reviewed annually. It's not the only quality signal — there are great agencies that aren't partners — but it is the only signal that comes from FlutterFlow themselves.
Good answer: "Yes. Here's our partner page." With a link.
Red flag: "We're a top FlutterFlow agency" with no link to anything FlutterFlow has actually said about them.
2. What does your standard timeline look like?
Why it matters: "A few weeks" isn't a timeline. A real agency has a repeatable cadence — first milestone in X days, second in Y, App Store submission in Z — and tells you what's bundled. Otherwise you're paying for their learning curve on your dime.
Good answer: "14-day first milestone is our standard. That's a signed iOS and Android build with auth, the core flows, push, and one payment path wired. App Store and Play Store submission is week three. Anything past that is scoped on top."
Red flag: Vague timelines that grow during the project. Or unrealistic ones — "we can ship a full marketplace in a week" usually means "we'll ship a demo in a week and call it a build."
3. Fixed quote or hourly?
Why it matters: Hourly billing transfers all risk to you. You're paying for the agency to learn FlutterFlow's quirks on your project — and they have no incentive to stop. Fixed-quote billing puts the risk on the agency, which is where it belongs: they know how long their work takes.
Good answer: "Fixed quote, in writing, within 24 hours of the intro call. One number. No retainer. Milestone-based payment."
Red flag: "We'll send you an estimate" that's framed as "approximately X hours at Y rate." If they don't know how long it takes, you're financing their training.
4. When do I get the code?
Why it matters: Source code in your GitHub organisation from Day 1 is the single most important lock-in protection you have. If the agency holds the code (or the FlutterFlow project) until final payment, they can walk away with your IP. We've seen it happen.
Good answer: "We create the GitHub repo on your organisation on Day 1 and push to it daily. The FlutterFlow project is transferred to your account at handoff. You own everything — the code, the project, the App Store listing — from day one."
Red flag: "We'll hand off the code at the end." Don't accept this. If they won't push to your repo from Day 1, walk.
5. Can you drop into Dart and native?
Why it matters: About 15-20% of production FlutterFlow apps need at least one custom native module: camera with custom processing, Bluetooth Low Energy, HealthKit, App Tracking Transparency, share extensions, deep widgets, Live Activities. An agency that says "FlutterFlow can't do that" instead of writing a Swift or Kotlin platform channel is a no-code shop with a FlutterFlow specialty, not an app development agency.
Good answer: "Yes — here's a native module we wrote for [client]'s [use case]. Custom Dart widgets and Swift/Kotlin platform channels are part of our standard toolkit."
Red flag: "We're FlutterFlow specialists" delivered in a tone that means "we don't write Dart." If they can't show you a Custom Widget or a platform channel they wrote, scope creep will hit a wall the first time you need real code.
6. How do you handle the backend?
Why it matters: "FlutterFlow + Firestore on the defaults" is fine for a prototype and a disaster at 1,000 users. A real agency wires Firebase or Supabase with security rules or RLS from Day 1, designs the schema before they start clicking, and treats the backend as a separate repo — not as a screen in the FlutterFlow project.
Good answer: "Schema-first. RLS on Supabase or security rules on Firebase before any read or write. Edge functions in a separate repo. Stripe Connect or RevenueCat for payments, with webhooks signed and verified."
Red flag: "We'll wire Firebase in FlutterFlow." If they think of the backend as a checkbox inside FF, your data will be either world-readable or unrecoverably tangled within six months.
7. Show me a verified review from a named client
Why it matters: Anonymous testimonials are worthless. Clutch interviews each reviewer and verifies the engagement. A named LinkedIn endorsement from a founder you can email is the next best thing. If an agency has neither, you're the experiment.
Good answer: A direct link to their Clutch profile with reviews under real names and companies, or LinkedIn intro to a past client who'll take a call.
Red flag: A wall of first-name-only testimonials on the homepage with no profile photos and no companies named.
8. When is FlutterFlow the wrong tool?
Why it matters: An agency that says "FlutterFlow is great for everything" is selling you their hammer. The honest answer acknowledges that real-time games, AR-heavy apps, deep platform integrations (CarPlay, WatchOS, App Clips), and on-device ML are usually better in plain Flutter or native. If they can't tell you when not to use their main tool, they will not push back when your scope drifts into the bad zone.
Good answer: "Heavy AR, real-time multiplayer games, on-device ML, CarPlay, deep BLE — those start in plain Flutter or native. For everything else we default to FlutterFlow and drop into custom Dart for the parts the GUI can't express. We also do clean migrations from FF to plain Flutter when a project graduates."
Red flag: "FlutterFlow can handle anything." It can't. Anyone who tells you that has either never shipped a hard one or is hoping you haven't.
9. What does Day 14 actually look like?
Why it matters: The day-of-delivery experience is where most agency relationships go sideways. Pin it down in writing before you sign.
Good answer: "Signed iOS .ipa and Android .aab handed over. FlutterFlow project transferred to your account. Exported Dart code in your GitHub repo (we've been pushing to it since Day 1). App Store and Play Store listings drafted in your developer accounts. A handoff Loom walking through the architecture. A one-page architecture doc. No license fees, no platform lock-in, nothing held hostage."
Red flag: "We'll figure out handoff at the end." Translation: there will be a final invoice you haven't seen, and the FlutterFlow project transfer will be slow.
Two bonus questions
If you only get short answers to those nine, throw in these two to draw out the values:
"What kinds of projects do you turn down?" — A real agency turns down work. If they say yes to everything, your project will be a teaching exercise.
"Who's writing the code — and will I meet them?" — The people on the sales call should be at least adjacent to the people writing the code. Beware the bait-and-switch: senior engineer sells, junior offshore team builds.
A note on price
In 2026, a real production iOS + Android FlutterFlow MVP from a reputable partner agency lands somewhere between $12,000 and $40,000 for a 2-6 week first milestone, depending on scope (screen count, backend integrations, native modules, payments).
Quotes under $5,000 usually mean someone is treating FlutterFlow as no-code and skipping the backend, custom Dart, and native parts that real apps actually need. Quotes over $80,000 for a first milestone usually mean a full-service consultancy is bundling design, strategy, and marketing into the build line item — that can be the right call, but be clear that's what you're paying for.
The most expensive thing is not a high quote; it's a cheap quote that ships an unmaintainable app you have to redo in year two.
If you'd like us to be one of the three
I'd recommend shortlisting three agencies, asking all three the nine questions in one email, and picking based on how they answer — not on who has the slickest landing page. If we end up on your shortlist, we'll send you written answers to all nine the same day, plus a draft scope doc you can take to the other two for comparison.
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Want us on your shortlist?
Send the brief. We'll answer all nine questions in writing the same day, plus a draft scope doc you can use to compare with two other agencies.