How to vibe codeAurelius
The more powerful research repository and insights platform
aureliuslab.com ↗UX Research & Analytics
The verdict: can you vibe code Aurelius?
Build a personal subset for your own user research repo, but keep paying if you need robust multi-language transcription and Jira/Zoom enterprise integrations.
Aurelius is a well-crafted vertical SaaS platform. While cloning the core CRUD workspace, tagging engine, Kanban analysis board, and LLM summary generator is straightforward with AI tooling, building a bulletproof audio transcription pipeline for 180+ languages and deep enterprise integrations (Zoom/Jira) will consume dozens of unglamorous hours. If you are a solo researcher trying to cut a $49/mo habit for your own notes, building a personal Next.js clone is a rewarding weekend project. If you need it for a multi-person team with existing workflows, paying the subscription is far more rational.
Estimated effort: 3-4 weeks of focused evening work
What you can't replicate
- Instant out-of-the-box native Zoom recording imports and bi-directional Jira issue sync
- Enterprise security reviews, penetration testing reports, and SAML 2.0 SSO compliance
- Battle-tested multi-language speech-to-text pipeline supporting 180+ dialects
Founded
2017
Raised
—
Team
Lean / micro-team
Cheapest paid tier
$49/mo
What Aurelius does
A user research repository and qualitative data analysis platform for product, design, and user research teams to store, tag, synthesize, and share customer insights.
Core features
- Project workspace management for qualitative data
- Rich note-taking and multi-format document uploads
- Flexible tagging system with real-time typeahead
- Analysis board (Kanban / affinity diagramming)
- AI Assist for automated paragraph summaries and key themes
- Key insights and recommendation linkage
- Automatic research report builder and exporter
- Universal search and cross-project tag analysis
The business
Pricing
- Professional$49/mo
- Premium$199/mo
- EnterpriseCustom
Funding
Unknown / bootstrapped
Pay vs build, cumulative
Break-even at month 1 — after that, every month is money kept.
The hard parts of vibe coding Aurelius
- Multi-language speech-to-text transcription pipeline for 180+ languages at scale
- Asynchronous background file ingestion and chunked document parsing (Magic Upload)
- Global cross-project vector and keyword search index with tenant isolation
- Real-time drag-and-drop affinity diagram synchronization
How to vibecode Aurelius
Prerequisites
Node.jsfree
Runtime environment for Next.js development
GitHubfree
Source control and deployment pipeline integration
AI coding tools
Recommended stack
| Frontend | Next.js (React) with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui |
|---|---|
| Backend | Next.js App Router Server Actions and API Routes |
| Database | Turso (SQLite at the edge for relational workspace data) |
| Auth | better-auth (self-hosted TypeScript auth with email and session management) |
| Payments | None (personal use clone) |
| Other | OpenAI API (for Whisper transcription and GPT-powered AI Assist summaries), UploadThing (for handling document and media file uploads) |
Build guide
01Scaffold Next.js App & Database Schema
Initialize a Next.js 16 project with Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui, Turso database connection via Drizzle ORM, and better-auth setup.
Create a new Next.js 16 project using the App Router, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS. Initialize Drizzle ORM configured for Turso (SQLite). Create database schemas for users, projects, notes, tags, note_tags, key_insights, insight_notes, and recommendations. Implement better-auth for secure email/password authentication. Ensure proper foreign key constraints, cascading deletes, and indexes for project-scoped searches. Create initial database migration scripts and test connection reliability.02Project Workspace & Document Management
Build the core dashboard views to create projects, list research notes, and upload multi-format documents using UploadThing.
Build the main dashboard and project workspace views in Next.js. Implement CRUD operations for Projects. Inside a project, create a rich-text Note-taking interface supporting bulk creation (pressing enter creates a new note line). Integrate UploadThing to support file uploads (PDFs, images, audio/video) and bind uploaded documents directly to project records with a dedicated Documents tab.03Tagging System & Keyword Analysis
Implement a flexible tag creation and bulk-tagging engine with automatic keyword frequency analysis.
Build a comprehensive tagging system for notes and key insights. Allow users to create tags with custom names and sentiment badges (positive/neutral/negative emojis). Implement a multi-select bulk tagging interface for notes. Create a backend utility that automatically parses uploaded note text, extracts word frequency distributions (excluding stopwords), and displays an automatic Keyword Analysis summary header at the top of each project.04Analysis Board (Kanban Affinity Mapping)
Develop a drag-and-drop Kanban style affinity diagram board to group notes and formulate themes.
Build an Analysis Board view for projects using a drag-and-drop library (e.g., @hello-pangea/dnd or standard HTML5 drag-and-drop). Allow users to create thematic columns (affinity groups) and drag notes and insights across columns and back to an unassigned pool. Persist column configurations and card order to the Turso database with optimistic UI updates.05AI Assist & Whisper Transcription Pipeline
Integrate OpenAI API for automatic note summarization and audio/video transcription into text notes.
Implement an 'AI Assist' feature using the OpenAI API. Add server actions that aggregate selected project notes and generate concise paragraph summaries and key extracted themes. Additionally, create an audio/video transcription pipeline: when a user uploads an audio/video file, send it to the OpenAI Whisper API, store the resulting text transcript as a new note in the project, and notify the user upon completion.06Key Insights, Recommendations & Report Builder
Build key insight creation tying notes together, recommendation mapping, and an automatic report generator.
Build the Key Insights and Recommendations modules. Allow users to highlight notes, group them into a Key Insight with a priority and type, and derive action-oriented Recommendations linked to supporting insights. Finally, build an Automatic Report Builder page that aggregates project insights and recommendations into a clean, editable layout with export-to-PDF and shareable read-only live link capabilities.
Cost vs paying for Aurelius
What will you build it with?
Starting total with Claude Code$0 one-time
Starting costs (one-time)
- AI Coding Assistant subscription (Cursor/Claude Pro)$20
Total~$20 one-time
Ongoing costs (monthly)
- Turso Database & Vercel Hosting$0
- OpenAI API usage (Whisper & GPT Assist)~$5-10/mo
Total~$8/mo
Paying for Aurelius
$49/mo (Professional plan)
Your time to build
40-50 hours
AI tool credits
$20 (Claude/Cursor Pro)
Break-even
1 month of Pro subscription
Vibe code Aurelius: FAQ
- Can you vibe code Aurelius yourself?
- Solid side project — 65/100 vibecodeable. Build a personal subset for your own user research repo, but keep paying if you need robust multi-language transcription and Jira/Zoom enterprise integrations.
- How long does it take to vibe code Aurelius?
- 3-4 weeks of focused evening work — roughly 40-50 hours of hands-on time with an AI coding agent.
- How do you build your own Aurelius?
- Scoped to personal use: Next.js (React) with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui on the front, Next.js App Router Server Actions and API Routes behind it, Turso (SQLite at the edge for relational workspace data) for data. Follow the 6-step build guide on this page — each step has a paste-ready prompt for an AI coding agent.
- How do you code your own Aurelius without being an expert?
- Use an AI coding tool (Claude Code or Cursor) and work in small steps: scaffold, data model, core screens, then deploy. Realistic effort: 3-4 weeks of focused evening work. The prompts on this page are written so the AI does the heavy lifting.
- How much does it cost to vibe code Aurelius instead of paying?
- About ~$20 one-time to start and ~$8/mo to run, versus $49/mo (Professional plan) for Aurelius. Break-even: 1 month of Pro subscription.
- What stack should you use to vibe code Aurelius?
- Next.js (React) with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui; Next.js App Router Server Actions and API Routes; Turso (SQLite at the edge for relational workspace data); plus OpenAI API (for Whisper transcription and GPT-powered AI Assist summaries), UploadThing (for handling document and media file uploads).