How I created my micro SaaS product in just 10 days?

Spoiler alert! If you are thinking this is yet another article about no-code platforms like a bubble and Retool then let me tell you it's not

No-code platforms are great tools for non-tech entrepreneurs. I am a developer with more than nine years of experience. I don't enjoy some drag-and-drop systems.

I believe you would also kind of hate no-code platforms.

Well, I would have not completed my micro SaaS product in 80 hours if I hadn't had my home grow low-code platform - PrestoFox

This article is not only about the PrestoFox platform. It is also about how a developer can make his life easy. How to code and release faster.

With that out there, let me introduce you to the PrestoFox platform and its capabilities. These capabilities are what helped me to turn an idea into a Micro SaaS product.

The Technology Behind PrestoFox

I am working on open-source technology for many years now.

While at the start of my career I did work on Microsoft technology (it was the days when Microsoft wasn't an open-source lover like today). But after I changed the boat, I didn't return back.

PrestoFox is a complete end-to-end platform. When I say end-to-end it covers back-end as well as front-end. It completely uses components that fall under the MIT license. I have picked the MIT license because it makes it easy to patent any end product created using PrestoFox.

Here is a quick snapshot of the technology used in PrestoFox. But you discover more as you read along.

• Backend - Symfony ( PHP )
• Frontend - Quasar ( Vue Js )
• Storage - MySQL , Redis

Yes, PrestoFox is a PHP-based project at the back end. It uses a very stable and proven framework called Symfony. I am sorry if you were expecting Node Js / Express Js here.

And at the front end, I use the quasar framework. It's built on top of Vue Js. Again I am sorry if you were expecting React / Angular here.

I promise, there is a reason and advantage with the above selection.

React and Angular are being fueled by big companies like Facebook and Google respectively. But none of their business is directly dependent on these technologies. There is always a fear of these technologies landing in Google's / Facebook's graveyard.

Vue JS is different. Their core offering and their business are built on the Vue JS frontend framework. So they have a more vested interest to improve and keep the project going.

The same ideology goes with Symfony

Up next, let me answer the question, why Quasar? Well, that's because Quasar allows you to build for multiple platforms using a single code base. Here is want you can build with it.

• SPAs (Single Page App)
• SSR (Server-side Rendered App) (+ optional PWA client takeover)
• PWAs (Progressive Web App)
• BEX (Browser Extension)
• Mobile Apps (Android, iOS, …) through Cordova or Capacitor
• Multi-platform Desktop Apps (using Electron)

GraphQL First API At Core

Yes. PrestoFox allows you to build GraphQL API. It's a new technology with a lot of advantages. Discussing GraphQL API advantages is out of the scope of this article. You know where to find out more about it!

In simple words, REST is slowly resting in peace and GraphQL is the future.

PrestoFox - Not A Boilerplate Project

With all those advantages mentioned above, that get encapsulated in the PrestoFox. Let me assure you, PrestoFox is NOT a boilerplate project.

It's a complete low-code platform that helps to build any kind of application. However, mainly optimized to build SaaS Products with multi-tenant architecture. That's a secret sauce of "how I built my micro SaaS product Geo Deals in just 80 hours"

That's it. That's the end of this article. Thanks for reading so far.

O! Are you interested to know what capabilities in PrestoFox helped me to build and release in just 80 hours? Then please read further.

What's Inside PrestoFox?

Well, you know PrestoFox is full of codes written in PHP, HTML, CSS, and JS. That's a no-brainer.

Here are its capabilities that you love

• Multiple organizations and workspace structures like Slack
• Simple, yet good-looking admin UI like Stripe
• Built-in Stripe integration for billing
• Simple SaaS Management built-in
• Code generator that can build backend and frontend in just 3 minutes

Of course, It has the rest of the features like authentication, authorization, API calls limiting, and GraphQL abuse protection for better security.

Along with that, it has the following feature

• Background jobs, Job scheduling, Job logging
• Queuing for scalability
• Data auditing, Data revision, and reverting system
• File management and S3 bucket integration
• Database migration, Data Fixtures, Data backup
• Data Validation, Filtering, Paginations, Sorting, Bulk action
• Error Logging, Job logging
• MVC architecture for the backend, modular architecture for frontend
• Notification system - Email, Chat, SMS, Push
• Responsive, Branded system emails
• Billing system - payment methods, invoices, free trial, payments, etc
• Configuration Management

I would stop here with the list. If you are more interested in more in-depth technical capabilities then, please refer to this link.

By the way, let me tell you yet another thing. I have already built 4+ projects using PrestoFox. So it's well tested. Another product that's built on PrestoFox has an MRR of 4X Developer Salary

PrestoFox and Project Execution Speed

I started building my product Geo Deals after a good amount of research. It's a discount coupon distribution engine based on the purchase power parity of the visitor's country.

While most components of the required architecture to build this SaaS product were already a part of PrestoFox, I started directly with the core logic to convert the idea of Geo Deals into the product. This helped me to complete the MVP faster; I would even go ahead and say the current state of Geo Deals is 90% near its finished product.

Also, the PrestoFox code generator helped me to create a few of the basic CRUD operations. It helped me to build from Model to DB Table to GraphQL API to UI in just 5 minutes. Otherwise, I would have taken 3-4 days just to complete it.

Now the complete secret is out on the internet.

Making Developer Life Easy

As promised at the start of this article, here I will touch upon this topic as well.

Most developer work on different frameworks for every project they do. This happens because either they suffer from the shiny-object syndrome or they are forced to do so in the organization they work for.

This will lead to 2 things

• Increased discovery time - trial and error
• Increased mind pressure

I would suggest all developers to stick one framework and build their CRUD generators around it if required. See 90% of most of the applications have ADD, UPDATE, CREATE, and LIST. So why not automate it?

Also, work on similar projects. So that you can reuse the code from the previous project in the next project. Please don't start over for every project you do.

Is PrestoFox Open Source Project ?

I know this is a question that is running through your mind from almost the beginning of this article. Let me answer it.

NO. PrestoFox is not an Open source project. Of course, it's built on top of well-known open-source technologies. But PrestoFox is not open source by itself.

Now you say, what's the use Sachin? If it's not open source; how can I take advantage of it? There is a way out.

Before that, I believe this article will inspire you to build your own low-code platform.

Now, I am offering MVP As A Service. I'll make the MVP in 15-20 days for $10,000. As this MVP will be developed in PrestoFox, you have got solid code base that can be used later to build the finished product. So I assure you that the money invested doesn't go down the drain. If interested, please write back to me at [email protected].