Frequently asked questions

Smith is built specifically for AI-assisted projects — rescuing apps built on Replit, Bolt.new, Loveable, and similar platforms. Every Smith is vetted for AI-era skills. There's no bidding war — Smiths send focused proposals within 24 hours. Payments are always in escrow until you approve the work.

You don't pay. Payment is held in escrow and only released when you approve the delivered work. If the work wasn't delivered as agreed, raise a dispute — small cases are resolved quickly and larger ones go through our mediation process. Either way, you're protected.

When you accept a proposal, you fund the escrow. That money is held by Smith and can't be accessed by the Smith until the job is complete. Once you mark the work accepted, a 14-day hold begins — then the payout is released automatically. If you're unhappy with the work and don't approve it, you get it back. Simple.

Your payment goes into escrow — not to the Smith. Think of it as reserving a block of their time: you're funding X hours of work, and that money is held safely until you approve the delivered work. This is actually more protective than 'bill after' models, where a failed card or ghost client means the freelancer did unpaid work. Escrow protects both sides.

The delivered work is what you're approving, not a timesheet. If the Smith delivers what was agreed within the time block, you approve and payment releases — regardless of actual hours spent. If they don't deliver, you don't approve, and your escrow is refunded. Hour count is context for pricing, not a billing meter.

No. The amount you fund at acceptance is the maximum you'll ever pay for that job. A Smith can propose additional work as a new job if scope expands, but they cannot add charges to an existing accepted proposal.

Most jobs receive their first proposal within 24 hours. Emergency jobs (marked with the Emergency speed tier) notify all currently-available Smiths immediately.

Yes — and we encourage it. Repeat hires work faster because the Smith already knows your codebase. You can message a Smith directly after a completed job or request them by name when posting a new job.

Use our Import Wizard — describe the problem in plain language, share your project URL or GitHub repo, and Smiths will diagnose and scope the work for you. You don't need to know the technical details.

Smiths specialise in fixing and extending AI-built apps: broken auth flows, Stripe payment issues, deployment failures, security vulnerabilities, bug sweeps, and full rescues of apps that are 80% done but unstable. They also take custom scoped projects.

Every completed job comes with a structured handoff document committed directly to your repository — a permanent record of exactly what was done, not just a message saying “it's fixed.” For rescue jobs (fixing a broken app), Smiths file a RESCUE.md that documents what was broken (with file paths and line numbers), what was fixed (with commit references), and includes a verification checklist you can run yourself. See a RESCUE.md example → For build and feature jobs, Smiths file a SMITH-HANDOFF.md covering what was built, files changed, and how to verify it works. Both serve as a paper trail in your own codebase if you ever need to revisit the work or raise a dispute.

Apply at aismiths.cloud/apply. We review every application within 3 business days. We look for builders with real AI-assisted project experience — not just traditional developers. If you're accepted, your profile goes live and you start receiving job matches.

Founding Smiths are hand-picked builders who joined Smith from the start. The badge signals that you were part of building Smith from the ground up — clients see it as a mark of experience and trust.

Smith charges a 10% platform fee at the Standard tier. The fee drops as you earn more: 7% (Preferred) after $10,000 lifetime, and 5% (Elite) after $50,000 lifetime. The fee is deducted from your payout — clients pay exactly what's quoted, no markup added.

Once the client marks the job accepted, a 14-day hold begins for dispute protection. After 14 days, Smith automatically releases the funds to your Stripe Connect account — no action needed on your end. From your Stripe account, standard bank transfer (ACH) takes 2 business days and is free. Or you can opt for an instant payout to a debit card: that's a 1.5% Stripe fee (minimum $0.50) with no additional platform cut, and arrives within minutes. If you need early release, reach out via your job thread and our team can approve it.

Yes. Share your referral link from the Studio dashboard. When the Smith you referred completes their first job, you each earn a $25 platform credit applied to your next completed project.

Clients can mark jobs Rush (+30% budget) or Emergency (+75% budget) when they need faster turnaround. Emergency jobs also notify all currently-available Smiths immediately. If you toggle 'Available now' in your Studio, you'll be first to know.

Yes. Smith uses Stripe for all payment processing — we never store card numbers. Client payments are held in Stripe-managed escrow, not a bank account we control directly.

Our team reviews the job brief, the Smith's RESCUE.md (which documents exactly what was broken, what was fixed, and includes a verification checklist), and any messages to mediate a fair outcome. Simple cases are typically resolved within 24 hours; complex cases within 48 hours. The RESCUE.md requirement means disputes are rare — there's always a clear paper trail.

Funds in escrow are held separately via Stripe Connect — they're not operating funds. In any winding-down scenario, in-escrow funds are returned to clients and earned-but-unheld funds are released to Smiths.