The Tools I’m Using to Build My AI SaaS in 2025 🚀
Litun Nayak
Hey devs,
I’ve officially stepped into full-time founder mode in 2025 — and after months of freelancing, testing stacks, and shipping small products, I’m finally building my own AI-powered SaaS.
It’s just me right now. Solo founder, full-stack dev, product person, marketer — all rolled into one.
If you're on the same path (or thinking about it), this post might save you from weeks of tool-hopping, false starts, and analysis paralysis.
Here’s what I’m using — the exact tools, why I picked them, and the tradeoffs I learned the hard way.
🧠 AI Coding Assistants: Cursor vs Augment
🥇 Cursor – Perfect for fast solo dev work
Cursor feels like VS Code, but with a genius AI pair programmer baked in. It understands your entire codebase context and lets you literally chat with your repo.
Smart autocompletion & code refactor
Built-in terminal and Git
Fast debugging & file generation
Less context switching, more flow
As a solo builder with limited time, this made a massive difference in how quickly I can ship MVP features.
💡 Augment – Better for scaling & larger teams
If you’re building a bigger project or working with multiple devs, Augment is 🔥. It takes a more structured approach — better at test generation, refactoring large components, and maintaining architectural sanity.
TL;DR:
Solo and fast? Go Cursor.
Big codebase or team? Try Augment.
🎨 Lovable.dev – My design & UI secret weapon
I’m not a designer. I don’t want to spend hours wrestling with Figma or CSS quirks.
Lovable lets me type prompts like:
“Build a dashboard with a sidebar, topbar, and cards grid.”
...and it gives me ready-to-use React + Tailwind + ShadCN components, already styled and responsive.
Why I’m obsessed:
Feels like Webflow + ChatGPT + Git
GitHub export ready
Beautiful UI from day 1 (no excuses)
⚠️ Heads up: If it generates Supabase queries or SQL, always verify them with GPT-4 or Claude. Don’t blindly trust any auto-generated backend logic.
🔧 Supabase – Best backend/auth tool for solo devs
I started with Firebase back in the day. Supabase blows it away if you know SQL and want control without complexity.
What I love:
Magic link + OAuth auth
Row-level security that’s easy to use
File storage + built-in APIs
Great docs, fast onboarding
Bonus: Lovable + Supabase integration makes it dead simple to scaffold full apps.
⚡ Bolt – Okay, but not my first pick
Bolt is another “AI UI builder” I tried. It’s quick for prototyping landing pages or quick ideas, but for actual products, I found:
UI needs cleanup
Less component control
Not as polished as Lovable
Still worth testing early in your journey, just don’t expect production-level polish out-of-the-box.
🚀 Hosting & Deployment
I use Render to deploy my FastAPI + React app combo. I tried Vercel (great for frontend-only), but I needed backend flexibility.
Other options I explored:
Vercel → best for frontend-heavy apps
Railway → great DX, but unpredictable costs
Fly.io → powerful but a steeper learning curve
Render just works. Git push, build pipeline, custom domains. Done.
💳 Payments & Monetization
Right now, I’m using Stripe for full control — but depending on your needs:
| Tool | Why Use It |
| Stripe | Full control, global support |
| LemonSqueezy | Handles taxes, simpler for indie SaaS |
| Gumroad | Simple paywall + digital products |
📩 Other Tools in My Stack
| Purpose | Tool | Notes |
| Emails | Resend | Easy email auth + transactional emails |
| Analytics | Plausible | GDPR-safe, no tracking bloat |
| Forms | Fillout / Tally | Beautiful forms with logic |
| Async Jobs | Supabase Edge | Cron & background task magic |
| File Storage | Supabase / Wasabi | Used Wasabi for larger file storage |
💡 Lessons Learned
1. Speed > Perfection (at MVP stage)
Cursor + Lovable helped me ship things I’d normally take 3x longer to do alone.
2. AI ≠ No QA
Review every line of AI-generated code. These tools are great, but they’re not infallible.
3. UI is Half the Product
Ugly MVPs get ignored. Good UI gets people to take you seriously — even when the backend is still duct-taped together.
📦 My Full Stack (2025)
| Role | Tool |
| IDE + AI Assist | Cursor |
| Big Codebase IDE | Augment |
| UI Builder | Lovable |
| Backend & Auth | Supabase |
| Hosting | Render |
| Payments | Stripe |
| Resend | |
| Analytics | Plausible |
🗣 What's in Your Stack?
I’d love to hear what you’re using — whether you’re just getting started or building your second/third SaaS.
Are you using tools I missed?
Any hot takes on Lovable, Cursor, etc.?
Found any combo that gave you 10x speed?
Let’s trade notes 👇
DM me @nayaklitun9 on X or leave a comment.
🧠 If you found this helpful:
I'm publishing my full journey of building AI-powered SaaS solo — from idea to revenue.
→ Follow buildwithlitun.hashnode.dev
→ Or join my newsletter.
Let’s build in public and help each other win. ✨
Subscribe to my newsletter
Read articles from Litun Nayak directly inside your inbox. Subscribe to the newsletter, and don't miss out.
Written by
Litun Nayak
Litun Nayak
🧑💻 Indie maker building AI-powered tools. ⚙️ Ex-freelancer, now turning ideas into products. 📍 Writing about SaaS, tech, and lessons from the journey. 🛠 Currently building in public.