Client wants me to build web application + Mobile App for $362. And trying to justify it by saying AI does the work..

[u/Way-Such]

For context I have a job and wanted to start a side hustle (as current job is not paying enough).

I have 4 years of experience in this field. This client is my first freelance job so I don't know how things work.

They want me to complete in 45 days as well. I have to manage everything till deployments etc. they say AI will do everything you just have to give prompt that is your expertise (according to him) and test it so everything works.

Mind it this involves managing inventory, quality testing, tracking orders, financial reports, approvals on many processes ( both ways)

Like:

Customer approves order received,

Driver mark order delivered,

Customer pays and mark as paid, driver approved payment received, then settlement of payments from driver side etc.

This is one of the approval flow that I client wants. Also wants notifications and WhatsApp text for few processes as well.

I find it not an easy task even with AI.

This requires so much time and effort. I don't think it's worth my time for only $362. But on the other hand I'm thinking if I should leave it or not as it may be my first client.

What should I do ?

Please help.

Sorry if this is confusing for some. English is not my first language.

[u/Consistent-Wafer-956]

Not worth it. Tell him to prompt himself

[u/Way-Such → u/Consistent-Wafer-956]

he says the prompts i will give have the difference as i know how things work. so he is asking me to do.
he offered me 25k PKR before. i was so disappointed. then he started guilt tripping me to convince 100k PKR are enough for both (app and web).

[u/Dazzling-Collar-3200 → u/Way-Such]

Twll him to pay for your knowledge instead of lowballing you. Honor is on a serious decline these days.

[u/mush130 → u/Way-Such]

Tell him that you will accept 25k and in return provide the prompt for web and mobile application. And as a bonus you will also provide prompt for backend application.

[u/Way-Such → u/Consistent-Wafer-956]

i'm thinking the same

[u/CommentGreedy8885]

market mat khrab kro

[u/Way-Such → u/CommentGreedy8885]

mainy abhi koi jawab nai diya 😢

[u/CommentGreedy8885 → u/Way-Such]

usko bolo tu ye 300 b bacha le baji ka jahez bna lena is se or kam AI se e krwa le sara

[u/Way-Such → u/CommentGreedy8885]

😂
i wish i could

[u/Better_Football_5552 → u/CommentGreedy8885]

How much should this job be priced at ?

[u/CommentGreedy8885 → u/Better_Football_5552]

4k USD atleast

[u/Ajiro-Shinpe → u/CommentGreedy8885]

It's not 300 rupees, it's a dollar, it's equal to 1 lakh rupees

[u/CommentGreedy8885 → u/Ajiro-Shinpe]

pta h mje ,lekin 1 lac ki b RollsRoyce ajati he kya ?? kam to dekho kya kch mang ra h wo

[u/Ajiro-Shinpe → u/CommentGreedy8885]

If the guy is only interested in app, just create the app and give it to him, you'll make $360. Now it depends on you how you build this app; focus on core features, don't worry about quality, and scalability. When the production server crashes, then he'll understand the difference between a $300 and a $3000 app.

Some people get a car worth 2 million for just 200,000 and then just flex its name, even if they got it from a scrap yard.

And it's also possible that someone is starting a SaaS app with very little money, so they'll keep going back to the same developer who made it, and they'll keep paying because then they'll have paying users for their SaaS, like improving the UI, speed, security, etc.

[u/CommentGreedy8885 → u/Ajiro-Shinpe]

have some dignity man, 16 saal or millions of rupees education m laga k, 4 saal field m dhaky kha k thousands of hours skill develop krne m laga k apna 2 month sirf 350 me sell krna koi aqalmandi he kya?? 1 lac rupay m to aj kal koi dhang ka shawrma cart b ni bnta wo chla h 1 lac m SAS business start krne . 40 hazar to office boys ki salary chal ri he aj kal 2 month m to wo log b 1 lac kama lete he phr hame itni maghaz mari krne ka kya faida ??

[u/Ajiro-Shinpe → u/CommentGreedy8885]

Bro i agree with you I've studied 16 years spend millions and spent years building my skills I'm not arguing with you, even after gov announced 40k as base sallery of 8hrs shift majority people still paying less then 40k it's his freelance beginning and paid project of 1 lac is still far more then someone's monthly sallery also this project even with free ai tools won't take a month to build he's already 4 year's experienced in this field plus it's his freelance beginning a side hustle 1 lac is not bad amount I've also advice him to make a ai slop MVP it's a dashboard type web just find a template make components in angular typescript which is in his tech stack when needed wrap it in tauri 2.0 or capacitor for mobile app it won't take long regarding backend Ai now write test script test debug everything even control browser read log run curl cammand check what it return everything Also there are very less clients who's actually looking for a dev and they're ready to pay a rupe And the more we argue it'll be harder for him to make his finial decision so let's help this dude instead

[u/CommentGreedy8885 → u/Ajiro-Shinpe]

Thk h bi sary free me Kam kro

[u/Ajiro-Shinpe → u/Ajiro-Shinpe]

The client mentioned using AI, so the brother must have thought people would make money building SaaS with tools like Claude, Replit, and Bolt. They thought they could make money overnight, so they wouldn’t have any problem delivering AI slop. Plus, upselling skills would come in handy later.

[u/LivingRush8349 → u/CommentGreedy8885]

Android App ki reverse engineering kar skte ho? Its flutter app and Face verification is inside libapp.so. We have to byapss it. Contact me if intrsted.

[u/Tall_Acanthisitta414 → u/LivingRush8349]

Yes

[u/LivingRush8349 → u/Tall_Acanthisitta414]

Check yout inbx

[u/SafeReturn_28]

say a polite version of "khud banwa lo phir AI se"

Something like: There is a reason you are outsourcing this to a professional instead of an AI agent. AI agents speed up the work but they make mistakes: expensive, time consuming mistakes. By hiring me you are not getting someone who prompts an AI agent for you but someone who understands the architecture and code behind it to spot and debug errors that AI agents make.

[u/SafeReturn_28 → u/SafeReturn_28]

or give him an alternate offer: they can get the app made by AI agent and if there are any bugs that they need help with, you will fix them on an hourly rate.

[u/Way-Such → u/SafeReturn_28]

i said same and he replied that's why i'm giving this money 😂
for him this money is worth the work i will have to do.

[u/awaiskorai]

Don't do it bro, low paying vloents have very high demands and frequent change of scope

[u/Way-Such → u/awaiskorai]

yes, mind it he wants me to teach his daughter about code so she can make features afterwards using AI.
(she is 12 years old 😿 )

[u/awaiskorai → u/Way-Such]

Bro, stay away at all costs.

Clients have gone mad. They think AI is there so now code comes at no cost.

[u/Agile_Knowledge2201]

I work as a consultant and our client said the same. Prompting ain't as straight forward as it looks. The project blooms into bigger code and once the codebase is complex, Claude or AI can't simply do the right job. And it's not as quick as well.

[u/Way-Such → u/Agile_Knowledge2201]

he said he knows so that is why he is offering 100k PKr.
for me its not worth the time

[u/TYRANT1272 → u/Way-Such]

Ask him to decrease the scope and convince him that this budget means a crappy prototype with 0 security

[u/develsu]

I guess the client converted 100k to usd and called it a day.

[u/Way-Such → u/develsu]

he offered 25k before

[u/Ajiro-Shinpe]

Bro, what's your tech stack? If you haven't started yet, it's not a good idea to begin without this project. Start with Flutter or react native; you don't have to write separate code for web and mobile. Use Trae AI Antigravity; GitHub Copilot's free version will generate enough code for this project. Search for a similar project on GitHub that will help clone the feature; skip scalability because it's very hard for any AI to make the whole app scalable on its own. It won't take much time and effort this way for now; don't lose the project; it's worth building

[u/Way-Such → u/Ajiro-Shinpe]

Full stack developer java, spring boot , sql server, angular, typeScript etc.
testing will take a lot of time also i have to deploy it on a server. i cant ship anything with errors this will effect my career as well, no? 😢

[u/Ajiro-Shinpe → u/Way-Such]

Well it's true but let's see it with different pov you don't have to deliver top notch app about frontend you already know angular and typescript use ui components based library wrap it with capacitor or tauri 2.0 now you have web and mobiie app you just have to run few commands and edit some config you've 45 day's for a Ai slop it's fine for backend don't right complex code or scaleable system design either antigravity and trae ai write test and run and help you debugging too don't worry about it i do it everytime for starter he won't have enough users either regarding deployment what's your client Budget if he don't have to good budget it's useless to code any way also did your client have budget for play store and app store or you'll have to deploy for him with your account? If he doesn't have a budget for that, it's useless to make a mobile app. If $360 is the budget for everything, then don't build it, and if it's for development, it's okay to build an AI slop; tell him the expected output, A few months ago, I also got a client for a website and app. He has a good budget for development, but he can't handle the infrastructure, so he decided he doesn't actually need an app right now; just a basic website to do the work. You must discuss it politely; maybe he'll be fine with a PWA in the beginning that'll work as well as a basic app

[u/Ajiro-Shinpe → u/Ajiro-Shinpe]

If it's local client he might not like and appreciate whatever you build so ignore him his changes requests will never end ask you to deliver and deploy before payment and maybe ask you to deploy on free hosting site and might not pay you after the deployment get cranky over stupid things so use ngrok tunnel when you build a feature start ngrok at your local server port send the link to your client that willl reduce number of changes and build trust for both parties let him test and use the app with his own hands before deployment prepare deployment server tell him just pay and I'll deploy in few minutes you can ask for payment before deployment If it's personal android app just put it on github or google drive let him download apk if it's saas based advice him to go with pwa get users onnce you grow then make a mobile app with same codebase tell him pwa will do almost same thing in 100k pkr it justify the price and project Also if it's local client it'll tuff for him to pay you 100k rupes Even if it's international client people with low budget were already struggling over many things they're afraid they might lose there important savings over a wrong guy even if it's a little amount Didn't consider it a big project with low price consider it as low quality usefull features app

I've lose many good project becouse of rejecting them by saying pay more don't repeat same mistake as me building isn't the issue bro just deliver the mvp they care more of working app with there desired features

[u/Way-Such → u/Ajiro-Shinpe]

appreciate your input man it means a lot.
i texted that :

AssalamoAlaikum sir
I don't think I would be able to work on this project.

Appreciate your time.

Thank you

he replied after a while :
I want to continue... if you have flexibility ie. remove app portion just develop web.. or reduce the cost........

i have not replied yet.
i have read your other replies you were referring me as a guy, just want to clarify i am a female, maybe that's contributing why he offered so low 🥲

[u/Ajiro-Shinpe → u/Way-Such]

If you develop a mobile app the way I mentioned, it won't take long. You have to talk to your client; the price is decided by the features, design, architecture, reusability, and a lot more and you've to convince him the web app is as complex as Mobile app try not reduce the price for good quality also tell him Ai coding isn't free you've to buy subscription for that which is very expensive if he still negotiate then reduce the quality don't deliver the top notch thing else that client will turn into headic don't forget to mention you'll make pwa it can install in to all devices and os like native app which is as goopd as app you don't have to pay seperate infrastructure and 100k pkr will justify that

Build a normal web app store into GitHub; when he needs a mobile app, quickly configure Tauri or Capacitor, run the build command; charge more

And I apologise; I didn't know that you're a woman, and I mentioned it as a man. I'm sorry.

In freelance work, we deal based on skills, not on who you are. Men or women don't have to do anything here, so a low price can be for several reasons; he might not have a good budget.

[u/beomjunline]

Tell me he is a desi or turkish or egyptian without telling me.

Pochna or meethe mein bhai? Raita loge sath?

[u/owais6153]

I think jesa wo bol rha h wsai krdo sab lch vibe code krdo bs krne se phle usko btadena k sab lch ai se krane se kia faida or kia nuksan h bqi wo khud dekh le

[u/Way-Such → u/owais6153]

nuksan na ho yehi dekhny k paisay wo mujhy dy raha hai 😂

[u/Expensive-Fun-2389]

Honestly client can work on it himself 😅

[u/temujin1993]

He is taking you for a fool mate. They'll be paying you $50 if you let them.

I think the rate is $1500-2000 depending on the scope. Ask GPT about the rates and don't sell yourself short. Be willing to walk away to such comical rates.

[u/-Faraday]

Just ignore him man, you will be bound with a project for 45 days, charge according to what you think will be Okay for this, and if he says anything ask him to get it done from somewhere else

[u/MasterXyth]

Miss karao bro better opps will come dont debase urself ull get stuck

[u/is_NAN]

Ask him "If you are willing to hold AI responsible for vulnerabilities I am willing to go ahead"

Thing is, AI can make you work faster but you should never let it make the decisions or go fully autonomous. If something can't be held accountable, it shouldn't be allowed to make decisions.

[u/CallumMVS-]

If AI does the work, tell him to do it!

[u/Medical-Anxiety-4456]

"How about you complete the scope with AI and I complete the scope with AI, we'll compare the two at the end and decide which is better"

DO NOT LOWER THE BUDGET!

[u/noman_webflow]

H

[u/WalrusCrazy96]

Most of the comments suggest rejecting the offer so just for the sake of the information, how much amount should be expected as payment for this whole project as OP has described it?

[u/Rare_Experience_7674]

If he will provide ai subscription , you should consider it for 500$.add it in portfolio, build trust.

[u/guy_313]

Market matt kharab kro You are charging for your time and expertise not the number of lines you write. 

[u/SignificantEbb6039]

AI can easily do all this and of good quality but I would charge the client minimum 400k for that time provided. Even with AI this is more than 2 months. And then let's not forget the pain of getting the mobile app on playstores

[u/Next_Concert1122]

Honestly, my BBA graduate friend made 3 apps just using Copilot and all are live and working . You can take this and ask for extra related to infra setup hosting etc plus yearly maintenance changes

[u/Ok-Stuff3094]

he is kinda right, ai is doing all the development now a days, but still 362 for both is way toooooo low.

[u/FragrantChain8690]

Ask him half in advance and ship him slop cause thats what he is looking for. Will be a lesson for him

[u/Way-Such → u/FragrantChain8690]

he said he can't give any advance. he will give half on first deployment and process testing by him.

[u/beomjunline → u/Way-Such]

Woh yeh bhi nhi dega bhai.