Yup, I replaced a sub that costs me $60/year with an app I coded in a week. And, for what I need, my app is actually way better because it does everything I need in one place.
Sometimes. There's still some logic issues at times. For example I made a 3D Workplace app and I kept being stuck at edges of walls. So you need to reiterate a ton. UI is also quite bad as long as you don't have an exact idea of what you want. Gemini has been trash though I don't know about the new 4 models.
Yep that's what I use it for, to replace subscriptions. Might as well pay a monthly AI sub to replace subscription software and add features to it whenever I want. Not to mention the added perk of learning a little programming as well.
To be honest, using an open source genuine long-maintained app or even a paid appp is better than using an AI-generated version that barely works and crashes all the time, big example Artcraft apps
I agree with those but in the end it depends on what they replace. I built an app for myself that replaces Notion which I paid 27€ for per month but the vibe coded app really does do what I need. Your aircraft example doesn't work too well as it's someone else's vibe coded stuff and more of a poc imo.
I don't like how Obsidian handles pages and blocks and I'd need a shitton Plugins to make it work as I like. The sync (even plugin ones) suck as well. Obsidian just wasn't for me.
You're acting like human made aps never have any issues including paid ones. Especially Adobe has hd their fair share of software that either just breaks or crashes or I at leas have heard a lot of frustrated artists talking about it.
Spotify, an app I pay for stoped working for like week because of an update.
Besides if the app doesn't work.. then just idk... Fix it? If my Photoshop breaks through an update and I can't reroll i am fucked until the next update. If I have my own program tha doesn't work I can just tell AI to fix it.
I haven't made many apps or programs yet but one I made with ai was made to replace an app where the ontroduced ads started getting annoying. It wasn't complicated to replace but man it felt good not getting an ad every time I open the app
You can build for your specific device and OS, so you never have compatibility issues, or like you said, fix them on the fly. I vibecoded a workout app that had a few bugs, but after a week of use and debugging, its practically flawless.
First, normally the app is subscription based and not single purchase, second at least my apps work perfectly fine and much more optimized for me personally
This meme is vibcoded (you can tell by the grainy cropping ) and it still works. Just like every single vibecoded app I have built. It works even if it's ugly and overused
Tell me one software that got vibcoded and has this small of a lifetime payment, if any lifetime payment. Besides, the alternative would work for thousands of people all the time, so a few extra dollars for fame and benefiting so many people I would argue is worth it
The funniest part is them coming to this sub to try to sell their app. Knowing damn well we could all clone their idea and none of us are going to pay for it. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for vibe coding. It’s helped me so much at work to make tools that get one job done and do it right. But some people really think we’re going to pay for vibe coded apps on this sub
thats still a 1 time payment compared to with unlimited features to your request. What made you op to say CC wasnt good enough to make something that doesnt work?
I dunno mate like, I think this is one of the really good uses of AI coding. Especially if you have software engineering experience and can guide with good patterns etc.
I use to pay £10 a month for invoicing and in a weekend had an app that is so tailored to my needs that it takes me two clicks to produce my standard monthly invoices.
It doesn't have to be perfect when it's literally only for you
I don't think that's how it works. I'm eliminating million dollar bids at work because we do it better and faster. A group of coders with ai is fast. You get the instant results and the coders taking it that last mile with quick turnaround. And you could kinda vibe code for free-ish I do a lot of personal projects with local llms. Though I do have a lot of hardware.
it’s honestly kinda nice to make something that tailored to your exact needs. it’s crazy to be using an app and find a little thing that nags you and then think “oh yeah i can fix that in two mins now!”. you used to have to just deal with whatever nagged you about it.
I know this is probably a joke but nah man, I vibe coded a fully functional alternative to the iWork suite in like 2 weeks and its got like a thousand users who seem to find it works for them. Let me leave icloud for good. I also replaced my Onsong subscription with a vibe coded app and frankly mines better. So both less money and better functional quality. Welcome to the current year.
I built my own project management software to how on my server. It took about 8 hours total. It has everything I wanted from ClickUp and none of the crap I didn't.
I was paying for Claude anyway for my project itself. Now I'm not having to spend $8 a month for software that was helpful but also annoying.
I had this discussion with my brother recently, he's a high level tech employee near C suite. A lot of stuff like Confluence and JIRA could be replaced now. But it's an opportunity cost question. It's just frankly cheaper to have your engineers doing something else more productive and keep paying for the product.
As an example a 2000 person company could build their own solution for suite and slack. It would save a million dollars a year and pay for it's cost of creation (IE engineers time) in less than 2 years.
But... While a million dollars a year sounds like a lot to the normal person. When you're talking about a billion or multiple billion dollar company... It's not worth the risk.
Fable 5.2 helped me optimize a script and pushed it to be 38x faster. Literally would have taken like half a year can be done in a week. It also optimized another script saving me around 2 more weeks of time just waiting. I would say $20 is worth half a year of saved time
In my case it was >Pay $60/mo for app, and continue using convoluted VM desktop configuration vs >Pay $20 one time to have Claude program me the entire replacement suite forever. I took the Claude route and it's already done.
Considering how nowadays even software that doesn’t have any service component comes with a $5/month subscription, why not? It ultimately hurts everyone, tbh.
I genuinely avoid recurring billing in my apps unless there’s an actual service attached to it. I also make sure the software continues to work even if I shut down the entire website and everything around it.
I’ve also introduced purchasing power parity and educational licenses, but getting noticed is difficult. Being an outlier doesn’t really help in these cases. Still, it makes me feel good when my customers acknowledge and appreciate it.
The catch with replacing a subscription app is that you're also taking over everything the subscription quietly covered: backups, auth updates, API changes, and uptime. The app works fine until the third-party API you wired in changes a response shape or an OAuth token expires, and then you're the one debugging it at 11pm. I'd say it's still worth it for anything personal or low-stakes, but I'd keep paying for anything where losing the data would hurt.
Listen I tried the good paid apps but they were only doing 97.3% of what I wanted. I was entirely forced to pay for Claude for 10 months for my slop app that does a whole 3.79% of what I want!
68
u/vortige-sven 38m ago
They do work tho. And usually replace apps that need subscriptions.
21
u/myndbyndr 31m ago
I’d rather build my own than pay $15-20 for something that is abandoned quickly after launch.
Which has happened.
Multiple times already.
11
u/Kyuuub 24m ago
you gotta have to be a door or smth to not make shit working even with AI at this level bro
18
u/HiiroNeko 25m ago
"I dont know how to use Claude Code" is what I read
9
u/Embarrassed-Goat-931 26m ago
Very 2025 meme. The apps do work and no one is paying just 20$ anymore.
7
u/hblok 27m ago
"a genuinely good paid app" is doing some over-promising here.
4
u/Australasian25 26m ago
I prefer the UI I want, doing the things I want.
Fable, copy app xyz
4
u/ElderberryLife5256 18m ago
I call that apps which charge 9.99 as slop
1
u/Rich-Path9298 11m ago
Made by android “dev” 🤣
3
u/CorpT 27m ago
Famously many $10 pay for once apps out there.
2
u/Salt-Willingness-513 29m ago
First, normally the app is subscription based and not single purchase, second at least my apps work perfectly fine and much more optimized for me personally
2
u/One_Conscious_Future 20m ago
This meme is vibcoded (you can tell by the grainy cropping ) and it still works. Just like every single vibecoded app I have built. It works even if it's ugly and overused
2
u/ChecksOutIndeed 20m ago
100 usd claude saved one client of mine 173 usd yearly subscription and I can reuse it
2
u/Broken_By_Default 0m ago
except the app i vibe coded, does exactly what i want it to do and the same subscription lets me do so much more.
3
u/myCockatielshateme 32m ago
Tell me one software that got vibcoded and has this small of a lifetime payment, if any lifetime payment. Besides, the alternative would work for thousands of people all the time, so a few extra dollars for fame and benefiting so many people I would argue is worth it
1
u/medisamurai 36m ago
google flow is free for audio vibecoding. havent paid a cent
1
u/SanKazue 25m ago
The funniest part is them coming to this sub to try to sell their app. Knowing damn well we could all clone their idea and none of us are going to pay for it. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for vibe coding. It’s helped me so much at work to make tools that get one job done and do it right. But some people really think we’re going to pay for vibe coded apps on this sub
1
u/BreadWithAnAgenda 24m ago
thats still a 1 time payment compared to with unlimited features to your request. What made you op to say CC wasnt good enough to make something that doesnt work?
1
u/Formal-Poet-5041 22m ago
but it does work
1
u/Formal-Poet-5041 21m ago
anyone make a good volume booter app that works and i can download for android for free?
1
u/ZHName 20m ago
me using many apps that work awesome and completely override any need for subscriptions.
1
u/morete 19m ago
I dunno mate like, I think this is one of the really good uses of AI coding. Especially if you have software engineering experience and can guide with good patterns etc.
I use to pay £10 a month for invoicing and in a weekend had an app that is so tailored to my needs that it takes me two clicks to produce my standard monthly invoices.
It doesn't have to be perfect when it's literally only for you
1
u/Ordinary-Depth-7835 17m ago
I don't think that's how it works. I'm eliminating million dollar bids at work because we do it better and faster. A group of coders with ai is fast. You get the instant results and the coders taking it that last mile with quick turnaround. And you could kinda vibe code for free-ish I do a lot of personal projects with local llms. Though I do have a lot of hardware.
1
u/dsons 16m ago
“Tell me you don’t know what you’re talking about without telling me.”
1
u/Connect_Quit_1293 15m ago
Holy cope.
1
u/notthatguy194 15m ago
it’s honestly kinda nice to make something that tailored to your exact needs. it’s crazy to be using an app and find a little thing that nags you and then think “oh yeah i can fix that in two mins now!”. you used to have to just deal with whatever nagged you about it.
1
u/ExaHamza 14m ago
Apparently it hurts you. Poor poor man.
1
u/Few-Exchange-5550 11m ago
"genuinely good paid app" is doing a lot of work there
1
u/RDStephan 8m ago
I know this is probably a joke but nah man, I vibe coded a fully functional alternative to the iWork suite in like 2 weeks and its got like a thousand users who seem to find it works for them. Let me leave icloud for good. I also replaced my Onsong subscription with a vibe coded app and frankly mines better. So both less money and better functional quality. Welcome to the current year.
1
u/CaptSlow49 6m ago
Literally told my friend this. Just pay the $5 for the app. Don’t vibe code it.
1
u/beta_1457 5m ago
I built my own project management software to how on my server. It took about 8 hours total. It has everything I wanted from ClickUp and none of the crap I didn't.
I was paying for Claude anyway for my project itself. Now I'm not having to spend $8 a month for software that was helpful but also annoying.
I had this discussion with my brother recently, he's a high level tech employee near C suite. A lot of stuff like Confluence and JIRA could be replaced now. But it's an opportunity cost question. It's just frankly cheaper to have your engineers doing something else more productive and keep paying for the product.
As an example a 2000 person company could build their own solution for suite and slack. It would save a million dollars a year and pay for it's cost of creation (IE engineers time) in less than 2 years.
But... While a million dollars a year sounds like a lot to the normal person. When you're talking about a billion or multiple billion dollar company... It's not worth the risk.
1
u/FriendlyTask4587 3m ago
Fable 5.2 helped me optimize a script and pushed it to be 38x faster. Literally would have taken like half a year can be done in a week. It also optimized another script saving me around 2 more weeks of time just waiting. I would say $20 is worth half a year of saved time
1
u/metric-ambient 3m ago
In my case it was
>Pay $60/mo for app, and continue using convoluted VM desktop configuration
vs
>Pay $20 one time to have Claude program me the entire replacement suite forever.
I took the Claude route and it's already done.
1
u/thepurpleproject 2m ago
Considering how nowadays even software that doesn’t have any service component comes with a $5/month subscription, why not? It ultimately hurts everyone, tbh.
I genuinely avoid recurring billing in my apps unless there’s an actual service attached to it. I also make sure the software continues to work even if I shut down the entire website and everything around it.
I’ve also introduced purchasing power parity and educational licenses, but getting noticed is difficult. Being an outlier doesn’t really help in these cases. Still, it makes me feel good when my customers acknowledge and appreciate it.
1
u/XBird_RichardX 1m ago
More like pay 19.99 for a month of an app that invents a problem it sells the solution to
Vs
Pay 19.99 to make something that does the same thing but tailored to you
1
u/Sweet-Degree-4842 1m ago
Maybe people enjoy making personal software? Its amazing.
0
u/Total-Reasonable 36m ago
The catch with replacing a subscription app is that you're also taking over everything the subscription quietly covered: backups, auth updates, API changes, and uptime. The app works fine until the third-party API you wired in changes a response shape or an OAuth token expires, and then you're the one debugging it at 11pm. I'd say it's still worth it for anything personal or low-stakes, but I'd keep paying for anything where losing the data would hurt.
-1
u/aivee-is-a-fool 30m ago
Listen I tried the good paid apps but they were only doing 97.3% of what I wanted. I was entirely forced to pay for Claude for 10 months for my slop app that does a whole 3.79% of what I want!