Code · Builder

Indie SaaS

RecommendedClaude-led pair programming

Claude is the pair, Figma is the design surface, Vercel is the deploy target. End-to-end indie SaaS from idea to billing in a weekend.

CODEBUILDERADVANCEDAdvancedFrom $40/mo
ClaudeChatGPTFigma
The stack
Claude
Pair programmer

Long context + best code edits. Use a project per repo with the codebase as context.

$20/mo Pro · API $3/M tokensAlts: ChatGPT
ChatGPT
Quick lookups + voice

Faster for one-off questions; better voice mode for thinking-out-loud sessions.

$20/mo Plus · API $2.50/M tokensAlts: Claude
Figma
UI sketching

AI plugins draft from text; you only have to refine.

Free · $15/mo ProAlts: Canva
Real monthly cost
small
$40/mo
Weekend MVP
  • claude$20
  • chatgpt$20
  • figmaFree
medium
$75/mo
Side project
  • claude$20
  • chatgpt$20
  • figma$15
  • + infra$20
heavy
$220/mo
Full-time founder
  • claude$80 API
  • chatgpt$20
  • figma$15
  • + infra$105
Workflow
  1. 1
    Sketch UIFigma

    Figma + AI plugin: text to wireframe. 30 minutes of cleanup.

  2. 2
    ScaffoldClaude

    Claude in IDE: scaffold the full stack from the wireframe.

    Prompt · Project scaffold prompt
    Scaffold a production-ready Next.js (App Router) project for the following product:

Product: {{1-line description}}
Core jobs the user does: {{list 3 to 5}}
Auth: {{Clerk | Auth.js | none}}
DB: {{Postgres (Neon) | SQLite | Supabase}}
Payments: {{Stripe Checkout | Lemon Squeezy | none}}
Hosting target: Vercel

Generate, in this order:
1. `package.json` with pinned versions for the latest stable Next, React, Tailwind v4, Drizzle (or chosen ORM), and the auth/payment SDKs.
2. File tree (no code yet) with `app/`, `lib/`, `db/`, `components/`. Note which routes are public vs protected.
3. `db/schema.ts` with the minimum tables to support the core jobs above.
4. The first 2 routes end-to-end (page.tsx + server action + DB call).
5. A `README.md` with setup, env vars, and `npm run dev` instructions.

Constraints: no class components, no `getServerSideProps`, no axios. Server components by default. Tailwind utility classes inline. Single source of truth per concept (no parallel "old" and "new" patterns).
  3. 3
    Iterate liveChatGPT

    Voice mode in ChatGPT for thinking-out-loud while debugging.

  4. 4
    ShipClaude

    Deploy to Vercel. First sale before bedtime.

What it produced
Indie hacker, 2 days, $300 MRR by month 2

Niche SaaS for property inspectors. ~$40/mo tooling cost; the rest is hosting + Stripe.

Common pitfalls
AI-shaped slop UI

Default Tailwind + shadcn looks generic; spend a half day on type scale + spacing.

Skipping the 'why this'

Founders ship the MVP and forget the landing page. Write the page first, the product second.

Other ways to do Indie SaaS in a weekend
Indie SaaS (Gemini long-context)
Whole-codebase pair programming. Paste the repo, get architectural diffs back.
$40/mo
View stack
Curated by @alex-w
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