Can I just ask the AI to make my app secure?
It helps, and you should, but the same tool that left the gap is checking its own work. Ask it for specific things ("turn on row level security on every table and write policies so users only see their own rows") and then check the result from outside, as a stranger would.
Is a Lovable, Bolt or Replit app less secure than a hand-written one?
Not by nature. The platforms give you a reasonable starting point. The risk is that nobody on the team knows which parts need checking, so defaults that were fine for a demo end up in front of paying customers.
Do I need a penetration test from a security firm?
Once you hold sensitive data, sell to larger companies, or are asked for a security review, yes. Automated checks are the cheap first pass that clears the obvious problems, so the firm's time goes on the hard ones. They do not replace it.
How long does checking take?
The outside checks in this list take an afternoon by hand, or about a minute with the vibeship quick check. Fixing depends on what turns up; leaked keys and missing database rules are usually an hour each.