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Build guides

Build Guides: Ship Something Real, Step by Step, for Free

By Younus FardeenUpdated 4 Nov 20263 min read
Short answer

Each guide walks you from nothing installed to something online, using only free plans. You get the exact steps, the commands to run, what usually breaks and how to fix it. Pick the one closest to the project you want to show.

Vibe coding guides

About 3 to 5 hours

First app with an AI app builder

Spec, prompt, review and ship an app with Lovable, Bolt or AI Studio.

Step by step →10 steps
About 4 to 6 hours

Ship a vibe-coded app

Move an AI prototype to your own repo, database, domain and alerts.

Step by step →11 steps
About 5 to 8 hours

Build an app with an AI coding agent

Spec, plan and small commits with a free coding agent in VS Code.

Step by step →11 steps
About 30 to 45 minutes

Write an AGENTS.md file

A template and tests for the rules file many coding agents read.

Step by step →9 steps
About 1 to 2 hours

Connect MCP servers safely

Context7, Playwright and read-only Supabase MCP with safe settings.

Step by step →10 steps
About 45 to 60 minutes (plus model download time)

Run a free local coding assistant

Ollama and Cline on your laptop: no key, no limits, no internet.

Step by step →10 steps
About 4 to 6 hours

Vibe code a mobile app

Expo, an AI agent and your own phone: build, test and know store costs.

Step by step →10 steps
About 2 to 3 hours

Secure a vibe-coded app

A 12-step security pass for AI-built apps, with real tests.

Step by step →12 steps
About 1 to 2 hours

Fix bugs in AI-generated code

A calm routine for AI debugging loops: checkpoint, test, reset.

Step by step →9 steps

More build guides

About 3 hours

First web app with Cloudflare and Supabase

A React app with sign-in and a database, live on Cloudflare Pages.

Step by step →11 steps
4 to 6 hours

Portfolio website in a day

A fast one-page portfolio on free hosting, with a Lighthouse score.

Step by step →10 steps
About 2 hours

Deploy a Python API free

A FastAPI service with docs and tests, hosted on Render's free tier.

Step by step →10 steps
4 to 6 hours

RAG chatbot with Gemini and Streamlit

A document Q&A chatbot with the free Gemini API and a test set.

Step by step →10 steps
About 2 hours

Live dashboard from a Google Sheet

A shareable dashboard that refreshes from a Google Sheet.

Step by step →10 steps
About 2 hours

Set up GA4 and Search Console

Measurement for any site: GA4, Tag Manager and Search Console.

Step by step →10 steps
About 2 hours

Telegram bot on Cloudflare Workers

A Telegram bot that runs on Cloudflare Workers' free plan.

Step by step →10 steps
5 to 8 hours

Mobile app with Flutter and Supabase

A synced Android app with sign-in and a shareable APK.

Step by step →10 steps
About 2 hours

Host an ML demo for free

A public demo of your model, hosted free on Streamlit.

Step by step →10 steps

How to use these guides

  1. Follow the steps exactly once, even the boring ones; most learning is in the setup.
  2. Then change one thing from the "Make it yours" list so the project is yours.
  3. Put the live link, the repository and a short demo in your README and resume.

Continue learning

Source code

Free projects with source code

28 maintained repositories to clone, run and change.

Browse the repositories →30 repos
Project guide ยท Software

Software projects

Full-stack apps with auth, tests, real-time features and CI.

Open guide →23 ideas
Free tools

Free cloud credits and hosting

Credits and always-free tiers to host real projects.

See the list →12 tools