Agencies
The white-label AI app builder for agencies
Build the client software your agency used to hand away — under your brand, in code you own, with a delivery loop serious enough to put in front of a paying client.
Ciao is a white-label AI app builder agencies use to deliver custom client software — portals, CRMs, dashboards and workflow apps — under their own brand. Unlike drag-and-drop site builders, Ciao generates real React, TypeScript and Supabase applications the agency owns outright, wrapped in governance, automated QA, security testing and deployment. The client sees your agency's work on their domain; Ciao is the engineering platform behind it.
Published 2026-07-03 · Last updated 2026-07-03
The revenue you keep handing away
Every agency knows the moment. The client loves the brand work, the site is live, and then they ask for the thing that actually runs their business: a portal where their customers log in, a quoting tool with their pricing logic, a dashboard their whole team checks every morning. And the agency says the expensive sentence — "we don't do that" — and refers the work to a dev shop. The referral fee, if there is one, is a rounding error next to the build fee and the retainer that follow.
The blocker was never ambition. It was engineering capacity. Hiring developers changes your cost base and your management load; outsourcing puts your client relationship in someone else's hands and your margin in their invoice. Ciao removes the blocker: your team describes the app in plain language, and the platform produces a real React, TypeScript and Supabase application — not a prototype, not a page with plugins — with the review, testing and governance steps a client build demands.
White-label matters here because the client is buying your judgment, not your tooling. The application ships on their domain, in your visual language, presented as your agency's work. Ciao stays where your CMS and your design tools already live: behind the curtain.
What you can sell under your own brand
These are the engagements agencies most often turn from referrals into line items. Each is a productized package you can scope, brand and price yourself.
Client portal
Logins, document uploads, project status, approvals and notifications. The single most requested piece of software agency clients ask for — and the easiest first sale.
Local business CRM
Leads in, pipeline stages, follow-up reminders, a quote builder wired to the client's actual pricing. Replaces the spreadsheet the owner swears they will organize someday.
Campaign dashboard
A live command center for the marketing work you already do: calendar, asset approvals, reporting, automated email updates. Makes your retainer visible every day.
Booking and payments app
Scheduling, intake forms, deposits and payments through Blocks' one-click payment integration. For clinics, studios, trades and anyone who sells time.
AI knowledge assistant
A private assistant trained on the client's documents, with chat, source citations and admin controls. A modern deliverable most local dev shops cannot offer.
Internal ops app
The workflow currently living in email threads and shared spreadsheets — intake, approvals, handoffs, reporting — rebuilt as software the client's team actually uses.
How a white-label delivery runs
1. Brief
Turn the client conversation into a plain-language brief: who logs in, what they see, what happens next. No specification document, no wireframe deck required to start.
2. Build
Ciao's Builder generates the working application — chat on the left, live app on the right. Your team iterates by pointing at the screen and describing changes.
3. Review with the client
Share the live preview on a real URL. Clients react to working software instead of static mockups, which shortens approval cycles and kills scope ambiguity early.
4. Govern
Guardrails maps the code into business areas, flags risky changes, applies plain-English policies and records human review — so a junior can build while a senior signs off.
5. Ship
QA runs deterministic browser replays and smoke gates before publish; Security confirms vulnerabilities against the live app. Then one-click deploy to the client's custom domain.
6. Retain
Doctor watches the live app and drafts fixes; Conductor gives you one screen across every client project. That ongoing operation is the retainer you sell next.
Packaging the offer
Agencies typically productize three tiers. Serious agency development programs on Ciao start at USD 10,000 per year — the packages below are what you build your own pricing on top of.
| Package | Typical scope | Delivery rhythm | Revenue model |
|---|---|---|---|
| First build | One portal, CRM or dashboard for one client | One to two weeks to first version, then review cycles | Fixed project fee |
| Software retainer | Iteration, new features, monitoring and support on a shipped app | Weekly or fortnightly release cadence | Monthly recurring fee |
| Productized package | A repeatable offer — for example "Client Portal in 7 Days" — sold to many clients | Templated brief, per-client customization | Fixed fee plus recurring hosting and care |
Ownership and white-label, precisely
Ownership on Ciao is not a marketing word. Every project is standard React, TypeScript and Tailwind in real, branch-native Git — 100% owned, exportable to your own repository at any time. There is no proprietary runtime the app depends on and no lock-in that survives an export. Whether your agency or your client ultimately holds the code is a clause in your contract, not a platform constraint.
The deliverable carries your brand: the client's domain, the client's SSL, your design system, your name on the work. Deployment is equally flexible — Ciao cloud, your cloud account on AWS, Azure or GCP, private VPC, or on-prem under separate terms — so you can structure hosting and care as your own managed service. Ciao bills your agency; how you package that into client pricing is your commercial decision. If your first project is a paying client build, the Agency Build Grant covers up to 2,000 credits to get it shipped.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns the code — the agency, the client, or Ciao?
Not Ciao. Every app is standard React, TypeScript and Tailwind, exportable to your own repo at any time. Whether your agency retains ownership and licenses the app, or transfers it to the client on final payment, is a term in your contract — the platform supports both cleanly.
What do clients actually see?
A working application on their own domain with their branding — plus, during the build, a live preview URL where they can click through real software instead of mockups. The application itself is your code; it carries whatever brand you put on it. Whether you present Ciao as your engineering platform or keep it behind the scenes is up to you.
Can we resell hosting and support?
Yes — this is where the recurring revenue lives. Apps deploy to Ciao cloud or to your own AWS, Azure or GCP account, and Doctor, QA and Security keep watching the app in production. Most agencies bundle hosting, monitoring and an iteration allowance into a monthly care plan under their own name.
Do we need developers on staff?
No. Teams build by describing what should exist and reviewing the result in a live preview. Guardrails, QA and Security cover the review discipline a developer would normally provide: risky changes are flagged, tested and recorded before they merge. Agencies with technical staff go faster, but none of it requires writing code.
What happens if a client relationship ends?
The app is portable by design. Export the code to any Git repository, hand over the Supabase backend, and the client walks away with standard, maintainable software. Clean exits are a selling point in your pitch — clients sign faster when they know they are not being locked in.
How do we start without risking a client project?
Bring one real brief and build it in a live preview before you show anyone. If your first project is a paying client build, apply for the Agency Build Grant — up to 2,000 credits, async review, no sales call. You validate the delivery model on real work, not a demo.