Autotomy vs create-expo-app
create-expo-app is the official way to start an Expo project, and the right default for many apps. Autotomy starts from the same Expo platform and adds a pre-decided, machine-checked architecture for teams that build with AI tools.
| Feature | create-expo-app | Autotomy Expo Starter Kit |
|---|---|---|
| Status / price | Official Expo CLI, free | Coming soon; price not announced |
| What you get | Templates: default (Expo Router + TypeScript, multi-screen), blank, blank-typescript, tabs, bare-minimum; --example for about 70 with-* integration examples | A full app foundation: layered src/, services, typed routes, data layer, tests, and a one-command check |
| 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 | AGENTS.md with project architecture rules plus about 1,900 lines of docs (works alongside Expo's official skills) |
| Architecture | Your choice (no enforced layering) | Enforced layer whitelist via dependency-cruiser |
| Tests / gates | Not preconfigured | Vitest, 100% logic-coverage gate, property tests, lint, and typecheck in one pnpm check |
| Data layer | Not included | TanStack Query with offline persistence; API client with retry and circuit breaker |
| Styling | StyleSheet by default | Swappable engines (StyleSheet, NativeWind) |
| Auth, payments, analytics | Not included in the templates | Not included |
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 those decisions already made and enforced, so AI-generated code follows one architecture as the app grows.
See what's inside the Expo starter kit →Sources
Autotomy facts come from Autotomy Foundation Expo v1.0.0 (released July 17, 2026), the base of the kit.