Ch #3 - MVP to Payment Gateway: A Web App Finally Goes Live

Every journey has its turning points, and this phase of building my first webapp SaveScout was one of them. From buying my first domain to deploying the app and testing updates, this chapter was packed with firsts—some frustrating, others downright rewarding.

Here’s how it all came together.

Lets continue from where we left off last time,

The MVP: Turning an Idea into Something Real The first step was deciding what SaveScout’s MVP (Minimum Viable Product) would look like.

I wanted it to offer real value from the get-go while staying simple enough to build and deploy quickly.

The MVP included three features:

1. Subscription Analysis: Upload a bank statement to identify all active subscriptions.
2. Subscription Evaluation: Subscription evaluation matrix to reassess unnecessary subscriptions.
3. Recurring Payment Analysis: A visual overview of where recurring charges are adding up.

Why these features? Because I know how much of a difference it makes to actually see where your money is going. “What gets measured gets improved,” right?

The Domain: Making It Official Here’s where things started to feel real—I bought my first custom domain, www.savescout.app [you can click on it and see what i built], for $28. It might have been a bit pricey, but having a professional-looking URL adds credibility and polish to the app.

It was a small step, but it felt huge. SaveScout was no longer just an idea in my head; it was becoming a tangible product.

Deployment: My Love-Hate Relationship with Code Deployment has always been my nemesis. If you’ve been following my journey, you know it’s where I’ve struggled the most.

I started with Bolt and subscribed to their $20/month plan. The promise of a beginner-friendly platform sounded perfect—until it wasn’t.

One small tweak to the code would break everything, and after burning a whole day trying to make it work, I threw in the towel.

Next, I turned to Cline AI and my go-to, Render’s free tier.

This combination finally worked. But using 3.5 Sonnet API is EXPENSIVE, i used 88$ in API cost in last 12 days. (I need to learn how to prompt more efficiently to save on this side)

After pushing the code to GitHub, I deployed the app—and this time, it went LIVE.

Seeing SaveScout.app up and running on the internet was surreal. For someone with no coding background, this felt like summiting Everest.

Testing Updates: Cracking the Code Deployment Workflow One thing I worried about: How do you handle updates to a live app without breaking everything?

So, I ran an experiment. I added an FAQ section to the app on my local machine, pushed the updated code to GitHub, and waited to see what would happen.

And guess what?

Render automatically started an updated deployment. Within minutes, the changes were live.

That moment felt like magic—I had learned how to deploy updates seamlessly.

Lessons Learned

1. Domains Matter: A custom domain doesn’t just look professional—it makes your project feel real.
2. Deployment Is a Journey: From failed attempts with Bolt to a successful deployment on Render, every misstep taught me something new.
3. Visibility Drives Change: Testing the app on my own statement was a wake-up call. Those recurring payments add up fast!

What’s Next? With SaveScout.app live, my next step is to tackle the payment gateway process.

Once that’s done, I’ll integrate advanced features like behavioral analysis and categorization leakage analysis and link the payment system, and gear up to market the app.

For now, I’d love for you to visit www.savescout.app, try it out, and share your feedback using the built-in suggestion button.

This journey has been as much about personal growth as app development.

Every challenge has made me a little better—and I’m just getting started.

Stay tuned for the next update, where I’ll dive into the payment gateway adventure and share the next leg of this journey.

#NoCode #WebAppJourney #LearningInPublic #BuildInPublic