Build It Yourself
You do not always need the pricey monthly app. This is where I take popular paid software like QuickBooks and MenuFit and show when you are better off with a custom tool you own outright.
Most small businesses rent a stack of software they only half use. A lot of the time, the slice you actually need can be built once as a custom tool you own, with no monthly bill. Here I take popular paid apps one by one and show what it really takes to build your own, and when it is worth it.
In this topic
Everything under Build It Yourself
- I built a custom QuickBooks alternative in React for a company that was done paying A local business was sick of QuickBooks being slow, bloated, and pricey, so I built them custom accounting software in React with Plaid. Here is how it went.
- I built my own Wispr Flow alternative for iPhone and Mac Wispr Flow costs $15 a month. I built my own dictation app for iPhone and Mac instead. Here is exactly how it works and what I fought through to get there.
- I built my own MenuFit app instead of paying 10 bucks a month I liked the MenuFit app but not the $10/mo. So I built my own with Claude Code, and it does live web search to hit my macros. Here is exactly how.
- When to build vs buy software, and when to just hire me Build vs buy software, explained for small business. When to just buy an off-the-shelf tool, and when to hire me to build the right-sized thing instead.
Get a robot doing it
Want this for your business?
Tell me the work you hate and I will tell you straight whether a robot can do it. No pitch, no pressure.
Got it. I'll be in touch.
Thanks. I usually reply the same day, often by phone.