# How to Vibe Code Your Own Bigin (and Stop Paying for It) > AI-powered simple CRM for small businesses - Site: https://bigin.com - Category: CRM - Platforms: Web app, macOS app, iOS app, Android app - Verdict: **Solid side project** (68/100 vibecodeable) - Estimated effort: 3-4 weeks of focused development ## Verdict Build a solid subset of the pipeline management, database relations, and AI assistants, but keep paying if you rely on production telephony and WhatsApp webhooks. Building a personal-use CRM clone of Bigin is a rewarding full-stack challenge. A modern AI coding agent handles the Next.js frontend, database schema, and kanban views rapidly. However, you will hit real friction wiring up live two-way WhatsApp webhooks, reliable IMAP email sync, and background worker queues for automated workflows without breaking local state. For a personal dashboard to replace messy spreadsheets, it is an excellent weekend-to-weeks build. For mission-critical business telephony and multi-channel messaging, stick with the paid product. ### What you can't replicate - The massive existing integration ecosystem with Zoho Books, QuickBooks, and social ad lead sync - Enterprise compliance certifications (HIPAA, SOC 2, ISO 27001) and security guarantees - The dedicated support team and global partner migration network ## What it does Lightweight CRM platform providing pipeline management, multichannel communication, workflow automation, and AI assistance for small teams. ### Core features - Multi-stage kanban pipeline management with team separation - Contact, Company, and Deal relationship database - No-code workflow automation engine for triggered tasks and emails - Multichannel communication history (Email, WhatsApp, telephony logs) - AI assistive features (summaries, reply assistants, cross-sell suggestions) - Online booking and appointment scheduling pages ## The business ### Pricing - Free: US$ 0 /user/month - Express: US$ 7 /user/month - Premier: US$ 12 /user/month - Bigin 360: US$ 18 /user/month ### Funding $0 raised. Investors: Bootstrapped by Zoho Corporation Founded 2020. Team size: 17,000+ (Zoho Corporation total). ## The hard parts - Designing a reliable background job queue for date-based scheduled workflow automations and triggers - Integrating two-way webhook sync with external channels like WhatsApp Business and IMAP/SMTP mailboxes - Enforcing strict relational record constraints and per-tenant limits across custom modules - Managing secure LLM context and prompt pipelines for assistive AI features without cross-tenant token leaks ## How to vibe code Bigin ### Prerequisites - Node.js (free): Required runtime for building and running the Next.js application locally. - GitHub (free): Source control repository to store and deploy your codebase. - Cursor (Free tier / $20/mo Pro): AI code editor to iterate on frontend components and backend routes with direct diff reviews. ### Recommended AI tools - Claude Code: Terminal agent best suited for scaffolding entire multi-file modules, database migrations, and debugging complex backend routes. - Cursor: Essential for visual UI work, Tailwind styling, and reviewing code diffs interactively. ### Stack - Frontend: Next.js with TypeScript and Tailwind CSS - Backend: Next.js App Router API Routes / Server Actions - Database: Turso (SQLite at the edge) - Auth: better-auth - Payments: None (personal clone) - Other: Resend for transactional emails, Anthropic API for AI assistive summaries and replies ### Hosting - Cloudflare (Deploys the Next.js application via Cloudflare Pages and hosts the serverless SQLite database on Turso with zero-config edge speed.): $0-5/mo ### Build guide 1. **Project Scaffolding & Database Schema Setup** — Initialize the Next.js project with Tailwind CSS and configure Turso with Drizzle ORM to establish core CRM relational models: Users, Teams, Pipelines, Stages, Contacts, Companies, Deals, Activities, and Notes. ``` Scaffold a new Next.js project using TypeScript and Tailwind CSS. Configure Drizzle ORM to connect to a Turso SQLite database. Create a robust database schema for a CRM: tenants/users, pipelines with orderable stages, companies, contacts (with custom fields), deals (linked to contacts/companies and pipeline stages), activities (calls, tasks, meetings), and notes. Set up foreign key constraints and proper indexes for fast searching and filtering by stage and owner. Provide migration scripts and a seed file with realistic sample data. ``` 2. **Authentication & Tenant Setup** — Implement user authentication and organization workspace management using better-auth with Turso as the backing store. ``` Integrate better-auth into the Next.js app using Turso as the database adapter. Configure email/password authentication and Google OAuth. Create middleware to protect dashboard routes and ensure users belong to an active organization/workspace. Build clean login, signup, and account settings pages styled with Tailwind CSS. ``` 3. **Visual Kanban Pipeline & Deal Management Board** — Build an interactive drag-and-drop kanban board representing sales stages, allowing users to move deals across columns and update deal amounts and closing probabilities in real-time. ``` Build a Kanban pipeline board view in Next.js. The board should display columns for each stage of the active pipeline. Fetch deals grouped by stage and render them as interactive cards showing deal name, company, value, and owner. Implement drag-and-drop state updates using HTML5 drag-and-drop or a lightweight library, hitting a server action that updates the deal stage in Turso. Add filtering by owner, tag, and date, plus a toggle to switch between Kanban view and List/Sheet view. ``` 4. **Contact & Company 360-Degree Record View** — Create a comprehensive detail view for individual contacts and companies, consolidating associated deals, activity timelines, past notes, and communication logs. ``` Develop a detailed CRM record view page for Contacts and Companies. The page layout should feature a left sidebar with contact metadata and custom fields, a central timeline showing chronological activities (calls, emails, tasks, notes) with action buttons to log new interactions, and a right panel showing associated deals and pipeline status. Implement server actions for adding notes, scheduling tasks, and updating contact properties. ``` 5. **No-Code Workflow Automation Engine** — Implement a background workflow rule builder and execution engine that triggers automated tasks or field updates when a deal enters a specific stage. ``` Build a workflow automation rule builder UI where users can define simple 'When X happens, do Y' rules (e.g., When Deal Stage changes to 'Proposal Sent', automatically create a Task for 'Follow up in 3 days'). Implement a background job handler using server actions or cron triggers that evaluates rule conditions against database state changes and executes the requested actions reliably. ``` 6. **AI Assistant Integration (Zia Clone)** — Integrate the Anthropic API to provide AI-powered record summaries, email draft generation, and contextual reply suggestions directly inside contact and deal views. ``` Integrate the Anthropic API (Claude 3.5 Sonnet) into the backend to power CRM assistive features. Create API endpoints for: (1) generating a concise summary of a contact's history and active deals, (2) drafting professional follow-up emails based on deal context and intent, and (3) suggesting quick reply options for incoming messages. Build clean UI components with loading states to trigger and display these AI insights on the deal detail page. ``` 7. **Dashboard Analytics & Polish** — Build performance KPI charts and dashboards summarizing total pipeline value, conversion rates, and closed deals by owner. ``` Create an Analytics Dashboard page featuring summary KPI cards (Total Pipeline Value, Won Deals, Open Leads, Average Deal Size) and interactive charts using Tailwind and a charting library like Recharts or Chart.js. Query the Turso database efficiently using aggregate SQL functions to compute monthly conversion rates and revenue performance. Polish all UI states, add toast notifications for user actions, and ensure responsive design across desktop and mobile browsers. ``` ### Cost vs paying **Starting costs (one-time):** - Domain name: $12 one-time - Total: ~$12 one-time **Ongoing costs (monthly):** - AI coding subscription (optional): $20/mo - Hosting & Database (Cloudflare + Turso): $0-5/mo - Total: ~$20-25/mo - Paying for the SaaS instead: $18/mo (Bigin 360 plan) - Build time: 30-40 hours - AI tool credits: $20/mo (Cursor Pro or Claude Pro) - Break-even: N/A (Build for learning and personal use) ## Sources - [Bigin by Zoho CRM Official Website & Pricing Pages](https://bigin.com) - [Zoho Corporation - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoho_Corporation) - [Zoho - Company Profile, Revenue, Tech Stack - Bitscale](https://www.bitscale.ai)