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

> Make peace with your cleaning routine

- Site: https://todyapp.com
- Category: Productivity & Lifestyle
- Platforms: iOS app, Android app
- Verdict: **Solid side project** (72/100 vibecodeable)
- Estimated effort: 2-3 weeks part-time

## Verdict

You can build a personal cross-platform mobile clone of Tody using a modern React Native stack, though configuring real-time household sync will take deliberate debugging.

Tody is a focused productivity app whose core value is a condition-based decay algorithm paired with a clean mobile interface. A solo developer can build a personal clone using Expo and a local-first database with Supabase. The main friction points will be writing the custom cleaning dueness decay formula and handling conflict resolution when two household members check off chores simultaneously.

### What you can't replicate

- The exact 1M+ user community and organic brand trust
- Years of fine-tuning on the default chore catalog presets

## What it does

Condition-based household chore management app that reduces mental load through visual cleanliness indicators and dynamic dueness calculations.

### Core features

- Grid-based visual room and item cards with color-coded cleanliness meters
- Condition-based dueness decay algorithm factoring time and frequency
- Automated cleaning task list generation
- Gamified nemesis mascot (Dusty) responding to task completion
- Built-in Pomodoro focus timer for cleaning blocks
- Real-time cross-device household sync and task rotation

## The business

### Pricing

- Free: $0 — Forever free for single users with automated plan generation and gamification.
- Premium: $9.99/yr — Unlocks multi-device cloud sync and household sharing features.

## The hard parts

- Implementing offline-first local database persistence with bidirectional real-time sync conflicts across household members
- Designing a smooth, responsive native mobile UI with custom SVG visual progress meters and fluid animations for the mascot

## How to vibe code Tody

### Prerequisites

- Node.js (free): Required to run Expo and JavaScript/TypeScript tooling.
- Expo Account (free): Required for building development builds and managing EAS deployments.
- GitHub (free): Code repository hosting and version control.

### Recommended AI tools

- Claude Code: Best-in-class agent for scaffolding the full React Native app structure and writing complex state algorithms.
- Cursor: Excellent AI editor for iterative mobile UI styling and component tweaking.

### Stack

- Frontend: Expo (React Native) with TypeScript and File-based routing
- Backend: Supabase Edge Functions / Realtime
- Database: Supabase (PostgreSQL with Row Level Security)
- Auth: better-auth
- Payments: None (Personal clone)
- Other: Zustand for client state management, Lucide React Native for UI icons

### Hosting

- Supabase (PostgreSQL database, authentication, and real-time household data synchronization): $0/mo

### Build guide

1. **Project Scaffolding & Database Schema** — Initialize a new Expo project with TypeScript and configure the Supabase relational database schema.

```
Initialize a new Expo React Native project using file-based routing with TypeScript. Set up Supabase client integration. Create the database schema in Supabase with tables for 'rooms' (id, name, icon, home_id), 'items' (id, room_id, name, frequency_days, last_cleaned_at, cleanliness_score), 'households' (id, name), and 'household_members' (user_id, household_id, role). Ensure foreign keys and proper indexes are established. Write migration scripts and test connection locally.
```

2. **Cleanliness Decay Algorithm** — Implement the core condition-based dueness calculation logic.

```
Implement the core cleanliness decay calculation utility in TypeScript. The algorithm must calculate a 0-100% cleanliness score based on the 'last_cleaned_at' timestamp and the target 'frequency_days'. Clean green should transition through yellow and orange to dirty red as time exceeds the frequency window. Write unit tests covering edge cases like overdue chores, newly cleaned items, and custom frequency overrides.
```

3. **Visual Dashboard & Room Cards** — Build the grid-based mobile UI displaying color-coded room status cards.

```
Build the main mobile dashboard screen using React Native components. Create a responsive grid layout displaying room cards with dynamic color-coded background washes corresponding to the aggregate cleanliness score calculated in Step 2. Include visual indicators, progress meters, and smooth layout animations. Ensure safe-area padding and clean typography.
```

4. **Chore Check-Off & Gamification (Dusty)** — Add task completion interactions and the Dusty mascot state reaction.

```
Implement the item detail view and check-off interaction flow. When a user taps 'Clean', update 'last_cleaned_at' to the current timestamp and recalculate the score instantly. Implement the 'Dusty' mascot component that changes facial expressions and emotional text prompts based on the overall household cleanliness percentage (happy when clean, crying or angry when dirty). Add celebratory micro-animations on check-off.
```

5. **Pomodoro Focus Timer** — Integrate a built-in focus countdown timer for cleaning sessions.

```
Build a dedicated 'Focus Timer' screen and modal featuring a customizable Pomodoro countdown timer (e.g., 15, 25, or 45-minute blocks) with play, pause, and reset controls. Allow users to select specific pending tasks from their dueness list to target during the focus session. Play a subtle audio chime when the timer completes.
```

6. **Real-Time Household Sync** — Enable multi-device household syncing using Supabase Realtime.

```
Configure Supabase Realtime subscriptions in the Expo app state layer so that when one household member marks a chore as completed, all connected devices update their room cards and dueness scores instantly without manual refreshes. Handle offline state queuing and optimistic UI updates gracefully.
```

### Cost vs paying

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

- AI Coding Assistant (Cursor / Claude Pro): $20
- Total: ~$20 one-time

**Ongoing costs (monthly):**

- Supabase Free Tier: $0/mo
- Total: $0/mo

- Paying for the SaaS instead: $9.99/yr (~$0.83/mo)
- Build time: 25-35 hours
- AI tool credits: $20
- Break-even: Never (purely for learning and personal customization)

## Sources

- [Tody App Official Website](https://todyapp.com)