Apps and SaaS with vibe coding

Earn with AI · roadmap

Apps and SaaS with vibe coding

Building software with AI, for clients (faster money) or as your own product (more potential, far more uncertainty).

Who it's for: You want to build, you're patient, and you accept that selling is harder than coding.

Start with the reality check

Honest numbers

No revenue screenshots, but data with sources. Click a number for its source.

Startups with verified revenue under $1,00067.7% (TrustMRR, self-listed, so likely too rosy)primary source ↗Median all-time revenue of a Stripe-connected startup$270 · 22% earned nothing yetprimary source ↗Time to the first $ and to $1,000 (for those who get there)±5 months + another ±5 monthsprimary source ↗What correlates most with revenueDomain authority (SEO) and age, more strongly than X followersprimary source ↗

What courses promise vs. what the data says

The promise“Vibe-code your SaaS to $10k a month.”

The realityOver 84% of startups with verified revenue are under $10k. Those who make it typically spend well over a year getting there.

The promise“Building is the hard part.”

The realityBuilding got cheap, selling didn't. Most failed products had no distribution and no paying demand.

The promise“You can put a Lovable app live just like that.”

The realityAccording to a security researcher, one vibe-coded app exposed the data of over 18,000 users in February 2026 through misconfigured access rules in its database. In the EU that's a reportable data breach.

The route

Tick off milestones as you reach them. Your progress stays in your own browser.

1. 0

   Reality check

   1 evening

   Choose consciously: services (faster money) or your own product (long haul).

   • Honest numbers: what do you really earn with apps and SaaS?

   Milestone: I've chosen between route A (clients) and route B (product)
2. 1

   Core skills

   2-6 weeks

   A secure app with login and database live.

   • Building your first app · Coming soon
   • Security check for your app · Coming soon

   Milestone: An app live that passes the security check
3. 2

   Business and legal sorted

   1 week

   Payments, VAT and consumer law handled properly.

   • Payments, VAT and the withdrawal button · Coming soon

   Milestone: A checkout that handles VAT and withdrawal rights correctly
4. 3

   Problem and validation

   2-4 weeks

   Proof that someone will pay, before you build.

   • Validate before you build · Coming soon

   Milestone: 10 conversations with my audience, 3 people willing to pay
5. 4

   Getting visible

   ongoing

   Building distribution: search, directories and build in public.

   • Distribution: SEO, directories and comparison pages · Coming soon
   • Build in public on X and LinkedIn · Coming soon

   Milestone: First visitors via search engines or AI assistants
6. 5

   First paying customer

   2 weeks (clients) to 5+ months (product)

   The first euro in.

   • The first customer: manual, personal, unscalable · Coming soon

   Milestone: My first payment is in
7. 6

   €1,000 per month

   3-6 months (clients) to 10+ months (product)

   Repeatable sales.

   • Pricing software: why you start too low · Coming soon

   Milestone: €1,000 revenue per month
8. 7

   Scaling up

   12+ months

   Growth without everything depending on you.

   • Growing: integrations, partners and raising prices · Coming soon

   Milestone: A growth channel that works without me posting every day

Tools for this route

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