I optimised my vibe coding tech stack cost to $0
16 comments
Access here -
- AI SDK - Antigravity- https://antigravity.google/
- AI Documentation - SuperDocs - https://superdocs.cloud/
- Database - Supabase - https://supabase.com
- Auth - StackAuth - https://stack-auth.com
- LLM/AI Model - Gemini by AI Studio (aistudio.google.com) or Self-trained Unsloth Model (https://unsloth.ai) or Openrouter for testing (openrouter.ai)
- Deployment - Vercel (Vercel.com) or CloudFare Pages.
- Analytics - PostHog (posthog.com) or Microsoft Clarity
Enjoy
Enjoy
Thanks for this list!
A couple of questions I have:
1. Why not use supabase auth? I’m using it for a little project and generally like how much you get out of the box with supabase. Curious why you like stack auth.
3. Why 3 analytics tools? I’m thinking about implementing post hog in a little project I’m running right now, and generally would like to avoid having to have a lot of tracking!
A couple of questions I have:
1. Why not use supabase auth? I’m using it for a little project and generally like how much you get out of the box with supabase. Curious why you like stack auth.
3. Why 3 analytics tools? I’m thinking about implementing post hog in a little project I’m running right now, and generally would like to avoid having to have a lot of tracking!
Tbh.. analytics tools is I also think somewhat exaggerated.. I prefer clarity as a top priority btw.. And Google Analytics helps rank fast for seo.
I doubt if the free tier in Antigravity is generous enough for production usecases, I run into rate limits multiple times a day. Additionally, I generally prefer using cursor for building UI as its inbuilt browser helps a lot with pointing and adding components directly to the chat.
> Was it cost effective when compared to hiring a developer? Yes. Was it value for money? NO.
Is your product making any money?
If so can it scale past the free trial period (Over 10K users a month) and still sustain costs?
Free trials are not forever and limits can change without notice. Maintenance still costs time and money.
So it is not actually $0.
Is your product making any money?
If so can it scale past the free trial period (Over 10K users a month) and still sustain costs?
Free trials are not forever and limits can change without notice. Maintenance still costs time and money.
So it is not actually $0.
I lowkey agree to this. But this is like a starter kit for people who are just mindlessly building and exhausting their credits on apps like Cursor or Replit.
Plus, having a dedicated stack that is you can functionally depend on, will help you scale much easily and accumulate very less technical debt overhead.
If you build an app mindlessly with Replit, chances there, you have a mock or hardcoded DB or auth and when you ship the v2, all data will vanish..
So, it's less of a good thing and more of a bad thing for people starting out.
But yes, you are truly right that this is also very inconsistent to rely on credits. I appreciate you raising this up!
Plus, having a dedicated stack that is you can functionally depend on, will help you scale much easily and accumulate very less technical debt overhead.
If you build an app mindlessly with Replit, chances there, you have a mock or hardcoded DB or auth and when you ship the v2, all data will vanish..
So, it's less of a good thing and more of a bad thing for people starting out.
But yes, you are truly right that this is also very inconsistent to rely on credits. I appreciate you raising this up!
Thanks for sharing.
Yes, costs can add up. But it’s also about investment / return. Saving $X if it’s less effective a/o costs you $Y, then it might not be the savings it appears to be.
It’s similar to DOGE. DOGE is about Efficiency. But it should have started with Effectiveness. Doing something (financially) efficient doesn’t mean it’s effective.
In short, list some alternatives a/o what you’re giving up by going free would be helpful. For example, Appwrite or Firebase as different (and free tier) backends. Each has their + and -.
Thank again. I will be checking these out.
Yes, costs can add up. But it’s also about investment / return. Saving $X if it’s less effective a/o costs you $Y, then it might not be the savings it appears to be.
It’s similar to DOGE. DOGE is about Efficiency. But it should have started with Effectiveness. Doing something (financially) efficient doesn’t mean it’s effective.
In short, list some alternatives a/o what you’re giving up by going free would be helpful. For example, Appwrite or Firebase as different (and free tier) backends. Each has their + and -.
Thank again. I will be checking these out.
So much true.
I have been a developer in past so I understand my bias towards convectional frameworks. For me, the biggest dealbreaker for Replit was the scale cost.
I the technical debt that I was incurring per project. It is still my go-to option for prototyping and quick tests but this was just the regular stack I am using to ship stuffs.
Also, yes, there a a lot of alternatives (great ones) that I missed and understand that the list is not complete.
Would love to know what stacks you use so I can also try them out.
I the technical debt that I was incurring per project. It is still my go-to option for prototyping and quick tests but this was just the regular stack I am using to ship stuffs.
Also, yes, there a a lot of alternatives (great ones) that I missed and understand that the list is not complete.
Would love to know what stacks you use so I can also try them out.
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Ig it's a good fit for SuperDocs.cloud. Maybe we can partner to give all of the products launched here.. their own proper managed product documentations.
If you are not paying for the product. You are the product.
True somehow but this is the typical Silicon Valley style where most of the stuff is so democratised that for people to start off, it has become a big fallback.
Like if you are a student or planning to switch career, then take what's free.. build and learn and ship!!!
Like if you are a student or planning to switch career, then take what's free.. build and learn and ship!!!
I initially tried a lot of tools - Bolt, v0, Replit, Lovable, etc. out of which Replit game me the best results (yes, I can be biased due to my selection of applications). But I often paid anywhere from $25-$200/mo. Other costs like API, models, etc. made monthly bills upward of $300/mo. Was it cost effective when compared to hiring a developer? Yes. Was it value for money? NO.
So, over the months, I optimised by complete stack to be either free (or minimal cost) for internal use or stay at a much lean cost for consumer-facing products.
Here's how the whole stack looks today -
- IDE - Google's AntiGravity (100% free + higher access if you use student ID) --> https://antigravity.google/
AI Documentation - SuperDocs (100% free & open source) --> https://superdocs.cloud/
Database - Supabase (Nano plan free, enough for basic needs) --> http://supabase.com/
Authentication - Stack Auth (Free upto 10K users) --> http://stack-auth.com/
LLM (AI Model) - OpenRouter or Gemini via AI Studio for testing and a custom tuned model by Unsloth AI for production. (You can fine-tune models using Unsloth literal in a Google Colab Notebook) --> http://openrouter.ai/ OR http://unsloth.ai/ OR http://aistudio.google.com/
Version Maintenance/Distribution - Github/Gitlab (both totally free and open source) --> http://github.com/ OR http://gitlab.com/
Faster Deployment - Vercel (Free Tier Enough for Hobbyists) --> https://vercel.com
Analytics - PostHog, Microsoft Clarity & Google Analytics (All 3 are free and independent for different tracking, I recommend using all of them) --> Https://posthog.com OR http://clarity.microsoft.com/ OR http://analytics.google.com/
That's the list devs! I know I might have missed something. If yes, just ask me up or list them up in the comments. If you have any questions related to something specific, ask me up as well.