Every so often an idea comes along that won’t leave you alone. It starts with a scribble, then a late-night chat, and before you know it you’re asking: what if we built this ourselves?
That’s where we are right now — at the very beginning of a journey to see if we can create our own SaaS web application.
Quick note: SaaS stands for Software as a Service. It’s software you don’t download or install — you just log in and use it through your browser or an app. Think of tools like Dropbox, Xero, or Canva.
This series is going to follow our process: the decisions, the tools, the false starts, the wins, and the progress. We won’t reveal exactly what we’re building just yet, but you’ll see the story unfold step by step.
What About “Vibe Coding”?
If you’ve spent any time on TikTok or YouTube Shorts lately, you’ve probably seen the rise of so-called Vibe Coding. The idea is simple: instead of learning how to code, you feed a prompt into an AI tool and let it generate the entire application for you. No syntax, no debugging — just vibes.
It’s an appealing thought, especially when you’re staring at a blank screen and thinking about the scale of what needs to be built. For a minute, we considered it. But here’s the reality: SaaS apps need structure, security, reliability, and long-term maintainability. AI might help with certain tasks, but letting it build the entire system end-to-end just isn’t where we’re going.
So no, we’re not going to vibe-code this one.
Framework Decisions: Sorry, CodeIgniter
For years we’ve leaned on CodeIgniter. It’s fast, lightweight, and brilliant for getting projects off the ground. But SaaS at scale requires something different — a framework with deeper tooling, stronger ecosystems, and built-in support for the kind of features SaaS demands.
That means CodeIgniter isn’t the framework we’ll be using for this project. Sorry, CI — you’ve been a loyal companion, but this journey needs a different setup.
Planning Before Building
Before a single line of code, we’re laying the groundwork:
- Define the problem clearly — what are we actually solving, and for who?
- Sketch the user flow — how will people interact with the app, from sign-up through to daily use?
- Choose the stack wisely — tools, frameworks, and infrastructure that give us speed now, but won’t collapse later.
This is about building solid foundations, not chasing shiny shortcuts.
The First Steps
We’re starting lean:
- Setting up a skeleton application.
- Building a safe sandbox environment for testing.
- Keeping development frictionless so momentum isn’t lost early on.
No big launches, no hype. Just quiet, steady progress.
What’s Next
This post is just the start. Over the coming weeks we’ll share more about our stack decisions, design experiments, and the challenges of turning a scribbled idea into a real product.
We don’t know exactly where this journey ends — but that’s the exciting part.
Stay tuned.