$ diff refactor rewriting-from-scratch

Refactor vs rewriting from scratch

The instinct is understandable: the code is a mess, so burn it down and start over in Next.js. But you'd be throwing away the one thing that's actually working — the product decisions your users already validated.

criterion

Refactor

Rewriting from scratch

Timeline

2–4 weeks to production-ready

3–6 months, historically closer to 9

What you keep

Every feature, every user, every integration that already works

You rebuild it all — and lose the edge cases you forgot you handled

Risk of second-system syndrome

Zero — we work in your existing repo

High — the rewrite always grows scope

Cost

$18k fixed

$60k–$150k in dev time, plus opportunity cost

When you ship next

Next week, on the refactored code

When the rewrite reaches feature parity — someday

User disruption

None — same URLs, same data

Migration, downtime, broken links, angry users

// bottom line

Rewrite from scratch if the product itself is wrong. Refactor if the product is right and the code is what's holding it back. Almost always, it's the second one.

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// other comparisons

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