Building a mobile app used to mean learning React Native or Swift, setting up a backend, and then losing a week to App Store certificates. AI app builders have made the first part a lot easier. Most of them still leave the last part to you.
CatDoes is one of the tools trying to handle the whole thing. You describe the app you want, and an AI agent writes the code, sets up the backend, and publishes it to the web, the App Store, or Google Play.
In this guide you'll learn what CatDoes is, how it works, its main features, what it costs, and where it falls short. At the end there are six alternatives worth a look if it doesn't fit what you're building.
What is CatDoes?
CatDoes is an AI agent that builds mobile apps and websites from plain English. You tell it what you want, it asks a few questions, and then it builds it. That includes the screens, the database, user login, and the deploy.
Mobile apps are built with React Native and Expo, so one project runs on both iPhone and Android. Websites are built with Vite or Next.js. These are normal, widely used frameworks, so you're not stuck with a proprietary format if you want to take the code somewhere else later.
The main difference from AI coding tools like Cursor is who does the work. With Cursor you're the developer and the AI helps. With CatDoes the agent is the developer. It runs on its own computer in the cloud, installs packages, runs the app, fixes its own errors, and keeps working even if you close the browser tab.
It's aimed at founders, small businesses, and anyone who has an app idea but doesn't want to learn mobile development to ship it. It also works for developers who just want to skip the setup and the store publishing work.
How CatDoes works
1. Describe what you want
You start with a prompt, something like "a habit tracker where users log in and see their streaks." Before it writes any code, the agent asks follow-up questions to fill in what you left out. If you'd rather see a plan first, you can ask it to lay out what it's going to do without building anything yet.
2. Watch it build and test it on your phone
While the agent works, a live preview updates next to the chat. For mobile apps you can scan a QR code with the Expo Go app and run it on your own phone. It's worth doing early, because the browser preview doesn't always match how the app behaves on a real device.
3. Keep chatting to make changes
From there it's a conversation. Ask for a new screen, a different layout, or a bug fix, and the agent makes the change. Each new chat saves a checkpoint you can roll back to. When a chat gets long, the "Compact and Save" button starts a fresh one, so the agent doesn't lose track and burn extra credits.
4. Publish it
Websites go live at your-project.catdoes.app, and you can connect your own domain. For iOS, you add an Expo token and your Apple Developer credentials, the build takes 10 to 30 minutes, and then the agent submits it to the App Store. You can send it to TestFlight first or release it publicly. Android builds the same way, but you download the finished file and upload it to Google Play yourself.
Either way, the store fees are on you: $99 a year for Apple and a one-time $25 for Google.
Core features of CatDoes
- Mobile apps and websites. One agent builds both. Apps are React Native with Expo, and websites are Vite or Next.js.
- An agent that works in the cloud. The Compose agent runs on its own cloud computer and can split big jobs across subagents. It keeps going after you close the tab.
- Built-in backend. Every plan, including the free one, comes with CatDoes Cloud: a database, user auth, file storage, edge functions, and realtime updates, hosted in the US or the EU.
- App Store and Google Play builds. The agent runs the builds for both stores and submits iOS apps to the App Store for you.
- App Store review check. Before you submit, it simulates Apple and Google's review and points out what would probably get rejected.
- Website to app. Paste the URL of any public website and it rebuilds it as a real mobile app instead of just wrapping the site.
- Checkpoints. Every chat saves a restore point, so a bad change is easy to undo.
- Custom domains. Connect your own domain to the websites you publish.
- GitHub import and code export. You can import an existing repo on the Core plan and up. Two-way GitHub sync and full code export come with Plus.
- Watch. A built-in error tracker that catches crashes in your live app. You can then ask the agent to fix what it found.
Benefits of using CatDoes
1. You skip the App Store setup
Signing, certificates, and build tools are where a lot of people give up on their first app. CatDoes runs the builds and handles the iOS submission, so your part is mostly entering your credentials.
2. The backend is already there
Login, a database, and file storage are ready from the first prompt. You don't need a separate Firebase or Supabase account to get an app that actually saves data.
3. One project for iPhone and Android
Because apps are built with React Native, the same code runs on both platforms. You're not maintaining two separate apps.
4. You can test on a real phone right away
Expo Go puts the app on your phone while it's still being built, long before it goes anywhere near a store. You find the weird mobile bugs early.
5. Fewer surprises in app review
The review check catches common rejection reasons before Apple does. That can save you a round of fixing, resubmitting, and waiting again.
6. You're not locked in
The code is standard React Native, Vite, or Next.js. On Plus and up you can sync it to GitHub or export it and keep building somewhere else.
Limitations to know about
CatDoes isn't perfect, and a few things are worth knowing before you sign up.
App Store and Google Play publishing starts on the Starter plan. The free plan and Core only publish to the web, so if the stores are the goal, Starter is your real starting price.
Google Play isn't fully hands-off. iOS submission is handled by the agent, but for Android you download the build and upload it through the Play Console yourself.
You still need your own accounts: an Expo account and an Apple Developer account for iOS, plus a Google Play developer account for Android. The agent helps you set them up, but it's not zero setup.
How much does CatDoes cost?
There's a free plan with 25 one-time credits that publishes to the web only. Paid plans are monthly, and each one comes with a set number of credits. Core is $20 for 50 credits, Starter is $50 for 200, Plus is $100 for 400, Pro is $200 for 900, and Max is $399 for 2,000.
The pricing page shows yearly prices by default, so Starter shows up there as $42 a month. The prices above are the monthly ones as of late September 2026.
CatDoes alternatives
If CatDoes isn't the right fit, here are 13 alternatives worth checking out.
Conclusion
AI can write app code pretty well now. What still separates these tools is everything after the code: the backend, the builds, app review, and getting into the stores.
That's where CatDoes puts its effort. It gives you a backend on every plan, runs your builds, checks for review problems, and submits iOS apps for you. The trade-offs are that store publishing starts at $50 a month, credit costs are hard to predict, and Android still needs a manual upload.
If you only need a website or a dashboard, Lovable or Bolt.new may be simpler and cheaper. If you want a real mobile app in the App Store and Google Play without learning the whole publishing process, CatDoes is a good place to start.
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