claude code for solopreneurs

by Ray Svitla

being a solopreneur means every task is your task. frontend, backend, database, deployment, landing page copy, customer support emails, pricing page, legal compliance, and that bug a user reported at 11pm.

AI coding tools don’t make you less alone. they make alone more capable. here’s how to use claude code without burning through your runway.

the solopreneur context

you don’t have a team to delegate to. you can’t afford to spend three days debugging a deployment issue. you need to ship features fast, but you also need them to work because there’s nobody to cover for you when something breaks.

claude code fits this context because it’s an agent, not an autocomplete. you describe what you need, and it handles the execution. for a solopreneur, the difference between “suggest code” and “build the thing” is the difference between useful and essential.

the cost reality

let’s be honest about money. you’re a solopreneur, which probably means you’re watching every dollar.

pro plan ($20/month): gives you claude code access with rate limits. you’ll hit limits during heavy coding sessions. good for: daily development where you pace yourself.

max plan ($100/month): 5x the usage of pro. good for: intensive shipping sprints, launching features, heavy refactoring. the price hurts until you calculate how many freelancer hours $100 replaces.

API direct: pay per token, no monthly commitment. good for: sporadic use, running claude code in CI/CD, or when you need to control costs precisely.

the honest math: if claude code saves you 2 hours per day, and your time is worth $50/hour (conservatively), the max plan pays for itself in one day. but that only works if you’re actually shipping, not tinkering.

workflows that matter

the MVP sprint

"I'm building a SaaS for tracking freelance invoices. 
here's the tech stack: Next.js, Prisma, PostgreSQL, Stripe.
set up the project with: 
- auth (magic link, no passwords)
- dashboard with invoice list
- invoice creation form
- Stripe integration for payments
start with the database schema."

then iterate. session by session, feature by feature. a solopreneur with claude code can go from idea to working MVP in a weekend. not a polished product — an MVP. the kind of thing you can show to ten potential customers and ask “would you pay for this?”

the 2am bug fix

production is broken. a user emailed you. you’re exhausted.

"the /api/invoices endpoint returns 500 for user ID 47. 
here's the error from the logs: [paste error]. 
find the bug, fix it, and add a test so it doesn't happen again."

the agent reads the route handler, traces the error, finds the null check you forgot, fixes it, writes a test. you review, merge, deploy, go to bed.

the landing page

"write the copy for a landing page. the product is [description]. 
target audience: freelancers who hate invoicing. 
tone: direct, slightly irreverent, not corporate.
create it as src/app/page.tsx using our existing layout.
include: hero section, 3 features, pricing, CTA."

is it perfect copy? no. is it 80% there and you can tweak the remaining 20% in ten minutes? yes.

the boring infrastructure

"set up github actions for: 
- run tests on PR
- deploy to vercel on merge to main
- run database migrations before deploy
create .github/workflows/ci.yml"

CI/CD, deployment configs, monitoring setup — the stuff that isn’t your product but your product can’t work without. let the agent handle the plumbing so you can build the thing people pay for.

cost management for the budget-conscious

session discipline

start a new session for each distinct task. don’t let one session run all day accumulating context. fresh sessions = lower token costs per interaction.

plan before building

use plan mode for anything non-trivial. “plan: what’s the best way to add search to the invoice list?” costs a fraction of “add search to the invoice list” when the first implementation approach is wrong and needs to be redone.

avoid the rabbit hole

“explore the codebase and suggest improvements” is a token furnace. be specific. “look at the auth middleware and tell me if there are security issues” costs 10% as much and produces more useful output.

use sonnet, not opus

for most coding tasks, sonnet is fast, cheap, and good enough. save opus (if you have max plan access) for architecture decisions and complex debugging. the quality difference on routine code is marginal; the cost difference is not.

batch related tasks

instead of five separate sessions for five small changes, batch them:

"make these changes:
1. add createdAt to invoice model
2. sort invoices by date descending on dashboard  
3. add pagination (20 per page)
4. show total revenue at top of dashboard
5. add loading skeleton while data fetches"

one session, one context load, five changes.

what changes when you have an agent

the biggest shift isn’t speed. it’s what you’re willing to attempt.

before claude code, adding Stripe integration felt like a two-day task, so you’d postpone it. now it’s a two-hour task, so you do it today. adding email notifications felt like you’d need to learn a new service, so you’d skip it. now the agent figures out the integration while you write the email templates.

the scope of “things a solo person can build” expands. not infinitely — you’re still one person, and AI doesn’t do customer development or make product decisions. but the technical ceiling moves dramatically upward.

the danger: building more isn’t always better. ship the smallest thing that validates the idea. the agent makes it easy to over-build. resist that.

→ claude code pricing guide — understand what you’re paying → reduce claude code costs — practical cost optimization → plan mode mastery — plan before building

Ray Svitla stay evolving