How I built a hard budget-cap proxy to stop runaway AI API bills
How a backend dev built a lightweight proxy gateway and dashboard to stop runaway AI script billing loops with hard budget circuit breakers
Hey indie hackers! 👋
Like many of you, I've been experimenting with building small AI-powered scripts and tools. But a while back, I ran into a major anxiety point: writing a script, leaving a loop running by accident, and waking up to a terrifying cloud or API bill.
Most enterprise tools for managing LLM spending are bloated or meant for huge corporate teams. As an indie dev, I just wanted something simple, lightweight, and foolproof.
So, I built CloudGrip: a lightweight proxy gateway and dashboard that sits in front of your LLM API calls, tracks real-time usage, and—most importantly—has a hard budget circuit breaker that automatically cuts execution loops off before spending goes over your limit.
The Tech Stack:
Backend: Node.js, Express, and Supabase PostgreSQL.
Payments: Fully integrated live Paystack subscription flow ($20/mo model) for automated handling.
Frontend: Clean, straightforward dashboard with a live request log stream and a configurable hard budget input panel.
I just went live with real payments under MOH CODES. If you're building with LLMs and want absolute control over your API spend without the enterprise bloat, check it out here: https://cloudgrip-ai.onrender.com
Would love to hear how other solo devs handle API budget safety in their apps!
Thanks! I’ve just sent it over.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts whenever you have a chance.