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ASTHER · LOUIE · CABARDO · 2026
FULL-STACK · ENGINEER · PH
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Service · 07

SaaS Alternatives.

Replace the irritating subscriptions with custom tools that fit your team in a weekend. You own the code, the data, and the bill stops growing.

// build vs buySome you keep, most you replace.
$508/mo
replaced subscriptions on a typical engagement
  • CRM$129/mo→$0/mo1 weekend
  • Dashboards$199/mo→$0/mo1 week
  • Scheduling$60/mo→$0/mo3 days
  • Analytics$120/mo→$0/mo1 week
  • BillingStripe=Stripekeep
  • Error trackSentry=Sentrykeep
// what I can replace

Ten categories I've replaced, and what I build instead.

Most teams overpay for software they barely use. Below is the menu of replacements I take on, including the SaaS I'd usually keep.

Automation / workflow

replace
From
  • Zapier
  • Make
  • n8n cloud
  • Workato
To

Custom Node workers + cron + a small editor UI. AI steps where they earn it.

When to keep buying: When a single team uses 200+ Zaps you didn't write.

· Replaced a $400/mo Zapier plan with 6 cron workers in a weekend.

Scraping / data ingest

replace
From
  • Apify
  • Bright Data
  • ScrapingBee
  • PhantomBuster
To

Playwright + queue + storage. Schema-validated outputs, retry, observability.

· Daily competitor-pricing pull, 4k pages, written to Postgres + Slack alert.

CRM

replace
From
  • HubSpot
  • Pipedrive
  • Close
  • Folk
To

shadcn-based UI on Postgres. Pipeline, contacts, notes, email-thread linking.

When to keep buying: Sales team > 8 people and you need their out-of-box reporting.

· Replaced a $129/mo CRM with a 3-day build, kept the data, dropped the bloat.

Dashboards / BI

replace
From
  • Metabase Cloud
  • Mode
  • Hex
  • Retool BI
To

Static dashboards generated from SQL. shadcn charts. Public/private gates.

· Customer-success dashboard against the prod replica, refresh every 15 min.

Scheduling

replace
From
  • Calendly
  • SavvyCal
  • Cal.com cloud
To

Embedded scheduler tied to Google / Microsoft Calendar. Branded, fewer clicks.

· Booking page that matches the marketing site, no third-party redirects.

Analytics

replace
From
  • Mixpanel
  • Amplitude
  • Heap
To

Self-hosted PostHog or a custom event pipeline into a warehouse.

When to keep buying: If your PMs already speak Mixpanel, switching is its own project.

· Custom funnel + retention dashboard, queries against the prod warehouse.

Internal admin / Retool-style

replace
From
  • Retool
  • Internal
  • Tooljet
To

Custom shadcn pages on top of your DB. Full type-safety. Auth on the page level.

· Ops admin with 12 pages, replaced a $99/seat plan, owns the data.

Forms

replace
From
  • Typeform
  • Tally
  • Formspree
To

Custom form components writing to Postgres + email + Slack notify.

· Job-application form with file uploads, branded, no submission limits.

Receipts & docs

replace
From
  • Bonsai
  • Wave
To

PDF generator (HTML → PDF), branded templates, downloadable + emailable.

· Receipt generator for an after-dinner bill split (Amot).

Email send

replace
From
  • Mailchimp
  • Beehiiv
  • ConvertKit
To

Resend + a small editor UI. Lists in Postgres, segments via SQL.

When to keep buying: Newsletter > 5k subs and deliverability is the product.

· Transactional + light marketing send for a pilot, owns the list.

// what I'd keep buying
  • StripePayments are someone else's compliance.
  • SentryError tracking is a 24/7 service, not a feature.
  • SlackNetwork effects are the product.
  • LinearIf your team already lives there, it stays.
  • GitHubSource-of-truth + CI + reviews. Don't rebuild this.
// included

What's included.

  • +Audit of current SaaS spend and feature usage
  • +A build-vs-buy report: some you keep, some you replace
  • +Custom internal tool builds: dashboards, CRMs, schedulers, analytics
  • +Integrations with the tools you DO keep, like Stripe, Slack, and GitHub
  • +Hosting, auth, backups, and a maintenance plan
  • +Documentation so non-engineers can use what we ship
// outcomes

What you can expect.

  • ▶Lower monthly burn, usually 60 to 80 percent on the replaced surface area
  • ▶Tools that match your workflow instead of bending it
  • ▶Data you can query, export, and back up rather than data held hostage
// process

How an engagement runs.

01
Inventory

Pull the SaaS list, sort by spend times irritation. The top three are usually candidates for a weekend rebuild.

02
Decide

Some SaaS we keep, like Stripe and Sentry. Some we replace, like the CRM and the dashboards. I write down why for each.

03
Build

Small, scoped tools that do your version of the thing. No marketing site. No pricing page. Just the tool.

04
Hand over

Documentation, owners, and a quarterly check-in so the tool keeps up with how you actually work.

// best fit

Best for.

  • ◇Teams paying $400+/mo for SaaS that mostly sits idle
  • ◇Founders who want their data inside their own database, not a vendor's
  • ◇Ops teams whose workflow doesn't match any off-the-shelf tool
// pricing

Engagement & pricing.

Most replacements are 1 to 3 weeks per tool. The inventory and plan is fixed-fee.

Default stack
  • Next.js
  • PostgreSQL
  • shadcn/ui
  • Vercel
  • Stripe (when it stays)
  • Slack / GitHub APIs
// related

Recent projects in this lane.

Bill-Splitting ToolAmotSplit a shared bill, customize the receipt, download a clean record. Built for the friend who always ends up doing the math at dinner.↗

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