I honestly think it’s both. Feature-based structures do scale better in many real-world projects because they keep related logic, UI, services, and state close together instead of scattering them across the app. That makes onboarding, debugging, and extending features much easier as the codebase grows.
But structure alone won’t save a project if the team lacks consistency and discipline. A clean architecture can still become chaotic when boundaries aren’t respected, naming becomes inconsistent, or components start doing “just one extra thing” everywhere.
So for me, the best scaling advantage comes from the combination of:
- intentional architecture
- clear conventions
- disciplined engineering habits
A strong structure reduces friction. Team discipline keeps it healthy long-term.