diff --git a/packages/app/src/App.tsx b/packages/app/src/App.tsx
index d915411987..dd4bf42c2c 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/App.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/App.tsx
@@ -25,10 +25,13 @@ import * as plugins from './plugins';
 import apis, { alertApiForwarder } from './apis';
 import { ThemeContextType, ThemeContext, useThemeType } from './ThemeContext';
 
-const app = createApp();
-app.registerApis(apis);
-app.registerPlugin(...Object.values(plugins));
-const AppComponent = app.build();
+const app = createApp({
+  apis,
+  plugins: Object.values(plugins),
+});
+
+const AppProvider = app.getProvider();
+const AppComponent = app.getRootComponent();
 
 const App: FC<{}> = () => {
   const [theme, toggleTheme] = useThemeType(
@@ -59,18 +62,20 @@ const App: FC<{}> = () => {
     toggleTheme,
   };
   return (
-    <ThemeContext.Provider value={themeContext}>
-      <ThemeProvider theme={backstageTheme}>
-        <CssBaseline>
-          <AlertDisplay forwarder={alertApiForwarder} />
-          <Router>
-            <Root>
-              <AppComponent />
-            </Root>
-          </Router>
-        </CssBaseline>
-      </ThemeProvider>
-    </ThemeContext.Provider>
+    <AppProvider>
+      <ThemeContext.Provider value={themeContext}>
+        <ThemeProvider theme={backstageTheme}>
+          <CssBaseline>
+            <AlertDisplay forwarder={alertApiForwarder} />
+            <Router>
+              <Root>
+                <AppComponent />
+              </Root>
+            </Router>
+          </CssBaseline>
+        </ThemeProvider>
+      </ThemeContext.Provider>
+    </AppProvider>
   );
 };
 
diff --git a/packages/core/src/api/app/AppBuilder.tsx b/packages/core/src/api/app/App.tsx
similarity index 61%
rename from packages/core/src/api/app/AppBuilder.tsx
rename to packages/core/src/api/app/App.tsx
index a375593cdb..c44454b10e 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/api/app/AppBuilder.tsx
+++ b/packages/core/src/api/app/App.tsx
@@ -14,10 +14,10 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import React, { ComponentType } from 'react';
+import React, { ComponentType, FC } from 'react';
 import { Route, Switch, Redirect } from 'react-router-dom';
 import { AppContextProvider } from './AppContext';
-import { App } from './types';
+import { BackstageApp, AppOptions, AppComponents } from './types';
 import { BackstagePlugin } from '../plugin';
 import { FeatureFlagsRegistryItem } from './FeatureFlags';
 import { featureFlagsApiRef } from '../apis/definitions';
@@ -29,45 +29,47 @@ import {
   SystemIconKey,
   defaultSystemIcons,
 } from '../../icons';
-import { ApiHolder, ApiProvider } from '../apis';
+import { ApiHolder, ApiProvider, ApiRegistry } from '../apis';
 import LoginPage from './LoginPage';
 
-class AppImpl implements App {
-  constructor(private readonly systemIcons: SystemIcons) {}
+type FullAppOptions = {
+  apis: ApiHolder;
+  icons: SystemIcons;
+  plugins: BackstagePlugin[];
+  components: AppComponents;
+};
+
+class AppImpl implements BackstageApp {
+  private readonly apis: ApiHolder;
+  private readonly icons: SystemIcons;
+  private readonly plugins: BackstagePlugin[];
+  private readonly components: AppComponents;
+
+  constructor(options: FullAppOptions) {
+    this.apis = options.apis;
+    this.icons = options.icons;
+    this.plugins = options.plugins;
+    this.components = options.components;
+  }
+
+  getApis(): ApiHolder {
+    return this.apis;
+  }
+
+  getPlugins(): BackstagePlugin[] {
+    return this.plugins;
+  }
 
   getSystemIcon(key: SystemIconKey): IconComponent {
-    return this.systemIcons[key];
-  }
-}
-
-export class AppBuilder {
-  private apis?: ApiHolder;
-  private systemIcons = { ...defaultSystemIcons };
-  private readonly plugins = new Set<BackstagePlugin>();
-
-  registerApis(apis: ApiHolder) {
-    this.apis = apis;
+    return this.icons[key];
   }
 
-  registerIcons(icons: Partial<SystemIcons>) {
-    this.systemIcons = { ...this.systemIcons, ...icons };
-  }
-
-  registerPlugin(...plugin: BackstagePlugin[]) {
-    for (const p of plugin) {
-      if (this.plugins.has(p)) {
-        throw new Error(`Plugin '${p}' is already registered`);
-      }
-      this.plugins.add(p);
-    }
-  }
-
-  build(): ComponentType<{}> {
-    const app = new AppImpl(this.systemIcons);
-
+  getRootComponent(): ComponentType<{}> {
     const routes = new Array<JSX.Element>();
     const registeredFeatureFlags = new Array<FeatureFlagsRegistryItem>();
 
+    const { NotFoundErrorPage } = this.components;
+
     for (const plugin of this.plugins.values()) {
       for (const output of plugin.output()) {
         switch (output.type) {
@@ -130,11 +132,7 @@ export class AppBuilder {
     let rendered = (
       <Switch>
         {routes}
-        <Route
-          render={(props) => (
-            <ErrorPage {...props} status="404" statusMessage="PAGE NOT FOUND" />
-          )}
-        />
+        <Route component={NotFoundErrorPage} />
       </Switch>
     );
 
@@ -142,10 +140,48 @@ export class AppBuilder {
       rendered = <ApiProvider apis={this.apis} children={rendered} />;
     }
 
-    return () => <AppContextProvider app={app} children={rendered} />;
+    return () => rendered;
+  }
+
+  getProvider(): ComponentType<{}> {
+    const Provider: FC<{}> = ({ children }) => (
+      <AppContextProvider app={this}>{children}</AppContextProvider>
+    );
+    return Provider;
+  }
+
+  verify() {
+    const pluginIds = new Set<string>();
+
+    for (const plugin of this.plugins) {
+      const id = plugin.getId();
+      if (pluginIds.has(id)) {
+        throw new Error(`Duplicate plugin found '${id}'`);
+      }
+      pluginIds.add(id);
+    }
   }
 }
 
-export function createApp() {
-  return new AppBuilder();
+/**
+ * Creates a new Backstage App.
+ */
+export function createApp(options?: AppOptions) {
+  const DefaultNotFoundPage = () => (
+    <ErrorPage status="404" statusMessage="PAGE NOT FOUND" />
+  );
+
+  const apis = options?.apis ?? ApiRegistry.from([]);
+  const icons = { ...defaultSystemIcons, ...options?.icons };
+  const plugins = options?.plugins ?? [];
+  const components = {
+    NotFoundErrorPage: DefaultNotFoundPage,
+    ...options?.components,
+  };
+
+  const app = new AppImpl({ apis, icons, plugins, components });
+
+  app.verify();
+
+  return app;
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/api/app/AppContext.tsx b/packages/core/src/api/app/AppContext.tsx
index c3077801e6..ec3831992f 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/api/app/AppContext.tsx
+++ b/packages/core/src/api/app/AppContext.tsx
@@ -15,19 +15,19 @@
  */
 
 import React, { createContext, useContext, FC } from 'react';
-import { App } from './types';
+import { BackstageApp } from './types';
 
-const Context = createContext<App | undefined>(undefined);
+const Context = createContext<BackstageApp | undefined>(undefined);
 
 type Props = {
-  app: App;
+  app: BackstageApp;
 };
 
 export const AppContextProvider: FC<Props> = ({ app, children }) => (
   <Context.Provider value={app} children={children} />
 );
 
-export const useApp = (): App => {
+export const useApp = (): BackstageApp => {
   const app = useContext(Context);
   if (!app) {
     throw new Error('No app context available');
diff --git a/packages/core/src/api/app/index.ts b/packages/core/src/api/app/index.ts
index 156c9870b8..c40fa9e9f8 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/api/app/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/api/app/index.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-export { createApp } from './AppBuilder';
+export { createApp } from './App';
 export { FeatureFlags } from './FeatureFlags';
 export { useApp } from './AppContext';
 export * from './types';
diff --git a/packages/core/src/api/app/types.ts b/packages/core/src/api/app/types.ts
index 4a6efe66fb..e8d597e120 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/api/app/types.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/api/app/types.ts
@@ -15,15 +15,63 @@
  */
 
 import { ComponentType } from 'react';
-import { IconComponent, SystemIconKey } from '../../icons';
+import { IconComponent, SystemIconKey, SystemIcons } from '../../icons';
+import { BackstagePlugin } from '../plugin';
+import { ApiHolder } from '../apis';
 
-export type App = {
-  getSystemIcon(key: SystemIconKey): IconComponent;
+export type AppComponents = {
+  NotFoundErrorPage: ComponentType<{}>;
 };
 
-export class AppComponentBuilder<T = any> {
-  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unused-vars
-  build(_app: App): ComponentType<T> {
-    throw new Error('Must override build() in AppComponentBuilder');
-  }
-}
+export type AppOptions = {
+  /**
+   * A holder of all APIs available in the app.
+   *
+   * Use for example ApiRegistry or ApiTestRegistry.
+   */
+  apis?: ApiHolder;
+
+  /**
+   * Supply icons to override the default ones.
+   */
+  icons?: Partial<SystemIcons>;
+
+  /**
+   * A list of all plugins to include in the app.
+   */
+  plugins?: BackstagePlugin[];
+
+  /**
+   * Supply components to the app to override the default ones.
+   */
+  components?: Partial<AppComponents>;
+};
+
+export type BackstageApp = {
+  /**
+   * Get the holder for all APIs available in the app.
+   */
+  getApis(): ApiHolder;
+
+  /**
+   * Returns all plugins registered for the app.
+   */
+  getPlugins(): BackstagePlugin[];
+
+  /**
+   * Get a common icon for this app.
+   */
+  getSystemIcon(key: SystemIconKey): IconComponent;
+
+  /**
+   * Creates a root component for this app, including the App chrome
+   * and routes to all plugins.
+   */
+  getRootComponent(): ComponentType<{}>;
+
+  /**
+   * Provider component that should wrap the App's RootComponent and
+   * any other components that need to be within the app context.
+   */
+  getProvider(): ComponentType<{}>;
+};
diff --git a/packages/dev-utils/src/devApp/render.tsx b/packages/dev-utils/src/devApp/render.tsx
index e68dac4021..3a69faa18f 100644
--- a/packages/dev-utils/src/devApp/render.tsx
+++ b/packages/dev-utils/src/devApp/render.tsx
@@ -66,25 +66,29 @@ class DevAppBuilder {
    * Build a DevApp component using the resources registered so far
    */
   build(): ComponentType<{}> {
-    const app = createApp();
-    app.registerApis(this.setupApiRegistry(this.factories));
-    app.registerPlugin(...this.plugins);
-    const AppComponent = app.build();
+    const app = createApp({
+      apis: this.setupApiRegistry(this.factories),
+      plugins: this.plugins,
+    });
+    const AppProvider = app.getProvider();
+    const AppComponent = app.getRootComponent();
 
     const sidebar = this.setupSidebar(this.plugins);
 
     const DevApp: FC<{}> = () => {
       return (
-        <ThemeProvider theme={lightTheme}>
-          <CssBaseline>
-            <BrowserRouter>
-              <SidebarPage>
-                {sidebar}
-                <AppComponent />
-              </SidebarPage>
-            </BrowserRouter>
-          </CssBaseline>
-        </ThemeProvider>
+        <AppProvider>
+          <ThemeProvider theme={lightTheme}>
+            <CssBaseline>
+              <BrowserRouter>
+                <SidebarPage>
+                  {sidebar}
+                  <AppComponent />
+                </SidebarPage>
+              </BrowserRouter>
+            </CssBaseline>
+          </ThemeProvider>
+        </AppProvider>
       );
     };