Plain answers.

Two things. An idea name (1 to 60 characters) and a short description (10 to 500 characters). There are no settings, no model choices and no style pickers. If your text is too short or too long, the Idea Computer asks again. It never cuts your words off.

No. There is no chat, no prompting and no back-and-forth. The Idea Computer is a program: it starts up, takes your two inputs, and prints its work as it goes.

About two hours. That is an estimate, not a promise. The stages take about 15, 10, 40, 45, 5 and 5 minutes. The monitor shows elapsed time, never a countdown.

No. Builds run on our servers. You can close the tab or switch off. We email you when it is done. You can also come back with the My builds page, the build page, or the WATCH command in the Idea Computer.

A hosted demo (free for 7 days), the app source files as one download, UX and brand files, a technical build spec (build-spec.md), and a next-step prompt that takes the prototype to production round by round. We also send a done email with links to all of it.

Yes. The prototype is designed and built by our pipeline from the idea name and description you typed. Free demos carry the footer credit "Designed and built by startiup.com". We say this on the FAQ, How it works, the legal pages and the done email, on free and premium builds alike.

The first stage thinks through your idea so the later stages agree with each other. That thinking is never shown, sold or offered for download. You judge the result, not the reasoning.

No, and you do not need to. That is why it is a fixed price with no wasted credits. After the build you can open the demo, retry, upgrade hosting, or take the files into another tool.

69 credits. 1 credit = $1, so a build is $69. Credits are reserved when the build starts, spent only when it finishes, and returned automatically if it fails.

Starter is 69 credits for $69. Builder is 200 credits for $180 and is our best value. Studio is 500 credits for $425, which covers up to 7 builds with 17 credits left over. Credits do not expire. There are no subscriptions.

The screen says BUILD STOPPED with a short reason, and your 69 credits are returned automatically. We also email you. Then you can retry (a fresh build with the same name and description) or start a new idea.

When a stage does not finish, when the demo does not come up, or when our systems fail. A build with small faults, like a missing logo, still counts as a normal prototype result. It comes with an honest note and a next-step prompt.

Yes. Card payments use a hosted checkout and a receipt is emailed. Your header balance updates straight after any purchase.

You do, from day one. Every file downloads. StartIUP does not host production apps, run payments for your app or hold your customers. There is no lock-in.

Your ideas are private. They are never listed, sold or shown to anyone. The one narrow exception is acceptable-use review: if an idea is flagged, a person on our team may read its name and description to decide. That is logged. Type PRIVACY in the Idea Computer any time to read the promise.

Never. Your builds are never lifted into the catalogue. Listings are published on purpose by an admin. The privacy promise covers builds, not listings that are deliberately published.

No third-party trackers and no third-party fonts on the production site. Fonts are self-hosted.

7 days, free. It carries the footer credit "Designed and built by startiup.com". We email you 2 days before it ends and on the day it ends.

The demo address shows "this demo has ended". Your files stay downloadable from the build page.

10 credits buys 365 days of hosting with the footer credit removed. You can buy it from the build page or My builds. The statement that builds are AI-generated stays on our site and in the done email.

No. It is a demo you can show and test. To go to production, take the source files, the build spec and the next-step prompt into Cursor, Lovable, Claude Code, or to a developer.

A finished app plus its premium domain, as a one-off card payment. You get the app files straight away and the domain transfer code within a target of 24 hours.

It is a target. Every step is recorded in a proof record: payment, transfer request, code issued and by whom, emails sent, your first view of the code and every download.

Domains are held at Cloudflare. After paying, press "Request domain transfer". Our team enters the transfer code. You see it in a clear box with a copy button and also get it by email. What you do with the code is up to you. The demo on that domain then goes offline.

The listing locks during checkout. The first completed payment wins. If someone else got there first, you are told it has sold before you are charged.

Purchases are final once the transfer code is issued. Before that, contact us from the contact page.

We log a correction as a new event and email you the new code. Nothing in the record is edited or deleted.

No chat. No production hosting. No payments for your app. No holding your customers. No showing the business thinking. No listing or selling your ideas.

Malware or hacking tools, phishing or fraud, scams, harassment of individuals, sexual content involving minors, weapons or explosives, and clearly illegal services. See acceptable use. A blocked idea returns your credits.

Inside the Idea Computer, only when you need to start a build. We are moving to an emailed magic link (valid 15 minutes, single use). Today you can use email and password. A password is never shown on screen.