A Design Studio's Ops Lead Built Its Own Agency Hub on Lovable for $788.85 in Credits
Social Design House's ops lead, not a developer, built Swirl, an agency hub with projects, time tracking, a client portal and proposals, using $788.85 of Lovable credits and 65+ hours of her time. It replaced their proposal tool and is still in beta.
Who this is about: Design and development studio (Social Design House, Charlotte, NC; eight people)
What it takes
- Cost
- Free planLovable: Free to start with a small daily grant of build credits. Paid plans add a monthly credit balance shared by the whole workspace, priced by credits rather than seats; hosting small apps usually fits in the included grant.The studio spent 2,629.5 Lovable credits at $0.30 each ($788.85), plus 65+ hours of staff time and ongoing maintenance.Price checked Oct 16, 2026 on lovable.dev. Prices change; check before you buy.
- Setup time
- A few weeksOur estimate from the source, for one business.
- Skill needed
- Some tech skillsComfortable installing an app, pasting an API key or running a command.
Explain it simply
A small design studio's operations lead used an AI app builder to make the studio's own project-management system instead of paying for features it never used. The founder set up the foundation, a developer stepped in when things broke, and she built the rest by describing what she wanted. The team talks to it through Claude.
What was done
Her first ask was small: a developer built an importer that turned a project spreadsheet, which Claude had made from a proposal, into tasks and deadlines in Teamwork.
The founder started a Lovable project, set up the framework and handed it to her. She rebuilt the importer, then a full agency hub on React and Supabase.
Swirl covers projects and tasks, time tracking, a client portal, proposals with AI drafting and e-signature, a CRM (still being built out), EOS tools, meeting summaries turned into tasks for approval, and Google Workspace and Slack connections.
Instead of building a chat feature, they connected Claude.ai to the database and project tools, so she can create tasks or ask what's overdue in plain English.
How it went
Swirl replaced the studio's proposal tool, added a client portal, and turns a 45-minute call into an organized project update before she finishes her coffee, she says. The credits came to $788.85, but she counts 65+ hours of her own time, debugging and future maintenance as the real cost.
- Promotional: it's the studio's own blog, it ends by inviting readers to reach out, and the studio sells design and development work.
- It's a beta still being built; she mentions features regressing and prompts that produced nonsense.
- She had a founder who set up the architecture and a developer on call, which she notes not everyone has.
- Her advice: if an existing tool does the job at a fair price, keep it. They kept tools they couldn't justify replacing.
Prompt
I want to replace how we track [projects / proposals / time] with a small internal app.
Here's how we work today: [describe the steps, who does them and the tools involved].
Here's what our current tool gets wrong or charges extra for: [list].
Build a first version with [the one screen we need most]. Use our real field names: [list]. Keep a running admin handbook that records every decision, field name and layout choice.Setup notes
- Start with one small, painful job (theirs was a spreadsheet-to-tasks importer) before attempting a whole platform.
- Have someone who understands the architecture set up the foundation, and a developer you can call when something breaks.
- Keep an admin handbook of every decision and field name, and decide who owns maintenance before the team depends on it.
Business fit
Who this helps, and how:
Related
- Evidence grade DA 112-Member Gym Swapped a $3,600 SaaS for Its Own App With an AI CoachLight evidence, using Claude Code, Claude and Expo
- Evidence grade DSaaStr Replaced a $4,000-a-Year Email Marketing Tool With an App Built on ReplitLight evidence, using Replit
- Evidence grade DA Food Truck Owner Built His Own Catering Orders in 2 Days to Avoid a 20% Marketplace FeeLight evidence, using ChatGPT
- Evidence grade BA Dev Consultancy's Agent Cut Weekly Admin From About 9 Hours to 20 MinutesStrong evidence, using OpenClaw, Claude and Telegram
- Evidence grade BA Facilitator Cut Two-Day Workshop Prep From 10–13 Hours to Under 4 With Claude and GranolaStrong evidence, using Claude, Granola and Wispr Flow
- Evidence grade BA Small Agency Cut Monthly Client Reports From 45 Minutes to 10 With ClaudeStrong evidence, using Claude, ChatGPT and Canva
- AI use cases for business operationsDepartment hub: AI for operations, 57 examples
Similar tools
Other tools for this job, and how they differ. Chosen by our editors, never paid for.
- Claude Code
Anthropic's coding agent; more control over the code but you work in a terminal rather than a visual builder.
See it in use: A 112-Member Gym Swapped a $3,600 SaaS for Its Own App With an AI Coach
- Cursor
An AI code editor for people comfortable reading code; suits teams with a developer who will own the app.
- Replit
Browser-based builder with an AI agent and hosting; another way to build an internal app without local setup.
See it in use: SaaStr Replaced a $4,000-a-Year Email Marketing Tool With an App Built on Replit
“Strong evidence” (grade B) means: The person who did the work describes the setup and results in detail. How we grade. Spotted a mistake? Suggest a correction.