I'm a photographer and a developer, and since 2025 I've been building GearDex (https://geardex.app) on my own. It's a camera gear inventory for photographers, videographers, and studios. It started as a web app, and now there's a native macOS app too.
What it does
GearDex keeps your kit in one place. Version 3.5 shipped on Sep 5, 2026, and adds:
- My Kit Snapshots and Record Readiness, both free
- Unified Timeline and Iris Prep Review on Pro and Studio
- An Availability Board on Studio
It's free up to 25 items. Pro is $39/yr and Studio is $179/yr. There's no iOS app. You can use it on the web or download the Mac app at https://geardex.app/download.
The stack
It's built with Next.js, React, and TypeScript. I'm a solo maker in Irvine, CA, so I leaned hard on AI help, mostly Cursor, to move faster than I could alone.
What I learned
AI speeds up the building, not the deciding. Cursor got me from idea to a working feature fast. That said, it can't tell you which features photographers actually need. That part still came from being one.
Meet people where they already work. A web app was the right place to start. Adding a native Mac app was about fitting into the setup people already have, not about adding features.
I'd love feedback
If you shoot, run a studio, or just have too many batteries in a drawer, I'd love to hear what you think. And if you've built something solo with AI help, what was your biggest lesson?
This post was drafted with AI help.
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