Vibe Coding: Getting Stuck on 60%?

I am a software engineer and I got a call yesterday from an old friend who is trying to use Replit to build a childcare related mobile app. He needed help and was facing issues with authentication, security, user roles, user permissions, and other custom features like a dynamic calendar to directly view attendance.

How did he get stuck on 60%?

Even though registration works fine, issues start to come up when introducing roles and permissions. Other problems arise when he needed complex algorithms that aren’t standard templates like calculating prorated childcare fees based on attendance, or generating custom reports that require specific data relationships. These features are the core selling points for him.

After checking the wireframes on Replit that looked pretty decent, I told him that I am not willing to go into vibe coding headaches and if I was going to assist him, I would need to build the app from scratch using prebuilt modules I have built for multiple startup apps before.

I explained that I would use AI to customize and puzzle my prebuilt modules quickly and the money you would put into Replit, give that and a bit extra to me and own your code, have no customization limits and no subscription fees.

For example, I have a tested module for authentication and authorization that includes both front-end and back-end code for registration, login, forgot password, and email verification. I would customize the registration form to collect the specific fields his childcare app needed such as the childcare name. With AI assistance, I could modify these proven modules in minutes rather than fighting with an AI module from zero.

He is serious about building this app and he had subscribed to multiple vibe coding builders such as Bubble and Lovable and agreed that having an experienced software engineer build it from scratch for a competitive price seemed like a better decision and would give him time to focus on getting that first client.

By competitive pricing, I mean breaking down the project into core features and quoting each one separately. Since I have a production level architecture with routing, database connectivity, API, error handling, and other base infrastructure already built, I only charge for the actual business features or core functionality needed.

For example, authentication and authorization might cost $250–300, while a product listing page with filters could be $300.

Finally, we decided to use Replit as a presentation or a demo for all the features and requirements he wanted in the app. After that I would take these blueprints which would help me understand the functionality of all the features when I build it. The demo shows what he wants and I build what actually works.

I respect non-coders learning to build, but when you’re serious about building a real business (not just learning or experimenting) and professional development is priced competitively nowadays, how do you calculate what’s actually the better investment?

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