u/RecognitionQuick3119

If you’ve been building any kind of data-heavy app or SaaS prototype on Lovable, you already know the platform is incredible at spinning up the core engine. It handles your frontend and your Supabase database beautifully. But the second you try to make your app interact with the outside world—like sending a WhatsApp alert, updating a Google Sheet, or triggering a Quickbooks invoice—you hit a wall.

Right now, to connect Lovable to external services, you either have to write custom webhooks or rely on standard integrations. It’s a massive bottleneck.

Here is why a native Make.com connector would completely change the game for everyone in this sub:

1. It bridges the gap between Vibe Coding and No-Code

Lovable is perfect for building the core application state (the database and user authentication). Make.com is the absolute king of workflow automation. Instead of trying to force Lovable's AI to write complex API integration code for 50 different third-party apps—and risking prompt looping or hallucination—you could just have Lovable pass a webhook payload straight to a Make scenario. It lets the AI focus on building the app, while Make handles the messy plumbing.

2. It bypasses the "Zapier Tax"

A lot of AI tools default to Zapier because it has name recognition. But for anyone running a lean startup or building a side project, Zapier’s pricing is brutal. Make.com gives you infinitely more advanced routing, loops, and data formatting on their free and budget tiers than Zapier ever will. Giving Lovable users a native, one-click way to map data directly into Make modules would save everyone a ton of money on monthly operational costs.

3. Instant access to thousands of APIs

If the team at Lovable builds a native Make connector, they don’t have to waste time building individual integrations for Salesforce, Slack, Hubspot, or Notion. One single, robust Make connector instantly unlocks thousands of apps for Lovable builders. You could suddenly build a CRM in Lovable that seamlessly syncs with a client's existing business toolkit with zero manual code deployment.

The Verdict

Lovable is unmatched for creating the "brain" and the "face" of an app. But a native Make.com connector would give it "hands." It would turn simple MVPs into incredibly powerful, production-ready enterprise tools overnight.

Have any of you managed to set up a clean, custom webhook loop between Lovable and Make manually, or are you waiting for a cleaner, native integration to drop? Let's discuss below—hopefully the devs are lurking!

Recently purchased a QRevo Edge 2 to replace my S8+ after a mishap with some dog poop… Spent countless hours, Claude sessions and YouTube videos figuring out what unit to get and landed on the newly released Edge 2! First unit arrived defective and refused to charge or dock properly. Returned to Amazon and Roborock gave me a $40 discount and two free bags (lol); their customer service is such a negative. The new unit has been working flawlessly! What sold me on a new release with little reviews was the fact this model has 90% of the Saros 20 features in a much cheaper unit and more tried and true lidar based navigation instead of time of flight. So far, the cleaning, navigation, dock and all else has been incredibly good. Things like the ability for the robot to leave the mop pads, lower its lidar when needed and identify wet messes when vacuuming via the camera have worked great in my real world use cases. I’ve had 0 issues both in navigation with two dogs and a messy fiancée. Mopping has been incredibly effective and vacuuming while not a data driven test, does seem better with the higher alleged 25,000 pa of suction. I don’t need threshold climbing which the Saros 20 has although this does have a higher threshold climbing ability. The only feature the Saros 20 has as well as the Edge 2 Pro (not currently sold in the U.S.) is the adapt lift chasis is used to lower or raise the robot on carpet for a better suction seal, versus this having a powered, raised or lowered brush head. How well does one work over the other? Who’s to say. But that was the main feature I felt I was giving up on. All in all, given the speed these models change and the ever growing list of models. The Edge series has always has strong reviews from online reviewers and the Edge 2 was a great choice to get alot go the flagship features without flagship pricing or headaches I’ve seen of people with Saros 20! Hope this helps some sad soul in the rabbit hole of purchase fatigue.

If you read the marketing pages for any of the new AI app builders, they promise that you can build the next Airbnb or Uber without knowing what a single line of code means. But if you’ve actually tried to build a real product here, you know the "one-click MVP" is mostly a myth.

After running a ton of tests, the community is starting to figure out the actual, realistic workflow for building things in 2026. If you want to stop looping on prompts and actually ship your project, here is the stack you should be using:

Step 1: The Design Phase (v0 or Claude Design)
Do not try to build your backend and frontend at the exact same time. Start by describing your interface in a dedicated UI tool like v0 or Claude Design. It is way faster to tweak the buttons, colors, and layout when the AI doesn't have to worry about a database. Get the look 100% right first.

Step 2: The Logic Engine (Lovable or Bolt.new)
Once you have your visual design, feed those layouts into a full-stack engine like Lovable. This is where you let the platform handle the heavy lifting: spinning up a real Supabase database, setting up user authentication (logins/passwords), and deploying a live, working URL.

Step 3: The Refinement Loop (Cursor)
This is where 90% of beginners fail. Eventually, the AI builder will hit a wall or get stuck in a bug loop. When that happens, stop yelling at the prompt box. Export your code, open it up in Cursor, and use the AI code assistant to surgically fix the exact line that's broken.

The Takeaway
AI isn't replacing development; it's replacing typing. You still need to understand the logic of how your app works, even if you aren't writing the syntax yourself.

If you read the marketing pages for any of the new AI app builders, they promise that you can build the next Airbnb or Uber without knowing what a single line of code means. But if you’ve actually tried to build a real product here, you know the "one-click MVP" is mostly a myth.

After running a ton of tests, the community is starting to figure out the actual, realistic workflow for building things in 2026. If you want to stop looping on prompts and actually ship your project, here is the stack you should be using:

Step 1: The Design Phase (v0 or Claude Design)
Do not try to build your backend and frontend at the exact same time. Start by describing your interface in a dedicated UI tool like v0 or Claude Design. It is way faster to tweak the buttons, colors, and layout when the AI doesn't have to worry about a database. Get the look 100% right first.

Step 2: The Logic Engine (Lovable or Bolt.new)
Once you have your visual design, feed those layouts into a full-stack engine like Lovable. This is where you let the platform handle the heavy lifting: spinning up a real Supabase database, setting up user authentication (logins/passwords), and deploying a live, working URL.

Step 3: The Refinement Loop (Cursor)
This is where 90% of beginners fail. Eventually, the AI builder will hit a wall or get stuck in a bug loop. When that happens, stop yelling at the prompt box. Export your code, open it up in Cursor, and use the AI code assistant to surgically fix the exact line that's broken.

The Takeaway
AI isn't replacing development; it's replacing typing. You still need to understand the logic of how your app works, even if you aren't writing the syntax yourself.

If you’ve been on Twitter or tracking the vibe-coding space lately, you’ve probably seen people claiming that the combination of Anthropic’s Claude Design and Claude Code has completely made platforms like Lovable obsolete. The narrative is simple: design the frontend visually in Claude Design, then use Claude Code in your terminal to hook up the backend. Done.

But if you actually test this workflow on a real, production-ready app, you quickly realize why Lovable is still a necessary tool for most people.

Here is the honest breakdown of why the Claude tag-team doesn't replace a true app builder:

1. The "DevOps and Infrastructure" Tax

• Claude Code + Design: Claude Design gives you a gorgeous, stateless frontend prototype (HTML/CSS). Claude Code helps you write programmatic terminal logic. But you are still the systems administrator. You have to figure out where to host the database, how to provision the server, manage environment variables, and configure a live deployment pipeline.
• Lovable: It assumes you don't want to handle infrastructure. The second you prompt an app, Lovable provisions a live URL, hooks up a structured Supabase database, configures secure user authentication (including 2FA), and builds out real-time backend state management. It manages the "plumbing" automatically.

2. The Hardcore Developer vs. Everyday Creator Divide

• Claude Code + Design: This combo is an absolute weapon for the top 1% of developers. But Claude Code operates right inside your local IDE, terminal, and git repositories. If you don't know how to navigate a terminal, debug a local environment crash, or fix a broken node modules dependency, the terminal loop will get you stuck immediately.
• Lovable: It’s built from a visual, canvas-first perspective. It translates human descriptions directly into production-ready software architecture without forcing you to look at a command line. It's built for the other 99% of people who want to ship an MVP on a Sunday afternoon without installing a developer toolkit.

3. Model Hallucinations and the "Guardrail" Problem

• Claude Code + Design: When you use raw AI agents, you are dealing with a "black box." One day Claude writes perfect code; the next day a new prompt causes it to hallucinate, conflict with an existing file, or break your layout rules. You need to be technical enough to catch its mistakes.
• Lovable: Because it acts as a structured software engine, it wraps the AI inside rigid architectural guardrails. It forces the underlying model to output predictable, clean, and scalable backend patterns so your application doesn't slowly devolve into a house of cards as it grows.

The Verdict?

They aren't actually competing tools—they are different workflows entirely.

• If you are a developer who wants absolute, microscopic control over your local repo and code architecture: Use Claude Code.
• If you just want a functional, database-backed web app live on the internet in 3 hours without touching a terminal: Lovable is still the king.

If you’ve ever tried to sell a course, a digital download, or a paid community, you’ve probably noticed that the platforms are a total minefield. Some look like they were built in 2008, while others want a massive cut of your monthly revenue.

I’ve been looking at how these handle real setups—setting up a dummy course to see where the student experience breaks. Here is the honest breakdown for 2026:

The Top Picks

• Kajabi: This is the undisputed giant if you want everything under one roof. It handles your website, emails, landing pages, and the course portal smoothly. The catch? It is incredibly expensive. If you are a beginner, it is total overkill, but if you are scaling a serious business and want zero technical headaches, it’s the standard.
• Thrivecart (Learn): This is the absolute best value for anyone who hates monthly subscriptions. You pay a one-time lifetime fee for the checkout tool, and you get their "Learn" course platform included. It’s perfect for simple video courses and digital downloads where you want to keep 100% of your profits.

The "Community-First" Choices

• Skool: If your business model relies on a community forum where people interact, Skool is the current favorite. It mixes a very basic course layout with a Facebook-style feed and gamification features. It’s super fast to set up, but the course builder itself is very barebones.
• Circle: If you want a more high-end, premium community space that feels like your own private social network, Circle is the king. It’s much more beautiful than Skool and handles courses better, but it has a slightly higher learning curve.

The Middle Ground

• Teachable / Thinkific: These are the classic standalone course platforms. They are perfectly fine, but they feel a bit stagnant compared to newer community tools. Their free plans have also been heavily restricted over the years, making them harder to recommend for beginners.

The Verdict?

• Want an all-in-one corporate setup? Kajabi.
• Want to buy once and never pay a monthly fee? Thrivecart.
• Want a simple community with leaderboards? Skool.

Are you guys looking to host pre-recorded videos or are you building a live community? The best option completely flips depending on that.

If you’ve ever tried to sell a course, a digital download, or a paid community, you’ve probably noticed that the platforms are a total minefield. Some look like they were built in 2008, while others want a massive cut of your monthly revenue.

I’ve been looking at how these handle real setups—setting up a dummy course to see where the student experience breaks. Here is the honest breakdown for 2026:

The Top Picks

• Kajabi: This is the undisputed giant if you want everything under one roof. It handles your website, emails, landing pages, and the course portal smoothly. The catch? It is incredibly expensive. If you are a beginner, it is total overkill, but if you are scaling a serious business and want zero technical headaches, it’s the standard.
• Thrivecart (Learn): This is the absolute best value for anyone who hates monthly subscriptions. You pay a one-time lifetime fee for the checkout tool, and you get their "Learn" course platform included. It’s perfect for simple video courses and digital downloads where you want to keep 100% of your profits.

The "Community-First" Choices

• Skool: If your business model relies on a community forum where people interact, Skool is the current favorite. It mixes a very basic course layout with a Facebook-style feed and gamification features. It’s super fast to set up, but the course builder itself is very barebones.
• Circle: If you want a more high-end, premium community space that feels like your own private social network, Circle is the king. It’s much more beautiful than Skool and handles courses better, but it has a slightly higher learning curve.

The Middle Ground

• Teachable / Thinkific: These are the classic standalone course platforms. They are perfectly fine, but they feel a bit stagnant compared to newer community tools. Their free plans have also been heavily restricted over the years, making them harder to recommend for beginners.

The Verdict?

• Want an all-in-one corporate setup? Kajabi.
• Want to buy once and never pay a monthly fee? Thrivecart.
• Want a simple community with leaderboards? Skool.

Are you guys looking to host pre-recorded videos or are you building a live community? The best option completely flips depending on that.

When you sign up for a builder like Hostinger or Squarespace, they hook you with the promo price (like $3 to $12 a month). But after building identical test sites over and over, you start to see where the actual bills add up.

If you are planning your budget, watch out for these traps:

1. The Year 2 Domain Renewal Jump: Most builders give you a "Free Domain for 1 Year." In Year 2, they will charge you $20 to $30 to renew it. The Fix: Buy your domain at Namecheap or Porkbun for $10/year and just connect it to your builder.
2. Custom Email Addresses: Having info@yourdomain.com looks professional, but platforms will try to charge you $6 to $7 per month per inbox through Google Workspace integrations. The Fix: Look into free email forwarding tools or cheaper alternatives like Zoho Mail if you just need a basic setup.
3. The "App Store" Tax: This is especially true on Shopify. You think you’re paying $39/month, but then you need a product review app ($10), a currency converter ($15), and an upsell pop-up ($20). Suddenly your store costs $100/month before you make a single sale.

Before you launch, map out what features you actually need to pay for on Day 1 versus what can wait until you have consistent traffic.

What is the most annoying "upsell" pop-up you’ve hit so far while building your site?

Every site builder tries to lock their advanced form features behind a $20/month paywall. If you need a contact form, a survey, or a lead capture system that doesn't look like a 90s spreadsheet, here is the honest breakdown based on real-world workflow tests:

The Top Pick

• Tally: This is currently the undisputed winner. It works exactly like Notion—you just type / to build a form. Their free tier is insanely generous and doesn't limit your responses. It looks incredibly modern and integrates with almost any backend tool you use.

The "High-End Design" Option

• Typeform: Everyone loves the "one question at a time" experience, and it definitely converts well. The catch? It is ridiculously expensive once you pass their tiny free limit. Only use this if you are handling high-ticket clients where the design flex pays for itself.

The Specialty & Custom Picks

• Jotform: This is the tank of the form world. It’s not the prettiest out of the box, but if you need to collect electronic signatures, take payments, or build conditional logic that routes responses to different team members, Jotform can handle it.
• Built-in Builders (Squarespace/Wix): Honestly, if you just need a standard "Name, Email, Message" block, don't overcomplicate it. The native blocks on Squarespace are smooth and push directly to Google Sheets for free. Don't pay for an external tool until you actually outgrow the built-in option.

The Verdict?

• Need a clean, powerful, free option? Tally.
• Need a visual masterpiece for a big brand? Typeform.
• Need complex logic and e-signatures? Jotform.

Let’s get the ball rolling. Most of us are here because we have a project we’re either procrastinating on or currently fighting with.

Drop a comment below and let us know:

1. What are you building? (e-commerce store, personal blog, "vibe coding" app?)
2. Which tool are you using? (Squarespace, Framer, Hostinger, Lovable, etc.)
3. What’s your biggest gripe so far?

Even if your site isn't finished, feel free to link a screenshot or a staging URL if you want some honest feedback on the "vibe" or the layout.

I'll start—I'm currently messing around with a few landing page builders to see if any of the new AI tools can actually beat a manual build on Carrd.

What's on your screen today?

The Top Pick

• SEOSpace: If you are on Squarespace, this is the undisputed king. It’s basically like having a professional SEO consultant sitting next to you. It scans your site and gives you a literal checklist of what to fix. It’s built specifically for the platform, so it doesn't give you generic advice that doesn't apply.

The "Do It For You" Tier

• Surfer SEO: If your goal is to rank a blog, this is the tool. You give it a keyword, and it tells you exactly what to write to beat the people currently on page one. It’s a bit pricier, but it takes the guesswork out of "vibe-based" writing.

The Best Free / Budget Options

• Google Search Console: This is 100% free and most people ignore it. It tells you exactly what keywords people are typing to find you. Before you pay for a tool, make sure this is actually set up.
• Ubersuggest: This is the best "middle ground" for people who find Ahrefs or Semrush too intimidating. The free version is decent for quick keyword research, and the paid plan is way more affordable for a small business owner.

The "Overkill" Tier

• Ahrefs / Semrush: These are amazing tools, but for 90% of people in this sub, they are a waste of money. They are built for agencies and full-time SEO pros. If you aren't managing 10+ sites, you’re paying for a rocket ship just to go to the grocery store.

The Verdict?

• Building on Squarespace? SEOSpace.
• Scaling a blog? Surfer SEO.
• Just starting out? Stick to Search Console for now.

If you're a photographer, designer, or just need a personal site to not look like a disaster, you’ve probably realized that most "portfolio" templates are either too basic or way too hard to customize. I’ve been looking at these based on how they handle a real project—building a high-end portfolio from scratch.

Here’s the breakdown of what's actually worth using:

The Top Pick

• Squarespace: This is still the winner for portfolios. Their templates are actually designed by people with taste, and the Fluid Engine editor lets you move stuff around without breaking the whole page. If you want a site that looks like you spent $5k on a designer, just go here.

The "High-End" Power Picks

• Framer: This is the current "flex" choice. If you want those buttery smooth animations and a site that feels like a tech startup, Framer is incredible. The learning curve is higher than Squarespace, but the results are 10x more impressive if you have the patience to learn it.
• Adobe Portfolio: If you already pay for Creative Cloud, this is technically "free." It’s not as flexible as the others, but it syncs directly with your Behance. It’s the smartest move if you just want to get your work online and stop thinking about it.

The Budget Pick

• Hostinger: If you just need a clean, simple site to show your work and you're on a shoestring budget, Hostinger is the pick. The AI builder can actually generate a decent portfolio skeleton in about 2 minutes, and it’s significantly cheaper than the big names.

The Middle Ground

• Wix (Studio): Their new "Studio" version is actually a massive improvement for pros, but for a simple portfolio, it might still feel like overkill. It’s powerful, but it’s still very easy to get lost in the settings and end up with a cluttered site.

The Skip Tier

• WordPress: Unless you’re a developer who wants to tinker with code for hours, don't use this for a portfolio. You’ll spend more time updating plugins and fixing "critical errors" than actually showing off your work.

The Verdict?

• Want it to look professional with zero effort? Squarespace.
• Want insane animations and total control? Framer.
• Want the cheapest thing that works? Hostinger.

If you’ve ever searched for the "best website builder" and ended up on a page that was clearly just a list of paid affiliate ads, you know why this sub exists.

We’re a new community inspired by the "Steve Builds Websites" approach to testing. We don't care about marketing hype or 60-second Twitter demos. We care about real-world tests: building the same site 20 times to see where the friction is, testing which "AI builders" actually work, and finding which tools actually convert.

What we discuss:

• Website Builders: The honest truth about Squarespace vs. Wix vs. Hostinger.
• E-commerce: Why Shopify is king (and when it’s total overkill).
• "Vibe Coding": Real talk on tools like Lovable, Bolt, and v0.
• Email Marketing: Rankings of MailerLite, Klaviyo, beehiiv, and more.

If you're tired of "top 10" lists written by bots and want to talk shop with people actually building stuff, come join the first wave: r/SteveBuildsWebsites

**Are you currently fighting with a specific builder or trying to find a better alternative?**Drop in and let us know!

Hey everyone! I'm u/RecognitionQuick3119, a founding moderator of r/SteveBuildsWebsites.

This is our new home for all things related to **honest, no-fluff website building and digital marketing tools.**We're excited to have you join us!

What to Post
Post anything that you think the community would find interesting, helpful, or inspiring. Feel free to share your thoughts, photos, or questions about your own site builds, questions on his latest rankings, or your own "vibe coding" experiments.

Community Vibe
We're all about being friendly, constructive, and inclusive. Let's build a space where everyone feels comfortable sharing and connecting.

How to Get Started

1. Introduce yourself in the comments below.
2. Post something today! Even a simple question can spark a great conversation.
3. If you know someone who would love this community, invite them to join.
4. Interested in helping out? We're always looking for new moderators, so feel free to reach out to me to apply.

Thanks for being part of the very first wave. Together, let's make r/SteveBuildsWebsites amazing.

Do you want me to draft a few pinned FAQ posts or some rules for the sidebar to keep the "no-fluff" vibe alive?