CloudGrip

Hard budget caps and proxy gateway for LLM API traffic

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September 17, 2026 How I built a hard budget-cap proxy to stop runaway AI API bills

​Hey indie hackers! 👋

​Like many of you, I've been experimenting with building small AI-powered scripts and tools. But a while back, I ran into a major anxiety point: writing a script, leaving a loop running by accident, and waking up to a terrifying cloud or API bill.

​Most enterprise tools for managing LLM spending are bloated or meant for huge corporate teams. As an indie dev, I just wanted something simple, lightweight, and foolproof.

​So, I built CloudGrip: a lightweight proxy gateway and dashboard that sits in front of your LLM API calls, tracks real-time usage, and—most importantly—has a hard budget circuit breaker that automatically cuts execution loops off before spending goes over your limit.

​The Tech Stack:

​Backend: Node.js, Express, and Supabase PostgreSQL.

​Payments: Fully integrated live Paystack subscription flow ($20/mo model) for automated handling.

​Frontend: Clean, straightforward dashboard with a live request log stream and a configurable hard budget input panel.

​I just went live with real payments under MOH CODES. If you're building with LLMs and want absolute control over your API spend without the enterprise bloat, check it out here: https://cloudgrip-ai.onrender.com

​Would love to hear how other solo devs handle API budget safety in their apps!

5 Comments

  1. 2
    The hard cap is the real product, not the dashboard. Have any developers trusted it with live API spend yet, and did it actually stop a runaway loop?
    1. 1
      Spot on. The hard cap is definitely the core engine. ​It sits right in the proxy middleware—if a script or runaway agent loop hits the budget limit, it instantly short-circuits with a 402 and blocks further requests before it drains your wallet. ​Built it precisely because waking up to a surprise API bill from an infinite loop is a nightmare
      1. 1
        The hard-cap use case is the part I’d be interested in digging into. If you’re open to it, what’s the best email to reach you on?
        1. 1
          Hey Aryan! Appreciate that. You can reach me directly at aliyunazeer21@gmail.com, or shoot me a DM on X/Twitter @haidar007pi. I'd love to hear what kind of agent or app stack you're currently running where runaway costs are a risk
          1. 1

            Thanks! I’ve just sent it over.

            Looking forward to hearing your thoughts whenever you have a chance.

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I kept running into the anxiety of leaving AI scripts running and waking up to massive bills, so I built a lightweight proxy with hard budget caps to keep indie development safe and predictable