Autotomy vs create-expo-app
create-expo-app is the official way to start an Expo project and a useful default for many apps. Autotomy Starter adds a defined architecture, local verification and agent setup. Optional Pro supplies maintained policy audits and reviewed Expo upgrade plans.
| Feature | create-expo-app | Autotomy Lite / Starter / Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Status / price | Official Expo CLI, free | Lite: free. Starter: US$149 once, including 30 days of Pro without automatic renewal. Optional Pro: US$19/month or US$190/year. Availability is shown in the setup guide. |
| What you get | Templates: default (Expo Router + TypeScript, multi-screen), blank, blank-typescript, tabs, bare-minimum; --example for about 70 with-* integration examples | Starter: editable SDK 57 Foundation source with layered src/, services, typed routes, data layer and pnpm check. Lite: a minimal Expo shell and folder structure. |
| AI agent support | Generates AGENTS.md by default, pointing to the versioned Expo docs for your SDK; adds .claude/settings.json to enable the Expo skills plugin when Claude Code is installed; Expo Skills and the Expo MCP server are available | CLI-managed instructions for Codex, Claude Code and Cursor; AGENTS.md, principles profile and slice documentation. Pro adds local policy audits, hook feedback and agent-guided Expo upgrade plans. These instructions can be used alongside Expo's official skills. |
| Architecture | Your choice (no enforced layering) | Enforced layer whitelist via dependency-cruiser |
| Tests / gates | Not preconfigured | Vitest, a 100% coverage gate on the measured logic set, property tests, lint and typecheck in pnpm check. Baseline checks remain usable without Pro. |
| Data layer | Not included | TanStack Query with offline persistence; API client with retry and circuit breaker |
| Styling | StyleSheet by default | NativeWind v5 on Tailwind CSS v4 behind one semantic UI contract |
| Auth, payments, analytics | Not included in the templates | Not included in your app. An Autotomy account purchases development tools; it does not add app authentication, billing or analytics. |
Choose create-expo-app if
you want the official minimal starting point, you're learning, or you want to make every architectural decision yourself. With its AGENTS.md and Expo Skills, it's also a good base for AI agents on Expo-specific questions.
Choose Autotomy if
you want a defined Expo architecture and baseline verification already in the source, plus CLI setup and optional Pro help maintaining Autotomy projects as they change.
Explore Autotomy setup →Sources
Autotomy details were reviewed against the v1.0.0 source and CLI on . The Starter baseline uses Expo SDK 57 and NativeWind v5. This source review is not a public-launch or device-certification claim. See the offer and licensing details and compatibility limits.