Hey there,

I want you to do something for me.

Go open your bank statement. Scroll to your subscriptions. Count them.

I'll wait.

...

Yeah. That's what I thought.

At some point in the last three years, you signed up for approximately one million SaaS tools, each costing between $19 and $97 a month, each promising to be "the last tool you'll ever need," and yet here you are. Still subscribed to all of them. Still using maybe four of them. Still getting charged for the one you forgot about in 2022 that you're too embarrassed to admit is still running.

Here's the thing nobody was supposed to tell you yet:

AI just changed the maths on all of this. Completely.

Short answer: sometimes. But probably less than you are right now.

SaaS tools used to make sense because building software was hard. You needed developers. Developers needed money. Money came from you, monthly, forever, whether you used the thing or not. That was the deal and we all accepted it because what else were we going to do.

That deal has now expired.

Because right now, in 2025, you can describe a tool you want to exist in plain English, like a normal person and AI will build a working version of it. Not a pretend version. Not a "good enough for a demo" version. An actual working tool, built around exactly how your brain works, with exactly the features you need and none of the ones you don't.

The project management tool that has fifteen features you ignore and one you'd die without? You could just... have the one. Custom. Yours. No monthly fee.

Does this mean SaaS is dead? No. Does it mean you should audit what you're paying for and ask whether you actually need it? Absolutely yes. Today. Before you read another word.

Genuinely doesn't matter anymore.

The tools available right now are built specifically for people who have an idea but not a computer science degree. You describe what you want. It builds. You test it. You say "actually can you move that button" and it moves the button. That's the whole process.

The learning curve is real but it's measured in hours, not years. And the ceiling is surprisingly high. People are building tools that actually run their businesses. Not toy projects. Real things that save real time.

Here are the main players right now:

Cursor: A code editor with AI built in. Great if you want full control and want to understand what's being built. Slightly more involved but the output is proper software.

Bolt: Brilliant for going from idea to working app as fast as possible. You describe it, it builds it, you can see it running immediately.

Lovable: Similar to Bolt but focused on making things that actually look good without you thinking about design. Perfect for anything customer-facing.

Replit: Excellent if you want something that lives in the cloud from day one. No setup, open a browser, build, it runs.

Claude and ChatGPT: For smaller tools, genuinely viable. Paste what you need, follow the instructions, done.

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A few, and I'd rather tell you now than have you find out the hard way.

The "I'll finish it later" trap. Building something takes time upfront. If you start and don't finish, you've wasted that time and you're still paying for the SaaS. Commit to completing the thing before you cancel anything.

Data and security. If you're building something that touches customer data or anything sensitive think about where that data lives and who can access it. Not a reason not to build. A reason to think for five minutes first.

Maintenance. Custom tools need occasional attention. The SaaS had a team keeping it running. Your custom tool has you. For most small tools this genuinely isn't a big deal, but worth knowing going in.

Over-engineering it. The goal is to save time and money, not to spend six weeks building the perfect thing when a simpler version would have worked on day two. Start small. Get it working. Improve it later.

You are living through a moment where the barrier between "I wish I had a tool that did this" and "I have a tool that does this" is lower than it has ever been in the history of software. That is not a small thing.

It doesn't mean cancel everything today. It means look at what you're paying for, ask whether you actually need it, and consider whether a custom version built around your brain might serve you better.

A lot of the time the answer will be yes.

And the version you build yourself will never charge you $97 a month to add a feature you didn't ask for.

I put together a quick cheat sheet, three common tools that most small business owners actually need, each with a simple four-step build process you can follow today. No experience required.

The CRM one alone will make you question every penny you've spent on HubSpot.

It's short. It's practical. It does not contain the phrase "leverage synergies." You're welcome.