DEV Community: Work Break

I'm Thinking About Open-Sourcing My SaaS (Work Break) and Keeping It Free Forever

Work Break — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 06:06:29 +0000

After spending countless hours building Work Break, I've reached a point where I'm asking myself an important question:

Should I make it open source?

Work Break is a productivity platform that helps teams manage:

☕ Break tracking
✅ Tasks
📅 Meetings
🏖️ Leave management
🤖 AI-powered productivity features
📆 Google Calendar integration
📱 Android app + Web app

I originally built it hoping to grow it into a successful SaaS business. Like many indie founders, I invested a lot of time, energy, and money into it.

But over time, I realized something.

I don't want useful software to disappear just because it doesn't become a unicorn.

I'd rather see people use it, improve it, and build on top of it.

My Goal

I'm seriously considering making Work Break 100% open source and keeping it free forever.

No paid plans.
No feature paywalls.
No locked source code.

Just a community-driven project that anyone can use, self-host, improve, or contribute to.

Why?

Because open source software has helped me throughout my career.

I've benefited from projects built by developers who shared their work with the world.

I'd love to give something back.

Before I Do...

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Would you use an open-source productivity platform?
What license would you recommend?
What would encourage you to contribute?
Is there anything you'd change before I open-source it?

Your feedback would mean a lot.

Website: https://work-break.com

If enough people are interested, I'll start preparing the repository and documentation for a public release.

Let's build something useful together.

I Built a Free Break Reminder App Because I Kept Forgetting to Take Breaks

Work Break — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 03:41:14 +0000

Like many developers, I used to tell myself:

"I'll take a break after I finish this feature."

One feature became another. Before I knew it, three or four hours had passed without standing up, drinking water, or resting my eyes.

I wasn't alone. Many people working remotely or spending long hours at a computer have the same habit.

So instead of searching for another productivity app, I decided to build one myself.

The Problem

There are plenty of reminder apps, but I couldn't find one that fit the way I actually work.

I wanted something that could:

Schedule breaks around my real workday.
Sync with Google Calendar.
Keep track of breaks I actually took.
Help manage tasks and checklists in one place.
Stay simple instead of becoming another distraction.

Most apps solved only one of these problems.

Building Work Break

I started building Work Break as a side project.

The goal wasn't to create another to-do app.

The goal was to build a workspace companion that quietly helps you maintain healthy work habits.

Some of the features include:

☕ Smart break reminders
📅 Google Calendar integration
✅ Checklists
📝 Task management
🌴 Leave tracking
📊 Break history and insights
👥 Team support for small organizations
The Tech Stack

I enjoy learning modern technologies, so this became an opportunity to experiment with tools I use every day.

The stack currently includes:

Vue 3
NestJS
MongoDB
AWS Lambda
Serverless Framework
CloudFront
Cloudflare
Google Calendar API

One challenge was reducing cold starts in a serverless NestJS application while keeping deployment packages small enough for AWS Lambda. Optimizing the build process ended up improving both deployment time and API performance.

What I Learned

Building the product taught me much more than writing code.

Some lessons that surprised me:

Users ask for features you never considered.
Small UX improvements matter more than adding dozens of features.
Launching is only the beginning.
Marketing is much harder than development.
Listening to feedback is one of the fastest ways to improve a product.
Why It's Free

I wanted people to try the app without creating another subscription they would eventually cancel.

The core experience is free because healthy work habits shouldn't have a high barrier to entry.

I'd Love Your Feedback

I'm still actively improving Work Break and adding features based on user feedback.

If you'd like to try it, you can visit:

https://work-break.com

I'd genuinely appreciate any suggestions, feature requests, or criticism. Every piece of feedback helps make the product better.

Thanks for reading!

I just integrated Google Calendar sync into my app WorkBreak 🎉

Work Break — Thu, 21 May 2026 03:25:24 +0000

Now users can:

✅ Sync meetings directly from Google Calendar
✅ View upcoming events inside the planner
✅ Manage breaks + meetings in one place
✅ Stay focused without switching tabs constantly

One interesting challenge was handling Google OAuth properly in production with AWS Lambda + NestJS. Things worked locally but production introduced issues like:

OAuth callback problems
Random 500 errors
Google 403 permission issues
Proxy handling behind API Gateway

After debugging for hours, fixes like enabling trust proxy, proper callback URLs, and adjusting serverless handling finally made everything stable.

Still improving the experience, but excited to ship this 🚀

Automating My SaaS with n8n: How Work Break is Becoming Smarter

Work Break — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 04:56:31 +0000

I’ve started integrating n8n into my SaaS 👉 https://www.work-break.com to automate workflows like break reminders, task handling, and event-based actions. Instead of building complex backend logic, n8n helps me create flexible, visual automations that save time and improve user experience. This is just the beginning of making Work Break a smarter, more autonomous productivity tool.

Early-Stage Productivity SaaS for Sale – Work-Break (Task, Meeting & Break Management)

Work Break — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 09:13:55 +0000

Hi everyone,

I’m the solo founder of Work-Break, an early-stage productivity SaaS designed to help individuals and teams manage tasks, meetings, and breaks while staying focused.

Key features:

Task management

Meeting tracking

Break planning

AI assistant for productivity support

Team planning dashboard

Current status:

Early-stage SaaS (~25 active users)

Fully built and functional

Hosted on AWS (Vue, NestJS, MongoDB)

Domain: www.work-break.com

📹 Quick demo: [Attach your screen video]
🔑 Demo login: info@work-break.com
/ test123

I’m exploring:

Acquisition opportunities

Partnership discussions

Feedback from experienced SaaS founders

Happy to share more details with serious buyers.

Thanks!

I’m considering open-sourcing Work Break

Work Break — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 17:48:02 +0000

A working productivity platform with task management, meetings, break tracking, and an AI assistant.

If open sourced, contributors could add plugins/modules and improve the platform.

Would love feedback from the dev community.

🌐 www.work-break.com

Build the product and the audience together

Work Break — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 05:48:57 +0000

If you have an idea and want to build it, start building your audience at the same time.

Create accounts on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Dev Community, and Reddit.

Share your progress while building your MVP.

In 6–7 months, you’ll already have connections who can review, test, and use your product.

Can Break Tracking Improve Team Productivity?

Work Break — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 04:59:53 +0000

Hi everyone,

I recently built Work-Break, a simple tool designed to help teams manage breaks, reduce burnout, and stay productive during the workday.

The idea is to make break visibility easier so teams can avoid interruptions during meetings or focus time and build healthier work habits.

It also provides AI-assisted insights to help track break patterns and team productivity trends.

If you have a minute, I’d really appreciate your honest feedback.

You can try it here:
https://www.work-break.com

Test login:
info@work-break.com/test123

Any suggestions or thoughts would really help improve the product. Thanks!

Need Feedback on My Productivity App – Work Break Manager (Free Tool)

Work Break — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 09:36:00 +0000

Hey fellow
I built Work Break (https://www.work-break.com/), a free web app to help users manage their work and break sessions efficiently. It’s designed for people who want to track their productivity while ensuring they take proper breaks.