Author Archives: Mike Johnson

Cal.com vs Calendly vs Acuity – which scheduling tool for freelancers??

Freelancer here, need to book client calls without the back-and-forth emails

Calendly is the classic but everyone uses it so maybe too generic?

Cal.com is open-source and looks promising!

Acuity is more for appointments/spa type businesses?

My needs: client calls, some paid consultations, calendar sync

Budget: free preferred, paid OK if worth it

Which one you guys using?? 📅

Stripe vs PayPal vs Wise – which payment solution for SaaS overseas??

Building a B2B SaaS and need to accept payments from global customers

Stripe seems like the standard butWise looks cheaper for international??

My customers: mainly US + Europe + Asia

Concerns: currency conversion fees, payout speed, API ease of use

Already got a Stripe account but wondering if Wise better for the international stuff

Any experiences to share?? 💰

ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini – which AI chatbot actually best for coding??

Okay here’s the deal – been on ChatGPT Plus but everyone’s saying Claude is better for coding now??

And Gemini recently dropped too??

I’m a dev, mainly use it for: debugging, code review, writing tests, some refactoring

Which one actually worth the subscription??

Claude’s longer context looks nice but is it really that much better?? 🤔

Vercel vs Netlify vs Railway – best deployment platform for full-stack apps?

Building a SaaS with Next.js + PostgreSQL. Need to deploy soon but overwhelmed by all the options.

Vercel seems obvious for Next.js but their database offerings seem pricey. Netlify has been around forever. Railway looks promising but not sure about scaling.

Requirements:
– Next.js frontend
– Node.js API routes
– PostgreSQL database
– Maybe Redis for caching
– Need to scale eventually

What’s the best combo in terms of DX + cost + reliability? 🤔

Re: PlanetScale vs Neon vs Supabase – serverless database for side projects

Supabase fan here! 👋

I started with Neon but switched to Supabase because:

  • Auth included – saves me so much time
  • Real-time subscriptions are built-in
  • The free tier is more generous
  • Great docs and community

Yes it’s a bit heavier but having everything in one place is worth it for a side project.

That said, if you just need a DB and nothing else, Neon is fine. To each their own! 🤔

Re: Notion vs Coda vs ClickUp – productivity apps for freelancers

Coda gang represent! 🎉

Switched from Notion to Coda last year and never looked back:

Coda is basically Notion + Airtable combined. The doc tables are insane – you can build actual apps inside your docs.

For freelancers: you can build a client portal with:

  • Project tracking
  • Invoicing
  • Time tracking
  • Client dashboard

All in ONE doc. The automation features are killer.

Notion is still great for simple stuff. But Coda is next level. 🚀