Community · checked 2026-10-19

Can I vibecode Heartbeat?

KINDA· weekend project

A community of a few hundred paying members is an ordinary web app: channels with threads, comments and reactions, profiles, Stripe subscriptions that unlock private channels, a simple course and a weekly digest email. An agent builds that in a weekend. The gaps are what members expect from an app: native iOS and Android apps with push, instant chat, voice and video rooms, moderation tools, and help when a payment or a login breaks. Discourse or Flarum cover the forum half for free if you host them.

$49/moprice

$588you'd save a year

weekendbuild time

—people replaced it

Before you start

What you need on hand.

DifficultyAdvanced · Real infrastructure or OAuth work.

TimeA weekend to build; test payments carefully before real members join

Claude Code, Codex or CursorAny of them can run the prompt.
Node.js 22better-sqlite3 compiles a native module, so build tools must be installed.
A Stripe accountTest mode is free and lets you rehearse every payment event.
SMTP credentialsSign-in links and digests depend on mail that arrives.
A public HTTPS addressMembers and Stripe webhooks must reach the app: a small VPS with Caddy works.

Before you buildHeartbeat has no free plan, only a 14-day trial with no card. Use it to see how your own members take to a community before building anything.

1. Install one agent: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor.
2. Make an empty folder and open it in the agent.
3. Paste the prompt below, press enter, and answer its questions as it builds.

The prompt

Build me a small paid-community site to replace Heartbeat. Requirements:

- Node.js 22 + TypeScript: Fastify with server-rendered pages (Eta) and htmx. `npm start`
serves http://localhost:4970; storage in better-sqlite3 at ./data/community.db.
- Members: email sign-in with a one-time link (nodemailer SMTP from .env, valid 15 minutes,
signed session cookie) and a profile with name, bio and an avatar saved in ./data/uploads
(images only, 2 MB max).
- Channels: the owner creates channels marked free or paid; members post threads in Markdown
(`marked` and `sanitize-html`), comment, react from a fixed emoji set; the owner and
moderators can pin, lock and hide.
- Paid access: Stripe Checkout subscriptions (`stripe`, STRIPE_SECRET_KEY and
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET in .env). The webhook grants or removes access on
checkout.session.completed, invoice.payment_failed and customer.subscription.deleted.
Stay in test mode until a README checklist passes.
- Courses: modules and lessons in Markdown with a mark-complete button and a progress bar per
member; a lesson can require a paid channel's access.
- Email: a weekly digest of the 10 most active threads per member and an instant mail for
replies to their threads, each with a one-click unsubscribe link.
- Admin: members table with search and plan status, remove or ban a member, CSV export.
- No third-party accounts except Stripe and SMTP. No telemetry; the only cookie is the
session.
- Out of scope: native apps and push, real-time chat and DMs, video rooms, events, affiliate
programs, a branded app.
- README: Stripe test-mode setup with `stripe listen`, a note that refunds and payment
history live in Stripe, that VAT or sales tax is the owner's job, and a backup command for
the SQLite file.

Opens your agent with the prompt filled in, you press enter. Or copy it and paste it into an empty folder.

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Then keep going

Next prompts, same folder.

The first prompt builds the core. Run these one at a time in the same folder to grow it into your own Heartbeat.

Add an importer for a Heartbeat export to the community site in this folder. Requirements:

- A command `community import-heartbeat <folder>` that reads posts.csv, comments.csv,
  documents.csv and lessons.csv from the export ZIP, plus the member CSV exported from
  Heartbeat's members screen.
- Create members from the member CSV without sending any email, map author IDs to them,
  and create threads, comments, resource pages and lessons with the original dates.
- Print a dry-run summary of what would be created, skipped or unmatched before writing.
- Image links stay as links; list every URL that has to be downloaded before the old
  community is deleted. Running it twice must not create duplicates.
- Update the README with the export steps.

Add web push to the community site in this folder. Requirements:

- A PWA manifest and service worker; members opt in from a settings page, with one
  subscription stored per browser in SQLite.
- Send pushes with the `web-push` package and VAPID keys from .env for replies to a member's
  threads and mentions; a per-member switch and a quiet-hours setting.
- Remove subscriptions that return 404 or 410. Never send more than 5 pushes a day to one
  member.
- Update the README, including the note that iOS only delivers web push to apps added to the
  home screen.

Add events to the community site in this folder. Requirements:

- Owners create events with title, start, duration, time zone, a join URL and an optional
  paid-channel requirement; members RSVP yes or no.
- Send an .ics invite on RSVP (`ics` package) and reminders 24 hours and 15 minutes before
  through the existing SMTP settings.
- An events list showing times in the member's own time zone and an attendee count.
- Owners can export the attendee list as CSV. Update the README.

Add moderation tools to the community site in this folder. Requirements:

- A report button on every thread and comment; reports go to a queue with the reason, the
  reporter and the content, and moderators can hide, delete or dismiss.
- Hold the first 3 posts of every new member for approval, with a setting to turn that off.
- A word filter list that holds matching posts for review instead of rejecting them.
- Log every moderator action with who, what and when, and show it on a page only the owner
  can open. Update the README.

What you lose

Native iOS and Android apps with push notifications (the branded app sits on Scale)
Real-time chat channels and direct messages
Voice and video rooms for up to 256 people
Events with Zoom and calendar sync, and affiliate programs
The Pulse AI setup assistant and migration imports from Slack, Circle and Peerboard

Why people still pay

Creators sell access, so the community has to feel like an app members open every day, with a checkout that doesn't fail. Heartbeat bundles the member app, payments, courses, events and retention tools in one place, so a coach or course seller doesn't need a developer when a payment breaks or someone can't log in. The tiered transaction fee is the price of not running it yourself.

Moatcollaboration execution polish integrations

Do the math

Heartbeat or your own copy?

Over

Your usage

Count my time12h ×$/h

Heartbeat, 1 yr$588

Your own copy, 1 yr$82running + build session

You keep$506pays for itself in the first month

Estimate · Runs on a small VPS; SMTP fits free tiers at a few hundred members. Stripe takes its normal fee but no platform cut, where Heartbeat adds 5% on Build. The build is token usage on your agent plan.

Leaving Heartbeat

Take your data, then cancel.

1 · Take your data out of Heartbeat

1Request the export from inside Heartbeat: press the ? button in the lower right corner to contact Support. You get a download link to a ZIP of CSVs (posts, comments, resources and course lessons) that expires 48 hours after it is sent.
2The member list is not in that ZIP: you export it yourself from the members screen.
3Not included: chat channel messages and direct messages, uploaded files, images and videos (only links), events, offers, payment and subscription records, archived posts, and course structure and progress.
4Payment history lives in your own Stripe account, which stays with you.

2 · Cancel Heartbeat

1Billing is desktop-only: open Heartbeat in a desktop browser and go to Settings > System > Billing.
2Click Cancel and confirm.
3Cancelling your plan does not cancel your members' subscriptions: open Settings > Revenue > Offers, open each offer and cancel every active member with Cancel Immediately.
4Your community data is kept for 90 days, then permanently deleted; resubscribe inside that window to restore it.

Order matters: request the export, save your member list and media, cancel your members' offers, then cancel the plan.
A refund may be possible within the first 30 days: submit a support ticket. Resubscribing doesn't open a new refund window.
Downgrading to a lower plan keeps the community running if cost is the only problem.
Tell paying members before access changes, and decide where they will meet next.

Checked 2026-10-19 against Heartbeat's docs: 1, 2, 3, 4

The escape hatch

Don't feel like building it? These are already free.

DiscourseOpen sourceGPL-2.0 discussion platform with groups, trust levels and plugins; official Docker installer, paid access needs a plugin or a subscription add-on.★ 48k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
WebVisit ↗FlarumOpen sourceMIT forum software in PHP, light and extensible; no courses or payments out of the box.★ 16k · active Oct 2026 · self-host, real ops
WebVisit ↗ZulipOpen sourceApache-2.0 team chat built around topics inside channels, with mobile apps; suits an active group more than a paid audience.★ 26k · active Oct 2026 · docker to self-host
Web, iOS, Android, desktopVisit ↗

All 5 free alternatives to Heartbeat ›

The numbers

Heartbeat pricing

Plan	Monthly	Annual, per month	What you get
Build	$49	$40	Up to 350 members (admins count), unlimited channels, courses, events and documents, 5 automation workflows, 1 landing page, custom domain, Zapier, Zoom and Google Calendar, 5% transaction fee, support within 2 business days.
Grow	$149	$124	Up to 5,000 members, unlimited automations, 15 landing pages, 50 hours of video hosting, white-label email, API access, affiliate program, 2.5% transaction fee, support within 1 business day.
Scale	$849	$766	Unlimited members, white-label branded mobile app, advanced analytics, 50 landing pages, 200 hours of video, dedicated onboarding expert, same-day support, 1.25% transaction fee.

Free tier: Trial only: 14 days, no card.
Billing: Monthly or yearly; yearly saves 17% on Build and Grow and 10% on Scale. You can switch at any time with prorations or refunds applied. Refunds are case by case; the help center says a refund may be possible if you cancel in the first 30 days, by support ticket.
Hidden costs: Heartbeat keeps 5% of member payments on Build (2.5% on Grow, 1.25% on Scale), on top of Stripe's processing fee, typically 2.9% plus 30 cents. Native video hosting is a $19 a month add-on on Build (50 hours); Grow and Scale include it. Every member counts toward the cap, admins included. A branded mobile app is also sold separately and its price isn't on the pricing page.
Source: heartbeat.chat

Also on the list

Kajabi$179/mo · Creator commerceKINDA

Teachable$39/mo · Creator commerceKINDA

Circle$89/mo · CommunityKINDA

Questions

Heartbeat, briefly

Not answered here? Tell us and we'll add it.

Ask a question ›

No free plan: a 14-day trial with no card; communities not upgraded are deactivated and deleted after 30 inactive days.

Kinda. The core is a weekend build with the prompt on this page, but real gaps remain: Native iOS and Android apps with push notifications (the branded app sits on Scale), Real-time chat channels and direct messages.

About $49 a month on the Build plan, $588 a year (checked 2026-10-19).

Native iOS and Android apps with push notifications (the branded app sits on Scale); Real-time chat channels and direct messages; Voice and video rooms for up to 256 people; Events with Zoom and calendar sync, and affiliate programs; The Pulse AI setup assistant and migration imports from Slack, Circle and Peerboard. If any of those matter to you, keep paying.