Why I built my own AI Workspace (AuraGenX) instead of paying $20/mo
I love the "Canvas" side-by-side editing experience in modern AI tools, but I didn't love the $20/month subscription wall or the UI constraints of standard chat boxes. So, I decided to build my own.
Eight versions later, AuraGenX is finally live on Vercel.
The Journey: From v1 to v8
This project wasn't an overnight success. I've spent the last few weeks iterating through some serious technical hurdles:
v1 - v4: Simple API wrappers. Functional, but boring.
v5 (The "Sidebar Disaster"): This was my biggest wall. Managing state in sidebar.tsx while streaming AI content into a separate "Canvas" view caused endless re-render loops.
v8 (Current): A fully optimized dashboard. It’s fast, the sidebar state is finally stable, and the side-by-side workflow feels exactly how I wanted it to.
The Tech Stack
I wanted this to be as modern and scalable as possible:
Framework: Next.js 15 (App Router)
Styling: Tailwind CSS
Infrastructure: Vercel (for edge-optimized performance)
AI Logic: Vercel AI SDK for that real-time "streaming" text feel.
Why use AuraGenX?
I built this for developers who want a professional workspace—not just a chat window. It’s dedicated to project-based AI work where you can see your code and your conversation at the same time.
I need your feedback!
I currently have about 25 users and I'm looking to hit 100. I would love for some fellow developers to hop in and roast my UI/UX. Check it out here: [auragenx.vercel.app]