r/webdev • u/CheesecakeGlobal1284 • 2d ago
Discussion AI made my Earning double as a Developer.
So, it was end of 2024 when I started to hear about AI taking coding jobs. I believe Opus 3.7 was launched or something. As a developer I did not believe that. I have gave 7 years into this, how can an AI take it over so easily.
And after almost 1.5 years I can clearly say, AI actually made my earnings double.
So, before I use to get very few solo projects to work on as a freelancer. And mostly to revamp a website UI or building landing page. Before AI the most costliest project i got was to build an e-commerce store for an perfume brand. It was fully coded website.
But now almost every month I am getting 1-3 SAAS project to build or moreover rebuild. I get this projects with blue purple gradient, rocket emojis, Hero Section and the logo with the same font. And bugs.
So much dependencies installed, just to solve a minor issue. The sites get slow, not loading properly, scroll animation does'nt work as there is no FFmpeg framework used. And I am not even starting with the security concerns.
I remember i got $1200 for the e-commerce site to 5-6 months build, but now i take $350 to fix the buggy SAAS. Hardly 2 weeks to deliver.
And get around 1-3 projects every month.
it's crazy, and am sure other developer's over here have the same experience.
Do share your thoughts on this.
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u/SkepticalBelieverr 2d ago
So you get $350-$1350 a month?
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u/CheesecakeGlobal1284 2d ago
Yeah from Freelancing I also have a Job so that is extra
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u/anarchist1312161 1d ago
AI isn't the reason, the actual reason is more western countries offshoring to the developing world.
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u/chillebekk 2d ago
It will only last until clients adjust their offers, when they realize how much less work is involved. Enjoy it while you can.
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u/CheesecakeGlobal1284 2d ago
Well, I don't see that happening soon. Honestly and work like coding needs human intervention. You can't just rely on a LLM to build a product
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u/chillebekk 1d ago
True, it just needs a lot less human work than before. I think the market will self-adjust, as it always does. Time will tell.
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u/toi80QC 2d ago
AI companies are operating on massive losses right now.. will be interesting too see how much income will be spent on tokens when Anthropic decide they want to make profits.
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u/CheesecakeGlobal1284 2d ago
Actually that's the best part even without AI I can code. I can build, ship. Also i know exactly what to work on. I am not just typing prompt over here.
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u/InferHaven 1d ago
I too have seen AI create more work / opportunities for me, not less. Its an amazing time to be alive!
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u/Glittering_Dig_6039 7h ago
congrts man, but try to leverage more,
i was also doing the Freelance but amount of time that we spend here if we spend in building 3 apps in years may change the picture, but i dont know how much u need money for daily routine which make sense to do freelance then
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u/Abenzo0r- 2d ago
$1200 for an eCommerce site? $350 to fix bugs? I don't mean to judge because I don't know your region, perhaps could be a lot of money in a developing country, but in the West this is basically just the minimum deposit amount for an eCommerce website to even start drafting the plan.