Article

Build vs. buy in the age of AI, and why Enterprise SaaS still has its moat

SmartSuite (Chase Roberts, Northflank) · web.archive.org

The steelman for keeping some subscriptions: where SaaS still earns its price.

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The question it answers

  1. What does building and running internal tools with AI actually cost compared to SaaS subscriptions?

Read with it

  1. Breaks the real bill into subscriptions, credits, hosting, and the debugging hours nobody prices in. glideapps.com Article The hidden cost of AI coding: how much does it cost to vibe code an application? Glide
  2. A named company's receipts: which SaaS they dropped and what they built instead. medium.com Article How Vibe-Coded Apps Saved Us $60k in SaaS Tarek Sadi (Blinkist)
  3. One page comparing every builder's subscription and credit model side by side. vibecompare.dev Tool Vibe Coding Tool Pricing: All Plans Compared VibeCompare
  4. The best accounting of the after-ship costs: iteration, backend fees, and engineering time. hatchworks.com Article The Real Cost of Vibe Coding: What You Don't See Until It's Too Late HatchWorks
  5. A decision framework with actual dollar thresholds instead of vibes. mindstudio.ai Guide Build vs Buy for AI Tools: A Framework for Business Owners Using Claude Code MindStudio
  6. Explains why the same tool costs one founder $20 and another $1,000 a month. morphllm.com Article AI Coding Costs: Real Monthly Spend From Token Math Morph
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