[verdict][generated prompt][source: wheniwork.com]
Can I vibecode When I Work?
// buildable in a weekend, but real gaps stay open
The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For When I Work, build a small shift schedule, availability form, and swap approval workflow. The hard boundary is mobile apps, time clock, notifications, scheduling edge cases, and support, plus compliance, payroll, and regulated integrations.
confidence: medium
what it is: Build a small shift schedule, availability form, and swap approval workflow
Buildability index · an editorial game
- Price 2.5 $/month · per seat weight: zero
- Time closest consolation build: multi-day weight: minus 1
- Category hr no weight
- Moat compliance and regulation · integrations · execution quality weight: minus 4
- Confidence medium weight: zero
- What you lose 5 items weight: minus 2
- Site wheniwork.com (si apre in una nuova scheda) no weight
It is not close. The prompt below rebuilds a piece, not the product.
Gioco editoriale: il verdetto dice se un agente può, l’indice se conviene.
What you build
Build a small shift schedule, availability form, and swap approval workflow, maintain approvals and records, and export data without calculating payroll or making employment decisions.
what you need
- PostgreSQL
- private self-hosted deployment
- strict admin access
- documented retention policy
Editorial comparison targets the Essentials plan and a internal records tracker without payroll DIY substitute. Recheck price before merge.
The prompt
A weekend with a coding agent. The gaps that stay are right below, under “what you lose”.
Build a personal replacement for When I Work in an empty repository.
Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Docker Compose; do not offer alternative stacks.
The core loop is: build a small shift schedule, availability form, and swap approval workflow, maintain approvals and records, and export data without calculating payroll or making employment decisions.
Make the first run work locally with one documented command.
Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward.
Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials.
Implement employees, teams, roles, documents, leave requests, equipment, onboarding tasks, and acknowledgements.
Use least-privilege roles and log every read or change to sensitive records.
Add approval workflows, expiry reminders, export, retention, deletion holds, and encrypted backups.
Keep compensation fields optional and never calculate payroll, taxes, benefits, or statutory filings.
Provide a data dictionary and explain which fields should not be stored without legal review.
Ship Docker Compose, health checks, disaster recovery, and an emergency-access procedure.
Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states.
Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs.
Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path.
Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps.
Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane.
Deliberately leave out payroll calculation or money movement.
Deliberately leave out automated hiring decisions or applicant scoring.
Deliberately leave out tax, benefits, immigration, identity, and global-employment compliance.
Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. Prompt generated from the data on this page, not reviewed by hand yet. In English on purpose — it is the language coding agents work best in.
What you lose
- mobile apps, time clock, notifications, scheduling edge cases, and support
- payroll rails
- tax and labor-law compliance
- benefits integrations
- identity checks and global employment infrastructure
Why people still pay
People still pay for When I Work because HR platforms survive because mistakes affect pay, benefits, immigration, and legal obligations, not because forms are difficult to render. The recurring cost buys sensitive data, access, retention, audit, payroll calculations, filings, benefits, employment law, incident response, and support, not just the visible interface.
moat: Compliance and regulation Integrations Execution quality what a moat is
compliance, payroll, and regulated integrations
Free alternatives
Not in the mood to build it? These already exist, they are free or open source, and we checked them one by one.
Rejected (3) — and why
- Findmyshift Free (si apre in una nuova scheda) — Free forever for five staff, but one week of forward planning and no shift templates is too cramped for an ongoing roster.
- Homebase Basic (si apre in una nuova scheda) — The free schedule is real, but availability, time-off requests and shift trades require a paid plan.
- Jibble Scheduling (si apre in una nuova scheda) — The scheduling product still says Coming soon.
Who has already built it
Starting from here is still vibecoding: the prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.
- Frappe HR (opens in a new tab) — Active open-source human-resources and payroll application built on Frappe.
What it costs in a year
2,5 $/mese 30 $/anno
Listino 2,5 $ al mese a persona su When I Work. L’anno è dodici mesi pieni, senza sconti annuali.
Do you agree?
The vote balance
Ancora nessun voto: il tuo è il primo.
Nessun voto ancora — il primo pesa.