I spent an entire evening comparing dog food prices across 8 different Swedish pet stores. Tabs everywhere. Conflicting reviews. Sponsored "best of" lists that clearly weren't objective. That's when I decided: if no one was going to build a transparent comparison tool for dog owners, I'd do it myself.
Six months later, PawsomeChoice indexes 40,000+ products from 16 stores - built entirely by one person, as a side project, with AI assistants as my team.
Important: This entire project was built as a side gig while maintaining full focus on my day job. Every line of code, every design decision, and every technical architecture choice was crafted during evenings and weekends - proving that with the right AI tools, you don't need to quit your job to build something meaningful.
The Problem: Why Pet Product Research is Broken
As a Boston Terrier owner, finding the right products for my dog Oreo shouldn't be guesswork. Yet every search led to sponsored results, every review site seemed to push certain brands, and genuine comparisons were buried under marketing noise.
The pet industry is worth over $260 billion globally, but dog owners like me were left to navigate this maze alone. I spent countless hours researching everything from food to toys, trying to separate quality products from marketing hype.
"It took a lot of research to figure out what was actually good versus what was just paid placement. I built this platform to make that process faster, clearer, and fair for other dog owners."
The Idea: What If One Platform Did It All?
PawsomeChoice emerged from this frustration. The concept was simple: aggregate prices from multiple stores, collect and normalize ratings, and maintain complete transparency - zero ads, zero sponsored content.
Key features of the platform:
- 40,000+ products across all dog care categories
- 16 partner stores ensuring competitive pricing
- AI-powered search that understands what you actually need
- Price history tracking to spot real deals vs fake discounts
- Aggregated ratings from multiple sources in one place
My AI Team: How One Becomes Many
Building a complex platform with search functionality, AI recommendations, and real-time data aggregation would typically require a full development team. Instead, I built it solo with AI assistants - each one becoming a specialist team member with unique strengths.
Design & Prototyping
A full-stack AI tool capable of building entire apps. I used it for rapid design iterations and UI sketches, while keeping the production code in my own hands to maintain standards and deep project knowledge.
Code from Vision
My go-to before Claude Code existed. Excellent at codifying screengrabs and detailed research. I show it a website feature I like, and it generates code matching my patterns.
Primary Dev Partner
My go-to assistant that enables working on multiple projects simultaneously. As models evolved from Sonnet to Opus, it became increasingly capable - now handling complex architectural decisions and large refactors.
Coding Assistant
Assisting from the shadows and makes sure I don't waste any time.
Second Opinion
Brainstorming business ideas before sleep, and getting a fresh perspective when I need to break out of a context bubble. Different models think differently - that diversity is valuable.
Performance Results
One unexpected outcome was exceptional performance. When I ran PageSpeed tests, PawsomeChoice achieved scores that exceeded my expectations, especially compared to established platforms in the market.
PawsomeChoice
Prisjakt.nu
PriceRunner.se
Lessons for Solo Builders
- •AI as Team Members: Each AI has unique strengths - use them strategically
- •Architecture Matters: Good planning upfront pays dividends when scaling
- •Side Project ≠ Half-Effort: Constraints force focus and creativity
- •Transparency Wins: Users appreciate honesty over polish
Want the Technical Details?
Dive into the architecture: vector embeddings, RAG-powered article generation, AWS Bedrock integration, and the C4 diagrams behind the platform.
Read the Technical Deep-DiveExperience It Yourself
Try searching for "grain-free food for senior dogs" and watch the AI understand what you actually need.
About the Author: Haris Kabiljagic is a principal engineer and cloud architect, and founder of LINA Solutions AB. He built PawsomeChoice to solve a problem he faced as a Boston Terrier owner. Connect on LinkedIn to discuss AI-assisted development and entrepreneurship.