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

> The AI time tracker to end time tracking

- Site: https://timelyapp.com
- Category: SaaS
- Verdict: **Serious undertaking** (38/100 vibecodeable)
- Estimated effort: 3-5 months of serious part-time work

## Verdict

You can build a web dashboard clone for your own time logs, but replicating the background desktop daemon and AI categorization engine requires building cross-platform native software.

Timely's core value relies on the 'Memory' desktop app running silently in the background on macOS and Windows to record active windows and URLs, paired with an AI backend that turns raw telemetry into structured timesheets. While a solo dev can easily build the web dashboard using Next.js and Supabase, writing reliable native daemons that capture OS-level window metadata without violating user trust or getting flagged by antivirus software is a serious engineering hurdle. Furthermore, prompt-engineering an LLM pipeline to classify noisy window switching into billable client projects accurately involves substantial trial, error, and ongoing correction.

### What you can't replicate

- The massive historical training dataset for automatic AI categorization
- Pre-built certified integrations with dozens of enterprise PM and accounting tools
- Brand trust and established enterprise security compliance (ISO 27001)

## What it does

Automated time-tracking and timesheet platform using background desktop telemetry and AI categorization for professional services firms.

### Core features

- Native background desktop daemon tracking active window titles and URLs
- AI timesheet auto-categorization engine (AutoSheet)
- Project dashboards and real-time profitability analytics
- Team capacity planning and user workload visualization
- Billable versus non-billable hours reporting
- Role-based access control and locked time entries
- Invoicing and accounting integrations

## The business

### Pricing

- Starter: $11/mo — For individuals and small teams starting with automated time tracking.
- Premium: $20/mo — For growing teams needing project management integrations and budgeting.
- Unlimited: $28/mo — For organizations requiring capacity management and advanced security.

### Funding

$20M raised.
- 2018 ($5M)
- 2021 ($14M)
Investors: SNÖ, Investinor, Concentric, Melesio, Sanden, 500 Startups

Founded 2013.
Team size: ~40.

## The hard parts

- Building reliable, cross-platform native background desktop clients (macOS/Windows) that capture window metadata without triggering security alarms
- Designing a privacy-first telemetry ingestion and client-side filtering pipeline
- Writing robust LLM classification pipelines to map raw telemetry accurately into project tasks
- Maintaining complex bi-directional sync engines with external PM and billing tools

## How to vibe code Timely

### Prerequisites

- Node.js (free): Required for running the Next.js web application frontend and backend API routes.
- GitHub (free): Source code repository and CI/CD deployment pipeline.
- Xcode (free): Required for compiling and signing the native macOS background tracker daemon.

### Recommended AI tools

- Claude Code: Best-in-class terminal agent for scaffolding the full-stack web application and writing native Swift daemon logic.
- Cursor: Ideal for fine-tuning UI components, dashboard analytics views, and debugging API routes.

### Stack

- Frontend: Next.js with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui
- Backend: Next.js API Routes and Server Actions
- Database: Supabase (PostgreSQL with Row Level Security)
- Auth: better-auth
- Payments: Stripe
- Other: Tauri for lightweight desktop companion shell, Anthropic API for AutoSheet AI categorization pipeline, Resend for transactional reports and notifications

### Hosting

- Vercel (Hosting the Next.js web application and dashboard): $0-20/mo
- Supabase (Managing relational database storage for timesheets, users, and projects): $0-25/mo

### Build guide

1. **Project Scaffolding & Database Schema** — Initialize the Next.js project with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui, configure Supabase, and set up the core relational schema for users, projects, time entries, and memory logs.

```
Scaffold a new Next.js project with TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and standard App Router layout. Configure Supabase client connections and create database migration files for tables: `users`, `projects`, `time_entries`, and `memory_logs`. The `memory_logs` table must store `user_id`, `app_name`, `window_title`, `url`, `start_time`, and `duration`. Implement robust row-level security policies ensuring users can only read and write their own data.
```

2. **Authentication & User Management** — Integrate better-auth for secure user registration, session handling, and role assignment (admin, manager, team member).

```
Integrate better-auth into the Next.js application supporting email/password sign-up and session management. Create user profile settings pages where users can manage their billable hourly rates, internal cost rates, and default weekly capacity targets. Ensure secure cookie handling and protected dashboard routes.
```

3. **Native Desktop Companion Daemon** — Build a lightweight native helper utility (or Tauri-based menu bar app) to passively log active window titles and browser URLs locally.

```
Write a lightweight native macOS background utility script in Swift (or Tauri helper) that polls the active window title and active application name every 30 seconds. Filter out private applications or incognito windows based on a local exclusion list. Batch these records locally and securely sync them via an authenticated HTTPS POST endpoint to the Next.js backend `/api/memory` route.
```

4. **AI AutoSheet Categorization Engine** — Implement a background ingestion pipeline that uses the Anthropic API to parse raw memory logs and suggest project allocations.

```
Implement an API route in Next.js that accepts batch memory logs and utilizes the Anthropic API (Claude Sonnet) to analyze window titles and URLs against the user's active project list. The LLM prompt must return structured JSON mapping time intervals to specific projects and tags with confidence scores. Store these as draft time entries in the database.
```

5. **Timesheet & Project Dashboard UI** — Build the main interactive web dashboard where users review drafted AI time entries, approve timesheets with one click, and manage projects.

```
Build a responsive timesheet dashboard UI using shadcn/ui components. Include a calendar/timeline view where users can inspect drafted time blocks generated by the AI engine, edit project tags, adjust durations, and approve timesheets in one click. Add a manager overview screen showing team capacity, billable utilization percentages, and project budget burn rates.
```

6. **Reporting, Locked Time, & Polish** — Add analytical reporting views, export functionality (CSV/PDF), locked time safeguards, and finalize error boundaries.

```
Build a robust reporting module with filters for date ranges, clients, and billable status. Include data visualization charts for revenue recovery and utilization rates. Implement a 'Locked Time' feature that prevents unauthorized edits to past timesheet periods after a manager approval cutoff date. Add Sentry error tracking and polish all loading and empty states.
```

### Cost vs paying

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

- Apple Developer Account (for native app signing): $99/yr
- Anthropic API starting credits: $20
- Total: ~$119 one-time

**Ongoing costs (monthly):**

- Supabase Database & Vercel Hosting: $0-25/mo
- Anthropic API usage for AutoSheet categorization: ~$10/mo
- Total: ~$10-35/mo

- Paying for the SaaS instead: $20/user/mo
- Build time: 60-90 hours
- AI tool credits: $20/mo (Claude Pro/Cursor)
- Break-even: 2-3 months for a team of 3-5 users

## Sources

- [Timely Official Website](https://timelyapp.com)
- [Timely Pricing & Plans](https://timelyapp.com/pricing)
- [TechCrunch Coverage on Memory.ai Funding](https://techcrunch.com)