Replit Pro + $100 gone building Principles OS. What am I doing wrong?
I’m building Principles OS — a private personal operating system based on Ray Dalio-style decision-making.
Core loop:
Goals → Problems → Diagnosis → Design → Actions → Outcomes → Reflection → Principles
I used Replit to build it, burned through my entire Pro plan + another $100 top-up, and I’m still far from a dependable MVP.
The cycle has been:
1- Build something
2- Find issues
3- Ask Agent to fix them
4- Something else breaks or changes
5- Spend more credits fixing that
6- Repeat
For people who have actually shipped with Replit:
1- Is this app too complex for Replit Agent?
2- Should I give it much smaller tasks?
3- Should I freeze the database/schema first?
4- Should I stop Agent from touching certain files?
5- Should I use Replit only for prototyping and move the real build elsewhere?
6- Is burning through Pro + $100 before reaching a solid MVP normal?
I’m genuinely open to the answer being:
“You’re using Replit wrong.”
I can post the PRD, schema, screenshots, and architecture for people to tear apart.