Building Chirpwrite completely using Replit Agent

On Saturday, December 14th, 2024, I built an entire micro SaaS using Replit Agent without writing a single line of code or giving technical instructions—just providing feedback when the agent asked for it.

The journey began with ChatGPT, where I brainstormed ideas for a micro SaaS. After exploring several options, I built a tool that helps users write a book based on their tweets. During our discussions, I realized the Twitter API’s cost could be a barrier, so I pivoted to Bluesky, where the API is free.

Once the idea was clear, I asked ChatGPT to create a script that could generate a landing page using V0. Armed with that direction, I turned to Replit Agent, which brought the entire idea to life with nothing but my natural language prompts and feedback. The result? A fully functional MVP without me touching a single line of code.

The result of this activity is Chirpwrite, a tool that allows one to generate an SEO blog based on a selection of posts from Bluesky. It has two tiers, a free tier where you can only generate two blogs and a second tier for $10/month where you can have unlimited blog entries.

The Pros of Replit

One of the immediate standout advantages of using Replit is its speed. Replit is incredibly fast when deploying its suggestions, removing many of the traditional roadblocks in development. You don’t need to worry about:

• Frameworks

• Understanding programming languages

• Scaling your project

• Managing databases, APIs, or libraries

• Installing dependencies or debugging code

Replit’s Agent is your complete software engineer—reactive and proactive. It takes initiative to solve problems, provides accurate and efficient solutions, and handles the development process from end to end. Whether you’re an experienced engineer looking to fine-tune development or a novice needing the tool to "work," Replit delivers.

Testing Made Easy: One of my favorite features is the ability to test the web application within a sandbox environment. You can immediately observe the application’s behavior and request changes on the fly.

• For experienced developers, this allows for precise direction.

• For beginners, you can accept the suggestions and proceed with confidence.

Domain Linking and Deployment:
Replit makes linking domains painless. For example, I registered Chirpwrite.com and connected it to the Replit domain without a hitch. It even automatically applied an SSL certificate, which is a huge bonus. Deployment was swift, efficient, and completely hassle-free.

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The Cons of Replit

While Replit is a powerful tool, its biggest drawback is cost. After paying $180 for an annual license, I discovered there were additional hidden costs that quickly add up:

1. Replit Assistants: These act like pair programming partners, similar to tools like Cursor AI, where you can collaborate, refine, and shape your code. However, Assistants cost $0.05 per usage.

2. Replit Agents: These are more autonomous—they execute tasks and only request feedback when the work is done. While robust, their billing is based on the features they’re tasked with.

   • Each feature (or checkpoint) costs $0.25.

   • For larger projects with multiple features, the cost can escalate quickly.

3. Feature Completion and Bug Fixing:
   While Replit Agent is excellent at identifying errors, it often struggles to fix glaring bugs because the instructions aren’t clear enough or because the tool gets stuck on certain problems. This leads to:

   • Repeated Bug Fixing: You may spend more on agents fixing bugs they introduced while building features.

   • Cost Creep: Re-running agents to fix persistent issues can increase exponentially.

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Conclusion and Next Steps

Chirpwrite started as an experiment to see how well Replit could assist in building micro SaaS tools. Along the way, I discovered that Replit—particularly the Replit Agent—delivers tremendous value in speed and efficiency, making it well worth the investment for creators and developers looking to streamline their work.

That said, using Replit effectively requires learning how to prompt efficiently. Poor prompting can quickly run up costs, especially when fixing persistent bugs. Chirpwrite still has a few issues to iron out, but I plan to continue using Replit to make steady progress and refine the tool further

About me.

I’m Saheed, a Senior Software Engineer who loves exploring and experimenting with new tools to accelerate development and creativity. My current toolkit includes:

• Replit, Cursor AI, V0, ChatGPT, and Claude AI.

I’m also the creator of Narralize, a tool that transforms PDFs into podcast-style audio summaries in 29 languages, helping users consume content in new and accessible ways. Additionally, I’m the founder of Prossess MVP Studio, where I help businesses and entrepreneurs turn ideas into functional MVPs quickly and efficiently.

If you’re as curious about tools and experimentation as I am, follow along as I continue building and learning!