Vibecode SmartSuite
track this build5 steps, step by step0%The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For SmartSuite, configure records, views, automations, and dashboards for one team. The hard boundary is template breadth, workflow, integrations, permissions, and hosted collaboration, plus data model flexibility, collaboration, and integrations.
You are building a lean indie version of SmartSuite. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== README.md ===== # SmartSuite indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core SmartSuite workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Model structured records for one team, provide grid, form, kanban, and filtered views, add automations and dashboards, and expose a documented API. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - template breadth, workflow, integrations, permissions, and hosted collaboration - real-time multiplayer - automation and integration breadth - scale and formula depth - enterprise permissions If those capabilities are essential, use NocoDB instead of pretending the gap is solved. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs". ===== BUILD_PLAN.md ===== # Build plan ## Original build brief Build a personal replacement for SmartSuite in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Docker Compose; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: model structured records for one team, provide grid, form, kanban, and filtered views, add automations and dashboards, and expose a documented API. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create workspaces, bases, tables, fields, records, attachments, relations, and saved views. Support text, number, currency, date, boolean, select, formula-lite, and relation field types. Build grid, form, kanban, and record-detail views from one canonical schema. Add role-based permissions, optimistic concurrency checks, audit history, and trash restore. Provide CSV import or export and a token-authenticated REST API generated from the schema. Ship migrations, seed data, backups, health checks, and a schema export format. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Deliberately leave out full spreadsheet formula compatibility. Deliberately leave out hundreds of automations and integrations. Deliberately leave out large-enterprise governance and vendor-managed scale. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - Docker - PostgreSQL - self-hosted server - optional object storage for attachments ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden. ===== .env.example ===== # Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
You are building a lean indie version of SmartSuite. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== README.md ===== # SmartSuite indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core SmartSuite workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Model structured records for one team, provide grid, form, kanban, and filtered views, add automations and dashboards, and expose a documented API. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - template breadth, workflow, integrations, permissions, and hosted collaboration - real-time multiplayer - automation and integration breadth - scale and formula depth - enterprise permissions If those capabilities are essential, use NocoDB instead of pretending the gap is solved. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs". ===== BUILD_PLAN.md ===== # Build plan ## Original build brief Build a personal replacement for SmartSuite in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Docker Compose; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: model structured records for one team, provide grid, form, kanban, and filtered views, add automations and dashboards, and expose a documented API. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create workspaces, bases, tables, fields, records, attachments, relations, and saved views. Support text, number, currency, date, boolean, select, formula-lite, and relation field types. Build grid, form, kanban, and record-detail views from one canonical schema. Add role-based permissions, optimistic concurrency checks, audit history, and trash restore. Provide CSV import or export and a token-authenticated REST API generated from the schema. Ship migrations, seed data, backups, health checks, and a schema export format. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Deliberately leave out full spreadsheet formula compatibility. Deliberately leave out hundreds of automations and integrations. Deliberately leave out large-enterprise governance and vendor-managed scale. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - Docker - PostgreSQL - self-hosted server - optional object storage for attachments ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden. ===== .env.example ===== # Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
You are building a production product version of SmartSuite. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== PRODUCT.md ===== # SmartSuite product brief ## Problem The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For SmartSuite, configure records, views, automations, and dashboards for one team. The hard boundary is template breadth, workflow, integrations, permissions, and hosted collaboration, plus data model flexibility, collaboration, and integrations. ## Product outcome Model structured records for one team, provide grid, form, kanban, and filtered views, add automations and dashboards, and expose a documented API. ## Target user A serious builder who needs a maintainable product foundation rather than a one-off demo. ## Required capabilities - Docker - PostgreSQL - self-hosted server - optional object storage for attachments ## Explicit non-goals for v1 - template breadth, workflow, integrations, permissions, and hosted collaboration - real-time multiplayer - automation and integration breadth - scale and formula depth - enterprise permissions ## Success criteria - The primary workflow is measurable end to end. - Setup is reproducible in a clean environment. - Failure, recovery, and support paths are documented. - Product claims match what the implementation actually guarantees. ===== ARCHITECTURE.md ===== # Architecture ## Starting brief Build a personal replacement for SmartSuite in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Docker Compose; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: model structured records for one team, provide grid, form, kanban, and filtered views, add automations and dashboards, and expose a documented API. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create workspaces, bases, tables, fields, records, attachments, relations, and saved views. Support text, number, currency, date, boolean, select, formula-lite, and relation field types. Build grid, form, kanban, and record-detail views from one canonical schema. Add role-based permissions, optimistic concurrency checks, audit history, and trash restore. Provide CSV import or export and a token-authenticated REST API generated from the schema. Ship migrations, seed data, backups, health checks, and a schema export format. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Deliberately leave out full spreadsheet formula compatibility. Deliberately leave out hundreds of automations and integrations. Deliberately leave out large-enterprise governance and vendor-managed scale. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Boundaries Separate the product into replaceable modules for interface, application logic, persistence, external integrations, and operational concerns. Keep domain logic independent from delivery frameworks and vendors. ## Production baseline - Configuration: validated at startup with safe local defaults where possible. - Security: least privilege, input validation, secret redaction, rate limits on abuse-prone paths, and no invented security primitives. - Data: explicit schema and migrations, transactional writes where integrity matters, backup and restore instructions. - Integrations: adapters around third-party providers, idempotent webhook or job processing, bounded retries, and timeouts. - Observability: structured logs with request or operation IDs, an error-tracking hook, and health/readiness checks where a server exists. - Quality: unit tests for domain rules, integration tests at module boundaries, and one end-to-end critical-path test. ## Decision records For each major dependency, document why it was chosen, its failure mode, and how it can be replaced. Do not introduce infrastructure until a requirement justifies it. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Read `PRODUCT.md` and `ARCHITECTURE.md` before changing code. - Implement milestone by milestone; keep each change reviewable and leave the application runnable. - Treat authentication, payments, encryption, imports, webhooks, and destructive actions as high-risk boundaries when present. - Never invent cryptography or silently weaken a requirement to make a test pass. - Use provider interfaces for external services and deterministic fakes in tests. - Add migrations and rollback or recovery notes for persistent data changes. - Log useful operational context without credentials, tokens, passwords, or personal data. - Update documentation and run all checks before completing a milestone. ===== MILESTONES.md ===== # Delivery milestones ## M0 — Decisions and scaffold - Confirm the runtime, persistence model, threat boundaries, and deployment target. - Create a reproducible local environment and continuous checks. ## M1 — Core workflow - Implement the smallest end-to-end product path with validation and tests. - Keep integrations behind interfaces. ## M2 — Trust layer - Add secure failure behavior, recovery paths, audit-relevant events, and data safeguards. - Test abuse cases and destructive operations. ## M3 — Operability - Add structured logs, error reporting hooks, health signals, backup/restore documentation, and deployment configuration. ## M4 — Release gate - Run a clean-install test, critical-path end-to-end test, dependency review, and documented rollback exercise. - Compare the shipped behavior with `PRODUCT.md` and publish remaining limitations. ===== OPERATIONS.md ===== # Operations ## Before release - Validate configuration and secrets at startup. - Define backup, restore, and rollback procedures and test them. - Document logs, error tracking, health signals, and alert ownership. - Set dependency update and vulnerability review expectations. ## Incident checklist 1. Contain the issue without destroying evidence or user data. 2. Record the timeline and affected scope. 3. Rotate exposed secrets and revoke compromised sessions or credentials. 4. Restore from a verified source when needed. 5. Document the root cause, remediation, and regression test. ## Launch constraint Do not market omitted SmartSuite capabilities as implemented. The v1 non-goals in `PRODUCT.md` remain user-visible limitations until they are deliberately delivered.
# SmartSuite indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core SmartSuite workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Model structured records for one team, provide grid, form, kanban, and filtered views, add automations and dashboards, and expose a documented API. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - template breadth, workflow, integrations, permissions, and hosted collaboration - real-time multiplayer - automation and integration breadth - scale and formula depth - enterprise permissions If those capabilities are essential, use NocoDB instead of pretending the gap is solved.
# Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs".
# Build plan ## Original build brief Build a personal replacement for SmartSuite in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Docker Compose; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: model structured records for one team, provide grid, form, kanban, and filtered views, add automations and dashboards, and expose a documented API. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create workspaces, bases, tables, fields, records, attachments, relations, and saved views. Support text, number, currency, date, boolean, select, formula-lite, and relation field types. Build grid, form, kanban, and record-detail views from one canonical schema. Add role-based permissions, optimistic concurrency checks, audit history, and trash restore. Provide CSV import or export and a token-authenticated REST API generated from the schema. Ship migrations, seed data, backups, health checks, and a schema export format. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Deliberately leave out full spreadsheet formula compatibility. Deliberately leave out hundreds of automations and integrations. Deliberately leave out large-enterprise governance and vendor-managed scale. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - Docker - PostgreSQL - self-hosted server - optional object storage for attachments ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden.
# Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
# SmartSuite product brief ## Problem The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For SmartSuite, configure records, views, automations, and dashboards for one team. The hard boundary is template breadth, workflow, integrations, permissions, and hosted collaboration, plus data model flexibility, collaboration, and integrations. ## Product outcome Model structured records for one team, provide grid, form, kanban, and filtered views, add automations and dashboards, and expose a documented API. ## Target user A serious builder who needs a maintainable product foundation rather than a one-off demo. ## Required capabilities - Docker - PostgreSQL - self-hosted server - optional object storage for attachments ## Explicit non-goals for v1 - template breadth, workflow, integrations, permissions, and hosted collaboration - real-time multiplayer - automation and integration breadth - scale and formula depth - enterprise permissions ## Success criteria - The primary workflow is measurable end to end. - Setup is reproducible in a clean environment. - Failure, recovery, and support paths are documented. - Product claims match what the implementation actually guarantees.
# Architecture ## Starting brief Build a personal replacement for SmartSuite in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Docker Compose; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: model structured records for one team, provide grid, form, kanban, and filtered views, add automations and dashboards, and expose a documented API. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create workspaces, bases, tables, fields, records, attachments, relations, and saved views. Support text, number, currency, date, boolean, select, formula-lite, and relation field types. Build grid, form, kanban, and record-detail views from one canonical schema. Add role-based permissions, optimistic concurrency checks, audit history, and trash restore. Provide CSV import or export and a token-authenticated REST API generated from the schema. Ship migrations, seed data, backups, health checks, and a schema export format. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Deliberately leave out full spreadsheet formula compatibility. Deliberately leave out hundreds of automations and integrations. Deliberately leave out large-enterprise governance and vendor-managed scale. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Boundaries Separate the product into replaceable modules for interface, application logic, persistence, external integrations, and operational concerns. Keep domain logic independent from delivery frameworks and vendors. ## Production baseline - Configuration: validated at startup with safe local defaults where possible. - Security: least privilege, input validation, secret redaction, rate limits on abuse-prone paths, and no invented security primitives. - Data: explicit schema and migrations, transactional writes where integrity matters, backup and restore instructions. - Integrations: adapters around third-party providers, idempotent webhook or job processing, bounded retries, and timeouts. - Observability: structured logs with request or operation IDs, an error-tracking hook, and health/readiness checks where a server exists. - Quality: unit tests for domain rules, integration tests at module boundaries, and one end-to-end critical-path test. ## Decision records For each major dependency, document why it was chosen, its failure mode, and how it can be replaced. Do not introduce infrastructure until a requirement justifies it.
# Agent instructions - Read `PRODUCT.md` and `ARCHITECTURE.md` before changing code. - Implement milestone by milestone; keep each change reviewable and leave the application runnable. - Treat authentication, payments, encryption, imports, webhooks, and destructive actions as high-risk boundaries when present. - Never invent cryptography or silently weaken a requirement to make a test pass. - Use provider interfaces for external services and deterministic fakes in tests. - Add migrations and rollback or recovery notes for persistent data changes. - Log useful operational context without credentials, tokens, passwords, or personal data. - Update documentation and run all checks before completing a milestone.
# Delivery milestones ## M0 — Decisions and scaffold - Confirm the runtime, persistence model, threat boundaries, and deployment target. - Create a reproducible local environment and continuous checks. ## M1 — Core workflow - Implement the smallest end-to-end product path with validation and tests. - Keep integrations behind interfaces. ## M2 — Trust layer - Add secure failure behavior, recovery paths, audit-relevant events, and data safeguards. - Test abuse cases and destructive operations. ## M3 — Operability - Add structured logs, error reporting hooks, health signals, backup/restore documentation, and deployment configuration. ## M4 — Release gate - Run a clean-install test, critical-path end-to-end test, dependency review, and documented rollback exercise. - Compare the shipped behavior with `PRODUCT.md` and publish remaining limitations.
# Operations ## Before release - Validate configuration and secrets at startup. - Define backup, restore, and rollback procedures and test them. - Document logs, error tracking, health signals, and alert ownership. - Set dependency update and vulnerability review expectations. ## Incident checklist 1. Contain the issue without destroying evidence or user data. 2. Record the timeline and affected scope. 3. Rotate exposed secrets and revoke compromised sessions or credentials. 4. Restore from a verified source when needed. 5. Document the root cause, remediation, and regression test. ## Launch constraint Do not market omitted SmartSuite capabilities as implemented. The v1 non-goals in `PRODUCT.md` remain user-visible limitations until they are deliberately delivered.
$ choose a build depth, inspect the files, then open the complete pack in your agent · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR
People still pay for SmartSuite because teams pay when a flexible database becomes a shared operational system with integrations and years of accumulated business logic. The recurring cost buys schema changes, formulas, permissions, imports, attachments, views, APIs, concurrency, backups, and migrations, not just the visible interface.
xtemplate breadth, workflow, integrations, permissions, and hosted collaboration
xreal-time multiplayer
xautomation and integration breadth
xscale and formula depth
xenterprise permissions
Don't feel like building it? These folks already made it free.
all 5 free alternatives to SmartSuite →· no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
SmartSuite pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| team | $20/user | $15/user | Minimum 3 users; unlimited solutions; 5,000 records/solution; 50 GB storage; 30-day recycle-bin retention. |
| professional | $36/user | $32/user | Minimum 5 users; unlimited solutions; 100,000 records/solution; 100 GB storage; 45-day recycle-bin retention. |
| enterprise | custom | — | 400,000 records/solution; 500 GB storage; 60-day recycle-bin retention; SSO, SCIM and audit controls. |
| signature | custom | — | Custom capacity and controls; the public page exposes no numeric plan limits. |
free tierno permanent free tier; 14-day Professional trial with no card and no automatic charge
billingTeam and Professional offer monthly + annual billing; annual plans are prepaid; Enterprise and Signature are quote-based
hidden costsTeam has a 3-seat minimum and Professional a 5-seat minimum; a HIPAA BAA requires an annual commitment of at least 25 Professional, 20 Enterprise or 10 Signature seats; invoice payment on Enterprise requires an undisclosed minimum fee.
verified 2026-08-11 · source ↗
Vibecode SmartSuite
Kinda. The core of SmartSuite is buildable in a weekend with the prompt on this page, but there are real gaps: template breadth, workflow, integrations, permissions, and hosted collaboration, real-time multiplayer. Read the honest list above before committing.
How much does SmartSuite cost?
SmartSuite costs about $20/month (Team, checked 2026-08-11), which is $240 per year.
What do I lose by replacing SmartSuite?
Honestly: template breadth, workflow, integrations, permissions, and hosted collaboration; real-time multiplayer; automation and integration breadth; scale and formula depth; enterprise permissions. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to SmartSuite?
Yes: Baserow Free (Records, views, forms, automations, and a small dashboard-style app builder; the free limits are visible and sane.) Fibery Free (Relational records, views, formulas, docs, automations, and dashboards for up to ten users.) SeaTable Free (A serious grid with 10,000 rows, forms, automations, scripts, and an app builder before it asks for money.) All 5 curated free alternatives are at vibecodeit.com/smartsuite/alternatives. The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.