# How to Vibe Code Your Own ProofHub (and Stop Paying for It)

> Project management and team collaboration software

- Site: https://proofhub.com
- Category: Project Management & Collaboration SaaS
- Platforms: Web app, iOS app, Android app
- Verdict: **Solid side project** (62/100 vibecodeable)
- Estimated effort: 3-4 weeks of part-time development

## Verdict

Build a focused personal-use subset featuring kanban boards, markdown proofing, and basic discussions, but keep paying if you rely on multi-team client portals.

ProofHub bundles an enormous surface area into one platform. While a solo developer can leverage AI coding tools to assemble the core CRUD loops, task boards, and chat features in a few solid weeks of work, replicating the fine-grained polish of its interactive Gantt charts and pixel-precise inline file proofing markup engine requires heavy, unglamorous frontend debugging. If you want a private workspace for your own projects, building it is a rewarding side project; if you manage dozens of external clients who expect seamless uptime and mobile push notifications, the subscription fee is cheap insurance.

### What you can't replicate

- The 15-year accumulation of edge-case bug fixes across diverse agency workflows
- Instant native mobile push notification reliability on iOS and Android without store maintenance overhead
- Established brand trust and enterprise security compliance certifications

## What it does

An all-in-one project management and team collaboration platform featuring task management, Gantt charts, file proofing, real-time chat, and time tracking under flat-rate pricing.

### Core features

- Multi-view task boards (Kanban, Table, Calendar, Gantt)
- Threaded project discussions and real-time chat
- Inline file proofing with annotation and markup tools
- Time tracking with manual timers and timesheet reports
- Custom workflows and task dependencies
- Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and client permissions
- Custom dynamic forms for task creation

## The business

### Pricing

- Essential Plan: $50/mo — Billed monthly ($45/mo billed annually), capped at 40 active projects and 15 GB storage.
- Ultimate Control Plan: $150/mo — Billed monthly ($135/mo billed annually), with a 3-month introductory promo at $99/mo.

Founded 2010.
Team size: 45-50.

## The hard parts

- Interactive Gantt chart math handling dependency chains, slack times, and critical paths
- In-browser document and image markup engine with coordinate-mapped comment pins and versioning
- Real-time state synchronization across chat, boards, and proofing annotations without race conditions
- Complex relational queries for granular role-based access control across multiple workspace boundaries

## How to vibe code ProofHub

### Prerequisites

- Node.js (free): Required runtime environment for Next.js development and tooling.
- GitHub (free): Source control repository and integration point for deployment pipelines.
- Cursor ($20/mo): AI-powered code editor to accelerate multi-file scaffolding and component development.

### Recommended AI tools

- Cursor: Best for iterative UI work, building complex kanban boards, and reviewing visual component diffs.
- Claude Code: Excellent for scaffolding complex backend database schemas, API routes, and multi-file refactoring runs.

### Stack

- Frontend: Next.js with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui
- Backend: Next.js Server Actions and API Routes
- Database: Turso (SQLite at the edge)
- Auth: better-auth
- Payments: none
- Other: Liveblocks for real-time collaboration presence and cursor sync, UploadThing for document and file proofing uploads, Resend for transactional invitation emails

### Hosting

- Vercel (Hosting the Next.js frontend and serverless API endpoints with zero-config preview deployments.): $0-20/mo
- Turso (Serverless SQLite database storage for project hierarchies, tasks, and user records.): $0/mo

### Build guide

1. **Project Scaffolding & Database Schema** — Initialize the Next.js application with Tailwind CSS, configure the Turso database connection, and establish base database tables using Drizzle ORM.

```
Create a new Next.js project using TypeScript and Tailwind CSS. Initialize Drizzle ORM configured for a Turso SQLite database connection. Write the initial schema definitions for Users, Projects, TaskLists, Tasks, Comments, and FileProofing with proper relational foreign keys, indexes, and UUID primary keys. Ensure strict type safety and provide migration scripts.
```

2. **Authentication & Workspace Memberships** — Implement self-hosted authentication using better-auth with email/password login and organization workspace roles.

```
Integrate better-auth into the Next.js app to handle user sign-up, login, and session management against the Turso database. Create user profile pages and establish an organization workspace model supporting multiple users per project with administrative role checks.
```

3. **Task Management & Kanban Board Views** — Build interactive task management interfaces featuring both table views and drag-and-drop Kanban workflow columns.

```
Build a project task management dashboard in Next.js featuring a dual toggle between a spreadsheet-style table view and a Kanban board view. Use a drag-and-drop library to let users move tasks across workflow columns. Implement server actions for creating, updating, and deleting tasks with optimistic UI updates.
```

4. **File Proofing & Annotation Engine** — Develop an in-browser document and image markup system allowing users to drop comment pins directly onto uploaded assets.

```
Build an interactive file proofing component in React using UploadThing for file storage. The component must display uploaded images or PDF documents and allow users to click anywhere on the canvas to drop an annotation pin. Opening a pin reveals a threaded comment sidebar tied to specific coordinate percentages (x, y) relative to the document container, updating instantly via database mutations.
```

5. **Real-Time Discussions & Time Tracking** — Add threaded project discussions, real-time updates via Liveblocks, and a manual timer for task time tracking.

```
Implement a project discussions module with threaded replies and document attachments. Add a task time-tracking widget featuring a live stopwatch timer and manual hours entry form, aggregating total time spent per task and project into a summary report view. Integrate Liveblocks to display active user presence indicators on shared project pages.
```

### Cost vs paying

**Starting costs (one-time):**

- Domain name (optional): $12 one-time
- Total: ~$12 one-time

**Ongoing costs (monthly):**

- Vercel Hobby / Turso Free Tier: $0/mo
- Total: $0/mo

- Paying for the SaaS instead: $50/mo to $150/mo
- Build time: 45-60 hours
- AI tool credits: $20 (Cursor Pro)
- Break-even: Immediate

## Sources

- [ProofHub Official Website & Pricing Pages](https://proofhub.com)
- [GetLatka - ProofHub Revenue & Financial Metrics](https://getlatka.com/companies/proofhub)