Ditching SaaS for Vibe-Coded Apps

We’re already seeing the stories:

"We cancelled our SaaS subscription and vibe‑coded our own app."

Good for you I'm thinking, I've experimented with four or five of the leading vibe-coding platforms myself; I've built business applications, productivity apps, even a factory style 2.5D game. It's impressive what's possible.

I've been in SaaS and enterprise software for a long time. The old debate was:

In-house vs. SaaS?, or SaaS vs. on-prem?

The question now is:

"Do we pay for SaaS or build our own via AI vibe coding?"

There's no black-and-white answer. Like all application decisions it comes down to scope: who, what, how, when and where.

If your scope is small, say 1-10 people, simple workflows and internal data, no PII, then you're probably in a safe place...for now.

But, If you want an app that will scale to 100s or 1000s of users, in different jurisdictions, using internal and external customer data, then you still need to treat this with the same vigour as a SaaS procurement. The same fundamentals apply:

• Trust & Security - can you be sure the data is safe, accurate and handled correctly.
• Reliability - will it work consistently? Is it fully tested end-to-end? (AI testing its own code is still the equivalent of marking your own homework)
• Compliance - can you meet GDPR and other data protection requirements? Can you respond to external and internal data requests?
• Support - if something breaks, who do you call? Do you have a reliable way to patch, test and deploy?
• Integration - every integration becomes bespoke, repeat the four points above for each integration to internal and external systems.

None of this means "Don't do it". It does mean go into it with open eyes (and open questions).

Some SaaS companies will need to rethink their models if customers see reduced value in the "software" part. But there is still real value in SaaS:

Enterprise-grade support and contract-based SLAs Security monitoring & patching Long-term maintenance Certified integrations Stability & uptime guarantees Hard-earned experience building at scale

Is vibe coding ready to replace SaaS? No. Are there some niche areas where it's genuinely useful? Undoubtedly. Do SaaS companies need to sharpen their value proposition? Definitely.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's tried replacing SaaS with a vibe-coded app and what you learned along the way.

#SaaS #AI #ProductManagement #CustomerSuccess #DigitalTransformation