Designs, full-stack code generation and pricing plans

A plan is only useful if it becomes something you can use. Many founders reach the point where they have a clear description of a product and then stall, because the next step normally means finding a designer, then a developer, then a budget. Each handoff costs time, and each one is a place where the original idea gets diluted.

In June we extended Afren from scoping into making: screens first, then a full project in the stack you choose, and a clear way to take it with you. The principle behind the whole release is ownership. What you build on Afren is yours to download, host and change, and the cost of using the builder should be easy to read before you start.

From scope to screens

Design generation turns your scope into screens. You can review them in desktop and mobile previews, so you see how the product looks on the devices your users actually hold before any code exists. Each screen comes with component specifications, which describe the pieces it is made of in terms a developer can build from.

Open the interactive prototype and you can click through the screens like a real app: buttons and links move you between them, so you can feel the flow rather than read about it. If the direction is wrong, regenerate with new preferences. Approved designs feed straight into the build, so the code starts from what you agreed to.

The reasoning is cost. Changing a screen is cheap and changing finished code is not. Putting a clickable version in front of you before code is written moves the expensive decisions to the moment they cost least.

Full-stack code generation you can take with you

Choose your frontend and backend stack from the supported options and Afren generates the whole project. The frontend is what people see and touch. The backend holds the data and the rules. You get both, organised the way a developer would organise them, and you can download the project as a structured ZIP file that is ready to open and run.

There are three ways to ship it.

• Download it. The complete project is yours at any time.
• Push it to your own repository. The code goes to a repository in your account, where your team or a contractor can continue.
• Deploy it to your own cloud account. Deployment uses your credentials, so the app runs on infrastructure you control. Afren checks the preconditions before it starts: the build must be complete and your credentials must be saved. If a deploy fails for a network reason it is retried. If it fails because of something in your account, such as a permission, you are told, because retrying would not help.

This is different from publishing, which puts a build on an Afren address in one click. Publishing is for sharing quickly. Deploying is for owning the result. The line between them matters because lock-in is the common failure of tools that generate software: you build for a month and discover that the only place it runs is the place that made it. Giving you the source and the route to your own hosting removes that risk.

Pricing you can read first

Every account gets free project scopes, so you can test an idea before you pay for anything. Building is on a plan or a one-off credit. Pro and Team plans and build credits cover designs, code and publishing, and a billing dashboard shows your plan and your credits at a glance. Team adds seats for colleagues. A build credit is the alternative for people who do not want a subscription: it covers designs, code, publishing and deployment for a single project.

Subscriptions renew monthly until you cancel, and cancelling keeps your plan until the end of the period you have paid for. Card payments are supported for subscriptions and for funding your wallet. Current prices are on the pricing page, and we keep them there instead of in an article that would go out of date.

A job board for talent

Talent can browse jobs, apply with a note on why they fit, and track every application under My Applications. Applying opens once you have finished onboarding and the pre-interview, which gives clients something more than a CV to go on. Clients review applicants in one place, and when work ends, both sides can leave a review. Reviews build a visible record on each profile, which is the thing a freelancer in a new market most needs and a client in a new market most wants.

Talent can also accept or decline a project invite from a dedicated page, with the project's details in front of them, rather than deciding from an email.

Install Afren, and a few details

Afren is now an installable progressive web app, or PWA. That means your phone or computer can add it to the home screen and open it in its own window, with its own icon, like any other app, without an app store.

One design choice is worth explaining. A small worker script the browser keeps in the background makes installation possible and serves a plain offline page when your connection drops. It deliberately does not store copies of your pages for offline use. Afren shows account and money information that must always be current, and an old copy of a page showing a balance or a contract is worse than no page. So pages always come from the network, and only static assets such as images and fonts are kept to make loading faster. The trade-off is that you cannot work offline, and we think that is the right one for a product that moves money.

• Privacy and terms. Our Privacy Policy and Terms are published.
• Dark mode. A full dark theme is available for clients and talent.
• Smoother onboarding. Forms for clients and talent are more forgiving, and there is a manual option for your bank account name if automatic checking cannot confirm it.
• Mobile and home page. Layouts and navigation are improved on small screens, and the home page now focuses on getting a product built.

What this means for you

You can go from an idea to reviewed screens to a downloadable project without a single handoff, and you can leave with all of it. You can test an idea on free scopes before choosing a plan. And you can keep Afren on your phone without worrying that it shows you an out-of-date balance.