Questions to Ask an App Development Agency Before You Sign

Hiring an app development agency is a significant business decision. The right agency becomes a long-term technical partner. The wrong one delivers a product that does not work as expected, costs more than agreed, or leaves you with a codebase nobody can maintain. The questions you ask in the evaluation process determine which outcome you get.

Before you ask questions: what to evaluate first

Before sending a list of questions, review the agency’s portfolio, check their case studies for projects similar to yours, look at their team profiles on LinkedIn, and read reviews on Clutch or G2. The questions below are most useful when you already have a shortlist of 2-3 agencies.

Questions about process and methodology

• What does your discovery process look like, and what does it cost? — A professional agency runs a discovery phase before quoting a fixed price. If they quote without discovery, the number will change significantly.
• How do you handle scope changes mid-project? — Every project has scope changes. Clear, fair change control separates mature agencies from difficult ones.
• What does your project management look like? — Weekly status calls, shared project management boards (Jira, Notion, Linear), and clear escalation paths indicate a mature agency.
• How do you handle QA and testing? — Quality assurance should be a defined process, not something that happens if time permits.

Questions about technical approach

• What technology stack are you proposing and why? — Any agency should articulate why they recommend specific technologies for your project, not just what they prefer to use.
• Will code be from scratch or will you use templates and third-party services? — Neither is inherently better, but you should know what you are paying for.
• Who on your team will work on this project? — Many agencies win work with senior people and deliver with junior people. Ask specifically.
• How do you handle performance, security, and accessibility? — These should be built-in considerations, not afterthoughts.

Questions about ownership and handover

• Who owns the intellectual property for the work produced? — You should own all deliverables once fully paid. Any agency that retains IP is a red flag.
• What documentation will you provide? — Technical documentation, deployment guides, and user documentation should be in scope.
• What does the handover process look like? — How will you receive the code? What training is provided? An agency with a clear handover process has done this before.
• What support and maintenance do you offer after launch? — Most applications need ongoing maintenance. Understanding post-launch cost is part of total cost of ownership.

Questions about pricing

• How are you pricing this project (fixed price, time and materials, or retainer)? — Fixed price works for defined scope. Time and materials for exploratory or iterative work.
• What is included in the quoted price and what would trigger additional charges? — Get scope inclusions and exclusions in writing before signing.
• What is your payment schedule? — Deposit (20-30%), milestone payments, final payment on acceptance is standard.
• Do you have references I can speak to from similar projects? — References from comparable work are the most valuable indicator of delivery quality.

Questions specific to WordPress development

• Will I own the WordPress install and be able to move it to a different host?
• Will you use a child theme for all customisations?
• How do you evaluate plugins before using them in production?
• What Core Web Vitals scores do you target, and how do you achieve them?

Frequently asked questions