Oct 10 • AI Tools
OMG! These Supposedly No-Code Tools! Now I'm Stuck in Credit Purgatory!
Y'all! I've been working in Replit, one of the No-Code Vibe coding platform AI Build Tools on one of my simple app ideas. This is day 3 and now I'm stuck in CREDIT PURGATORY!!!
These No-Code platforms are MISLEADING to say the least. First off, sure you can use it to build if you don't have coding background BUT what they don't tell you is that it will COST YOU A LOT to use the AI to build for you to get a MVP! NOTHING IS FREE!
i went through the free credits on Day 1. I was able to get basically the base landing page for the app. But it wasn't functional and didn't do shit! So, I want to move to the next stage. I do have a build plan that I worked with Skye on prior to working in the tool! Thank God I did have a roadmap because if I had trusted the tool to guide me as to what I needed to have it do I would have been out of credits long before even having the base home page! So, that saved a lot of back and forth in the planning. Each time you credit the AI...MONEY!
When you first tell the AI what you want it to help you build it should do the same thing a software engineer would do...ask you what all the features you would like then give you a proposed amount of how much this will take you from start to deployment! But Nooooooo of course they won't do that because their whole gammit is sucking you in...consuming your time...giving you hope to BAM! Hit you with the OUT OF CREDITS message...just when you are too far in to just what? Quit?
Day 2. I had to go back and forth several times to update the base home page because it was missing simple stuff like a HOME button. All the time it's sucking up credits and I have no idea how many because it's not like it tells you how many credits that task will cost you or have costed you until you are out of credits for it to execute. So, after I get the base to looking how I want...see image. I now have to setup user authentication. That has to be done in Supabase...which I already knew that from watching Youtube university. But it's not like the AI told me that. It was my pre-planning with Skye and YT Uni I knew it. But the totally greener no coder creator would have to burn through credits just to find that out.
So, we go back and forth a couple times with the supabase interface. I don't know Supabase only hard of it. It's definitely for techie know-hows. But the Replit Agent walked me through what I needed to do in Supabase...more credits. Perhaps that only costed me 3 cents but still real money.
So, the user authorization and authentication is setup. Boom! Now the AI has test everything that's built. It has 6 dummy stories to use as place holders for testing. Even testing functionality cost CREDITS!
Okay, all is working. Now, to actually add my audio files and thumbnails for the stories. I only have 3 created so far. So, I decided to upload those 3, see how it looks and works before adding the paywall.
I have 3 more steps to complete. 1. add the content 2. add the paywall...connnect stripe account and create subscription model (free trial and paid) 3. Deploy to iOS and androd store for real testing.
Easy, right? Well, it was already after 1am and I figure I can figure out how to upload the content into the database tomorrow so that brings me to today..Day 3.
Day 3. I look at my tasks list that's in a note file on my PC to see where I am. Oh, yeah..uploading the content and then test. That was not as easy to figure out because I did not see the typical "upload" button but I figure it out...just drag and drop the file in supabase where the AI told me there was an upload button...there was no upload button. At any rate, just trying the drag and drop thing worked. The two audio files are there.
So, Replit AI asked me to give it the synopsis, tags etc. so it can match it to the audio file. Okay done. Then it went on to test that everything works. MORE CREDITS! So, it says it works. I go to the playground to test it myself. The story Library should show 7 story thumbnails...2 that have the real audio files and 5 that are placeholders for the real stories for now. LIBRARY SHOWS nothing in there. But they were before I added the 2 audio files. So we go back and forth for the AI debugging to find the issue. MORE CREDITS. Okay it found the issue. But now the thumbnail images have all gone bye-bye. I asked it put back the images. Then I get the notice....OUT OF CREDITS! WTF!!!! I literally just signed up less than 24hours ago! My next $25 in credits don't renew until 30 days from now! So I can either upgrade my plan or pay by buying additional packs of credits! Well...how many more would I need to finish this project? $100 more, $300 more? Or do I want until next month to move forward when the subscription renews at $25?
THIS is how they get you. If I quit now I would have wasted 2 days worth of time and $25! But since I have no idea how many more credits I need to finish this app I don't know if I should scrap it or see how far down the credit rabbit hole this thing goes.
These no-code platforms are really not for people who don't know how to code. Because it will cost you a lot of MONEY if you don't know how to code. If you are a coder then you won't need to ask the AI to build out everything and debug stuff. It save coders time in probably getting the base and easy stuff done by the AI but the debugging and other stuff they can do themselves and hence not use credits at all. So, if you don't know how to code YOU WILL PAY A LOT to get at least a MVP out of these platforms. And I'm sure they all are the same. I think it's totally misleading to have people believeing they can actually create a working functional app using no code for a mere $20 or $25 a month! And we didn't even talk about the other costs to connect the app to Supabase and the app store!!!!
MISLEADING!
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OMG! These Supposedly No-Code Tools! Now I'm Stuck in Credit Purgatory!
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