Your app subscription is now my weekend project • Hacker News Board

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#371

Post by rhubarbtree » Fri, Jan 23, 2026, 11:36 PM UTC

GTP wrote: post #259

rhubarbtree wrote: post #233

You too can implement a slither of the features you need right now in an insecure form without hosting, support, maintenance or future development. This reminds me of the people who think they can build docsend in a weekend. No, you cannot. You can build a wee throwaway app with some of the features of docsend. But that is not equivalent to what people pay docsend for. Businesses and SaaS aren’t just a bunch of stati…

What you say isn't different from what the blog post says: he makes it clear that he wouldn't trust the results to be production-ready and he wouldn't sell nor recommend his vibecoded stuff to others. The only claim is that those are good enough to cover his specific use case, no more and no less.

Missing my point. It isn’t good enough to suit his use case, he just hasn’t realised yet.

Bugs to fix. Dependencies to maintain. Features to add. Data to protect and restore when things go wrong.

You don’t just pay for some code. You’re paying for a service.

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#372

Post by heavyset_go » Fri, Jan 23, 2026, 11:53 PM UTC

bandrami wrote: post #369

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to be completely watertight, you can absolutely run an on premises model. No data ever leaves your network, ever. Some pretty good models run on $5-10k hardware Can’t do that with SaaS Also, I’m baffled that on HN of all places, I have to actually defend the idea of rolling your own apps and protecting your data from cloud providers

Wait of course I was assuming a local model. People aren't using hosted AI on machines holding data that they care about being exfiltrated, right?

> People aren't using hosted AI on machines holding data that they care about being exfiltrated, right?

If only

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#373

Post by bandrami » Sat, Jan 24, 2026, 12:16 AM UTC

heavyset_go wrote: post #372

bandrami wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait of course I was assuming a local model. People aren't using hosted AI on machines holding data that they care about being exfiltrated, right?

> People aren't using hosted AI on machines holding data that they care about being exfiltrated, right? If only

I work in a DFARS-compliant office and I keep forgetting the world isn't like that

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#374

Post by zem » Sat, Jan 24, 2026, 2:47 AM UTC

3D30497420 wrote: post #34

I'm doing something very similar (creating my own apps for personal use), but I'm creating iOS apps primarily. Here's what bugs me: I cannot permanently install my apps to my iPhone because of Apple's walled garden. I need to reinstall every 7 days and constantly re-confirm that I am a "Trusted" developer. I know I can pay Apple 100 USD a year for a developer account, but I bought this phone outright 7 years ago , I…

this is the primary reason i've never even considered buying an iphone.

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#375

Post by sevenseacat » Sat, Jan 24, 2026, 4:17 AM UTC

carlosjobim wrote: post #302

sevenseacat wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most users expect everything to be cloud these days. In the cross-stitching community (which is mostly older non-technical folk), the amount of people that get mad every day because the most popular app is local-only, is phenomenal. What do you MEAN they smashed their device, bought a new one, and all their WIP projects aren't there anymore?

> Most users expect everything to be cloud these days. No way. Maybe most Linux users. MacOS, iOS, Android, and probably Windows users are all app-first.

App first, but using the cloud for storage and syncing.

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#376

Post by somenameforme » Sat, Jan 24, 2026, 4:21 AM UTC

tired-turtle wrote: post #339

somenameforme wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm one of those guys you speak of, that would do that fully knowingly. The point is principle. If I feel I'm being exploited, then I will refuse to deal with something/somebody even if it's in my own short term best interest. It's not really screwing the system so much as screwing people trying to screw me, and I find the satisfaction that gives me as being worth substantially more than whatever I might lose in mone…

These parties aren’t screwing you. They’re offering a service at a price. You pay for convenience. You may not value your time, but most do. That’s why certain gas stations command a higher price.

I'm not paying for anything except a product. When the price of that product is unreasonably detached from the cost of providing that product, the consumer is being screwed. This is the entire point that capitalism only functions with strong competition, but that is increasingly absent in many locations and domains.

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#377

Post by somenameforme » Sat, Jan 24, 2026, 4:23 AM UTC

idiotsecant wrote: post #354

somenameforme wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm one of those guys you speak of, that would do that fully knowingly. The point is principle. If I feel I'm being exploited, then I will refuse to deal with something/somebody even if it's in my own short term best interest. It's not really screwing the system so much as screwing people trying to screw me, and I find the satisfaction that gives me as being worth substantially more than whatever I might lose in mone…

'screwing the people who want to screw you' is a losing game. You're spending time you could spend doing something positive doing something that just arouses negative emotion.

It's not a negative emotion at all. It makes me feel great! I fully realize that many people won't do this, so it's not like I'm expecting my little 'mini boycotts' to have any meaningful material impact on the people engaging in dubious business practices. I do it because it makes me feel good. The fact that it's overall a good thing for society, even better if more people did it, is just a pleasant side effect.

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#378

Post by nasnasnasnasnas » Sat, Jan 24, 2026, 7:25 AM UTC

camdenreslink wrote: post #359

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are you completely disregarding the data integrity and privacy aspects of rolling your own tools? I vibecode an app that only I use and store data locally. That means my data never leaves my device, I never have to share my email with anyone, never have to enter my credit card info anywhere You buy SaaS and you have to then login, share credit card info, and have your data stored in the cloud somewhere with godkn…

It also means your data is one unfortunate coffee spill on the laptop keyboard from being gone forever. Unless you are doing your own cloud backups of your data and syncing it somehow. Which now the vibe coded app is really starting to grow in requirements then. Most people want that just handled for them.

Get a nas, backup your data its 2026.

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#379

Post by jlaternman » Sat, Jan 24, 2026, 10:46 AM UTC

strange_quark wrote: post #201

almostlikemagic wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how do you feel about licensing where you pay once, get the software, and have access to updates for one year? if you want future updates, you pay for another year of updates (discounted, of course, for loyalty). or is it more compelling to just have one clean, flat, lifetime rate?

Why would it only be a year of updates? Just go back to how it was 10 years ago when most software was a 1 time purchase and you got updates until the next major version, then maybe you'd only get bug fixes and security updates until your OS deprecated some API the app depended on. The industry had arguably more innovative products than exist today and that business model worked totally fine until the platform gateke…

And by the way, this still IS the software market I participate in, because there’s a lot of great indie software still adhering to it. It’s still possible. I have weeded out almost all unnecessary SaaS. I do actually have Fastmail and 1Password, which is funny since those were mentioned here a lot.

A few recent example purchases (macOS): BBEdit, Base, A Better Finder Renamer, Nitro (that’s lifetime, though I actually prefer “until the next major version”).

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#380

Post by YetAnotherNick » Sat, Jan 24, 2026, 12:53 PM UTC

anhner wrote: post #314

YetAnotherNick wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just don't understand this naive argument against subscription. If I have to pay same amount of money, I will pay in subscription than paying one time. So let's say average subscription time is 2 years, they can make $400 onetime or $20/month to get the same revenue. As a consumer I will prefer the second option. For $40 product, I will rather pay $1/month than $40 once. It keeps the incentive aligned. I think most…

You wrongly assume that you are left with the SaaS product after paying for it for 2 years. For the one time payment, you will still have the software 2 years and more down the road.

Here's what I said:

> So let's say average subscription time

It could be anything from month to decades depending on the subscription. And the price should be accordingly (risk based)adjusted for the same revenue.