Get Your App Tested Before Launch: A One-Off Launch QA Audit

A launch QA audit is a one-off, fixed-scope round of testing run before you go live. Testers work through your critical journeys on desktop and real phones, then hand you a ranked bug report with severity, reproduction steps and a suggested fix for each issue. You buy it on its own, no retainer, and you know what to fix before customers find it.

This is the commercial service, not a how-to. If you want to run the checks yourself first, the pre-launch QA checklist lists them; this post is about hiring the audit instead.

What is a launch QA audit, and who is it for?

It is a defined scope of testing with a date on it: you are launching, or relaunching, and you want an outside tester to find the bugs before your users do. Unlike an ongoing QA plan, a launch audit starts and finishes. You get a report, you decide what to fix, and there is no commitment after that.

It suits a team that has built the product, usually with a small crew or with AI tools, and has no tester of its own. Developers test their own work, which means they test the paths they built and skip the ones a real user takes: the declined card, the wrong password, the half-filled form, the old phone. The audit covers those on purpose.

What does the launch audit cover?

A fixed scope, agreed before it starts, across the journeys that make money or hold data.

Area	What gets tested	Why it matters at launch
Core journeys	Sign-up, onboarding and the main workflow, including empty, error and edge states	These are the paths a first customer takes; a break here is a lost customer
Payments (test mode)	Successful, declined and refunded flows, webhooks, and paying twice	A payment bug costs money and trust from the first transaction
Auth and data access	Password reset, sessions, roles, and whether one user can read or change another's data	A data-access gap at launch is a breach waiting for its first real user
Mobile	Real phones and the common screen sizes your users actually have	Generated and rushed layouts break on small screens first
Security smoke test	Exposed API keys, missing database rules, open endpoints, against OWASP guidance	The cheap mistakes that scanners and strangers find quickly
Accessibility and performance smoke test	Keyboard use, labels, contrast, page speed and a light load check	The basics that keep users and search engines from bouncing

Two boundaries, stated plainly. The security part is an application-level smoke test against the OWASP Web Security Testing Guide, not a CREST- or PCI-certified penetration test, and it produces no compliance attestation. The accessibility part is a smoke check against WCAG 2.2, not a full audit and not a legal compliance certificate. If a contract needs either report, say so up front and use the matching full service.

What do you receive?

One deliverable, built to be acted on the same day.

• A ranked bug report in your own tracker: every issue with a severity, exact reproduction steps, evidence and, where the cause is clear, the likely fix.
• A go / no-go view: what must be fixed before launch, and what can wait until after.
• A fixed quote to fix the issues, if you would rather RAITHub's engineers did it than your own team.

The report goes into your tracker so the fixes happen in your normal workflow, not in a separate document that gets lost.

Buy, build or hire?

A launch audit is one of four routes to a tested launch. Each is right for someone.

Route	What it costs on the market	Choose this when	Watch out for
A tool or testing platform	Cloud browser and device testing starts around $29 to $39 a month for one user (BrowserStack pricing)	Your developers write tests and only need browsers or devices to run them on	A tool does not decide what to test or read the results for you
Freelancers or crowdtesting	Upwork lists a median of $35 an hour for QA engineers (Upwork QA engineer rates)	A short, well-defined burst, such as one device sweep	Quality varies by person; knowledge leaves with them
An in-house QA hire	The US median wage for QA analysts and testers was $104,300 in May 2025 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics)	QA is core and you can recruit and keep one before the launch date	Hiring takes longer than most launch windows allow
A managed launch audit	Fixed price, quoted per scope after a free call	You have a launch date and no tester, and want a clear verdict fast	Make sure the report lands in your tracker, not the provider's

How is this different from an ongoing QA plan?

A launch audit is a single checkpoint. An ongoing plan retests every release. A launch is the first of many releases, and the bugs you avoid at launch come straight back if the next deploy ships untested. So a common pattern is to buy the audit first, then continue with a monthly plan once the product is live. The launch audit is the same shape as a release-gate audit you can run again before any big release, and a managed continuous QA engagement is the version that never stops.

How a provider plans, runs and reports testing in general, and the three ways to buy it, is covered in QA as a Service.

When don't you need a launch audit?

• When your developers already keep a healthy automated suite and only lack device coverage. Buy the device cloud.
• When the real problem is the code itself, not the testing: if every fix breaks two other things, start with a code rescue diagnostic.
• When you need a certified penetration test or a legal accessibility certificate. Those are separate, accredited engagements.
• When you want a tester placed inside your team under your management. RAITHub does not offer staff augmentation.

How RAITHub would do this

RAITHub runs the launch audit as its pre-launch QA service, a fixed-scope one-off.

• Scope: a free 15-minute call to name the critical journeys, the devices and the payment flows, then a fixed written quote before anything starts.
• Audit: testers work through the agreed journeys on desktop and real phones, covering payments, auth and data access, plus security, accessibility and performance smoke checks.
• Report: a ranked bug report in your tracker, each issue with severity, reproduction steps, evidence and a suggested fix, split into fix-before-launch and can-wait.
• Fix, your choice: fix from the report with your own team, or have RAITHub engineers fix the issues under a separate fixed quote.
• Keep testing, optional: move to a monthly QA plan so the next deploy does not break what you just launched.

RAITHub's QA discipline is measured in real repositories: PropDesk runs 1,024 automated tests, Sundor Skin 530+, and this website 400+ in CI. TheSkinProof, the founder's own venture rather than a client, runs 750+. There is no standalone launch-audit case study yet, so judge the service on the free call and a written scope. You receive: the bug report, any automated tests in your repository, full IP and an NDA. Next step: a free 15-minute audit, then a written fixed quote; RAITHub publishes no rates.

To book one, tell RAITHub about your launch date and your product.

Frequently asked questions

What is a pre-launch QA audit?

A one-off, fixed-scope round of testing run before you go live. Testers work through your critical journeys and hand you a ranked bug report with severity, reproduction steps and a suggested fix for each issue, so you know what to fix before customers find it.

How long does a launch audit take?

It is fixed in scope and dates before it starts. A small product with a few core journeys is a short engagement; a larger one with several roles and integrations takes longer. The free call sets the scope, and the written quote states the timeline.

How much does it cost to have my app tested before launch?

RAITHub publishes no rates. The audit is a fixed price, quoted after a free 15-minute call once the scope is clear: which journeys, devices and payment flows. Marketplace QA engineers typically charge $20 to $60 an hour as a reference point.

Do you fix the bugs, or just report them?

Either. Every issue comes with reproduction steps, so your own team can fix from the report. If you would rather RAITHub's engineers fixed them, that is a separate fixed quote, since the same engineers who test also build software.

Is the security check a penetration test?

No. It is an application-level smoke test against OWASP guidance and produces no attestation. If a customer contract or PCI DSS requires a CREST- or PCI-accredited penetration test, you need an accredited firm for that report.

What happens after the launch?

You can stop, fix the issues, or continue with a monthly QA plan that retests the key journeys each release. A launch is one checkpoint; most products keep shipping, and a plan keeps the next deploy from breaking what you just launched.