Notes from the founder
Opinionated essays on AI code generation, the Swiss Cheese Method, and the economics of shipping SaaS in 2026. Written by Steve Ackley, founder of StackAlchemist.
Why we charge once, not monthly: the economics of AI-generated SaaS
Every AI-codegen tool in the market is a monthly subscription. We are not. Here is the math on why a one-time price for generated code is the honest model and what it means for your margins.
From prompt to production: generating a .NET 10 + Next.js 15 SaaS in 12 minutes
A timed walkthrough of a real StackAlchemist generation run. Prompt in at t=0, zip of compiled code in your hands at t=12 minutes. Here is what actually happens in between.
v0, Bolt.new, Lovable, Cursor — what AI code generators still cannot do in 2026
An honest comparison of the AI-codegen landscape in 2026 and where each tool stops. v0 and Bolt are great inside their lane, but nobody ships a verified, owned, production SaaS from a single prompt except us.
The Swiss Cheese Method: deterministic templates plus LLM logic
Full LLM generation hallucinates. Pure templates are rigid. The Swiss Cheese Method fuses deterministic scaffolding with targeted LLM logic so the output actually compiles.
The Compile Guarantee: why AI codegen must verify, not just generate
Most AI code generators hand you broken code and call it shipped. Here is why a compile guarantee is the minimum bar for real SaaS builders, and how we enforce it.