Building a SaaS in a Weekend with AI Coding Tools

The idea that building a SaaS takes months is outdated.

With AI coding tools, a single person can go from idea to deployed, payment-enabled product in a weekend. I’ve done it. Others are doing it regularly.

Here’s exactly how.

What We’re Building

For this guide, we’ll build a simple but complete SaaS: a feedback collection tool.

Features:

• User authentication
• Create feedback forms
• Embed forms on any website
• View and manage submissions
• Paid plans with Stripe

This isn’t a toy project. It’s a real product that could be sold.

The Stack

We’ll use:

• Next.js 14 (App Router) for the frontend and API
• Supabase for database and authentication
• Tailwind CSS for styling
• Stripe for payments
• Vercel for deployment

This stack is chosen for speed. Every piece works well with AI tools and deploys easily.

Day 1 Morning: Setup and Auth

Setting Up the Project

Open Claude Code (or your preferred AI tool). Start with:

“Create a new Next.js 14 project with TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and App Router. Include Supabase for authentication and database. Set up the basic file structure with: auth pages, dashboard layout, and a landing page.”

Claude will generate the project structure, install dependencies, and create the initial files.

Configuring Supabase

Create a Supabase project at supabase.com. Get your project URL and anon key.

“Set up Supabase client configuration. Add environment variables for NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL and NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY. Create a /lib/supabase.ts file with the client setup.”

Building Authentication

“Create a complete authentication flow: sign up page, sign in page, and forgot password page. Use Supabase Auth with email/password. After sign in, redirect to /dashboard. Include proper error handling and loading states.”

Test it. Sign up for an account. Verify you can log in and out. This should take about an hour.

Day 1 Afternoon: Core Features

The Dashboard Layout

“Create a dashboard layout with: header showing user email and sign out button, sidebar with navigation (Forms, Submissions, Settings), and a main content area. Use our existing Tailwind styling.”

Database Schema

“Create a Supabase database schema for:

• forms: id, user_id, name, description, created_at
• submissions: id, form_id, data (jsonb), created_at

Add row-level security policies so users can only see their own forms and the submissions to their forms. Generate the migration SQL.”

Run the migration in Supabase’s SQL editor.

Creating Forms

“Build a form creation page at /dashboard/forms/new. Users can set a form name and add fields. Support text input, email, and textarea field types. Save to the forms table in Supabase.”

Listing Forms

“Create /dashboard/forms page showing all forms for the current user. Display as cards with form name, creation date, and number of submissions. Include buttons to edit, view submissions, or delete.”

The Embeddable Widget

This is the core product feature:

“Create an embeddable feedback widget. Generate a unique URL for each form at /form/[formId]. The page should display the form fields and submit responses to our API. Style it to be embeddable in an iframe. Also create an endpoint at /api/submit/[formId] that accepts form submissions and stores them in the submissions table.”

Test it: Create a form, open its public URL, submit some feedback, verify it appears in the database.

Day 1 Evening: Viewing Submissions

“Create a submissions page at /dashboard/forms/[formId]/submissions. Show all submissions for that form in a table. Display each field from the submission data. Include timestamp and a delete button. Add pagination if there are many submissions.”

By end of day 1, you have:

• Working authentication
• Form creation and management
• Public form widget
• Submission collection and viewing

This is already a usable product. Day 2 adds polish and monetization.

Day 2 Morning: Payments

Stripe Setup

Create a Stripe account. Get your API keys (use test mode).

“Set up Stripe integration. Add environment variables for STRIPE_SECRET_KEY and STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET. Create a /lib/stripe.ts file with the Stripe client.”

Creating Products

In Stripe, create two products:

• Free: 3 forms limit
• Pro ($9/month): Unlimited forms

“Create a pricing page at /pricing showing our two plans. Free (3 forms, basic features) and Pro at $9/month (unlimited forms, priority support). Add a checkout button for Pro that creates a Stripe Checkout session.”

The Checkout Flow

“Create an API route at /api/checkout that creates a Stripe Checkout session for the Pro plan. Include the user’s email and redirect back to /dashboard after success. Handle the stripe.checkout.session.completed webhook to update the user’s subscription status in Supabase.”

Enforcing Limits

“Add subscription checking. Create a user_subscriptions table in Supabase. When creating a form, check if the user has Pro or if they’re under the free limit. Show an upgrade prompt if they hit the limit.”

Test the entire flow with Stripe’s test cards.

Day 2 Afternoon: Polish

Landing Page

“Create a compelling landing page. Hero section with headline, subheadline, and call-to-action. Features section with 3 key benefits. Pricing section showing our plans. Footer with links. Make it look professional using Tailwind.”

Settings Page

“Create a settings page at /dashboard/settings. Show subscription status (Free or Pro). If Pro, show renewal date and a button to manage subscription (link to Stripe Customer Portal). Add a danger zone to delete account.”

Error Handling

“Add proper error handling throughout the app. Toast notifications for success/error states. Loading spinners during async operations. User-friendly error messages. Handle network failures gracefully.”

Mobile Responsiveness

“Review all pages for mobile responsiveness. The dashboard sidebar should become a hamburger menu on mobile. Forms and tables should be usable on small screens.”

Day 2 Evening: Deployment

Environment Setup

Create a Vercel project. Add all environment variables:

• NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL
• NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY
• SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY
• STRIPE_SECRET_KEY
• STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET
• NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL

Deploy

“Review the project for deployment readiness. Check that all environment variables are properly used. Verify there are no hardcoded localhost URLs. Create a production Stripe webhook pointing to our Vercel URL.”

Push to GitHub. Connect to Vercel. Deploy.

Final Testing

Test on the live URL:

• Sign up flow
• Create a form
• Submit feedback via the public URL
• View submissions
• Upgrade to Pro
• Verify limits work

The Complete Timeline

Day 1:

• Morning (3-4 hours): Setup, auth, basic structure
• Afternoon (3-4 hours): Forms, submissions, core features
• Evening (2-3 hours): Viewing and managing submissions

Day 2:

• Morning (3-4 hours): Stripe integration, payments
• Afternoon (3-4 hours): Landing page, polish, mobile
• Evening (2-3 hours): Deployment, testing

Total: About 16-20 hours of work across a weekend.

What Made This Possible

AI handles the boilerplate: Auth flows, Stripe integration, CRUD operations - these are solved problems. AI writes them faster than you could copy from documentation.

The right stack: Next.js + Supabase + Stripe is well-documented and AI-friendly. The tools understand these technologies deeply.

Incremental building: Each prompt builds on previous work. You’re never asking AI to build everything at once.

Fast iteration: When something’s wrong, you fix it immediately. No big-bang deployments.

Extending the Product

Once the core is working, you can keep adding:

“Add email notifications when a new submission arrives. Use Resend or SendGrid.”

“Create an analytics page showing submissions over time with a chart.”

“Add custom branding options for Pro users - custom colors on their forms.”

“Implement team features - invite team members to view submissions.”

Each feature is another conversation with AI. The product grows through iteration.

The Mindset Shift

The hardest part isn’t the coding. It’s believing it’s actually this fast.

We’re conditioned to think software takes months. Teams. Sprints. Stand-ups. But for a focused product with clear scope, one person with AI can move incredibly fast.

The bottleneck isn’t development anymore. It’s deciding what to build and having the discipline to ship.

You have a weekend. You have AI tools. What’s your excuse?

Pick an idea. Open your AI coding tool. Start building.

See what you can ship by Sunday night.