# How to Vibe Code Your Own Senja (and Stop Paying for It) > Collect, Manage and Share Testimonials - Site: https://senja.io - Category: Marketing / Customer Success - Verdict: **Solid side project** (68/100 vibecodeable) - Estimated effort: 2-3 weeks part-time ## Verdict You can build a functional personal clone of Senja with a solid indie stack, but the video pipeline and third-party import connectors will take serious effort. The core CRUD dashboard, collection forms, and embeddable widgets are straightforward to build with Next.js and Tailwind CSS. However, you will hit real friction when orchestrating reliable multi-megabyte video uploads, cloud transcoding, background transcription jobs via Whisper, and maintaining scrapers across 30+ external review platforms. For personal use, scoping down to native text/video collection and custom Walls of Love makes this a rewarding 2-to-3-week build; trying to replicate all 30 platform importers is a trap. ### What you can't replicate - Official API partnerships and maintained scrapers for 30+ external review platforms - The exact brand equity and existing customer trust of Senja - Active ecosystem of third-party widget installs across the web ## What it does All-in-one social proof and testimonial management platform for collecting text and video testimonials, importing reviews from 30+ platforms, and showcasing them via widgets and Walls of Love. ### Core features - Customizable text and video collection forms - Video recording and native hosting in browser - Automated video transcription and sentiment analysis - Import engine for external review platforms and CSV uploads - Testimonial management dashboard with tags, fields, and search - Embeddable widget builder and customizable Walls of Love - Embeddable client-side JS widgets for third-party sites - Public API and webhook dispatchers ## The business ### Pricing - Free: $0/month - Starter: $29/month - Pro: $59/month Founded 2022. Team size: Micro-team (2 co-founders). ## The hard parts - Robust video upload, transcoding, and transcription pipeline without serverless timeouts - Cross-origin (CORS) embeddable client-side JavaScript widgets that load swiftly on third-party sites without layout shifts - Integration scrapers or API connectors for 30+ disparate external review platforms that frequently rate-limit or change layouts - AI-driven sentiment analysis and automated testimonial translation pipelines ## How to vibe code Senja ### Prerequisites - Node.js (free): Runtime environment for the Next.js full-stack framework and build tooling. - GitHub (free): Source code repository and CI/CD connection for deployment to Vercel. - OpenAI Account (pay-as-you-go (~$5/mo)): API access for Whisper audio transcription and GPT sentiment analysis. ### Recommended AI tools - Claude Code: Best-in-class terminal coding agent for scaffolding full-stack CRUD routes, database schemas, and embeddable widget scripts. - Cursor: Ideal AI code editor for fine-tuning the complex React widget UI components and CSS styling for Walls of Love. ### Stack - Frontend: Next.js with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui - Backend: Next.js Server Actions and API Routes - Database: Neon (Serverless Postgres) - Auth: better-auth - Payments: None (Personal-use clone) - Other: Vercel AI SDK for LLM interactions, OpenAI API (Whisper + GPT), Cloudflare R2 for video and asset storage ### Hosting - Vercel (Hosting the Next.js web application dashboard, API endpoints, and collection forms): $0/mo (Hobby Tier) - Neon (Serverless Postgres database storing testimonials, forms, and projects): $0/mo (Free Tier) - Cloudflare (R2 object storage for video testimonials and client-side widget CDN delivery): $0-5/mo ### Build guide 1. **Project Scaffolding & Database Schema** — Initialize the Next.js application with Tailwind CSS, configure better-auth, and set up the Neon Postgres database schema for users, projects, forms, and testimonials. ``` Scaffold a new Next.js project with TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and App Router. Set up better-auth with email/password authentication linked to a Neon Postgres database using Drizzle ORM. Define database tables for `users`, `projects`, `forms` (storing collection parameters, questions, and custom branding settings), and `testimonials` (storing type [text/video], author name, email, avatar URL, rating, testimonial body, video storage URL, tags, sentiment status, and project ID). Ensure proper foreign key constraints and indexes on project_id and created_at. Verify the setup with a local migration test. ``` 2. **Testimonial Collection Forms & Public Submission** — Build the public-facing submission page where clients can record video or write text testimonials. ``` Build a dynamic public collection form page in Next.js at `/collect/[formId]` that renders customer questions, branding accents, and collection toggles fetched from the database. Implement a dual collection mode: a text review textarea with star rating selection, and a browser-based video recording interface utilizing the MediaRecorder API with live camera preview and timer countdown. Implement secure direct-to-cloud upload logic for video blobs to Cloudflare R2 object storage. On successful submission, save the testimonial record to the database with a 'pending' status and show a customizable thank-you confirmation screen. ``` 3. **Dashboard Management, Tagging & Search** — Create the main administrative dashboard for organizing, filtering, tagging, and managing collected testimonials. ``` Create a comprehensive dashboard view in Next.js at `/dashboard` that lists all collected testimonials in a data table and grid view. Implement server actions and UI controls for filtering testimonials by rating, type (text/video), and project, alongside a keyword search bar and custom tagging system. Add status toggles for pinning testimonials, archiving, or marking them as featured. Include a detail modal to preview video testimonials, edit author details, and assign custom metadata fields. ``` 4. **AI Transcription & Sentiment Analysis Pipeline** — Integrate background processing jobs to transcribe video audio via OpenAI Whisper and analyze text sentiment. ``` Implement an asynchronous background processing route using Next.js API endpoints that triggers when a video testimonial is uploaded or a text review is submitted. For video files, download the audio stream, send it to the OpenAI Whisper API for transcription, and store the resulting text transcript in the database. Send both text reviews and video transcripts to the OpenAI API using structured JSON output to extract sentiment (positive, neutral, negative) and key product insights. Display these sentiment badges and transcripts directly inside the testimonial detail view in the dashboard. ``` 5. **Embeddable Widgets & Wall of Love Builder** — Develop customizable embeddable widgets, carousels, and dedicated Walls of Love pages that users can deploy anywhere. ``` Build a widget builder interface at `/dashboard/widgets` allowing users to select layout styles (Grid, Carousel, Wall of Love), customize card colors, fonts, and badge visibility, and generate a snippet code. Create a lightweight, vanilla JavaScript script (`embed.js`) hosted on a public endpoint that fetches approved testimonials for a given project ID via a CORS-enabled API route and renders a responsive, high-performance widget DOM inside any third-party host website without layout shifts. Also build a standalone public page route at `/wall/[projectId]` that renders a full-page custom Wall of Love gallery. ``` ### Cost vs paying **Starting costs (one-time):** - Custom domain for personal clone: $12/year - AI coding tool subscription: $20 one-time - Total: ~$32 one-time **Ongoing costs (monthly):** - OpenAI API usage (Whisper + GPT sentiment): ~$5/mo - Cloudflare R2 / Vercel hosting: $0-5/mo - Total: ~$5-10/mo - Paying for the SaaS instead: $29/mo (Starter) - Build time: 35-45 hours - AI tool credits: $20 (Claude Pro / Cursor) - Break-even: 1 month vs Starter plan ## Sources - [Senja Official Website & Pricing Pages](https://senja.io) - [Senja About & Team Page](https://senja.io/about)