Full-Stack Developer Needed for Student Travel Deal Platform MVP (Next.js + Supabase

# Job Title **Full-Stack Developer Needed for Travel Deal + Group Trip Planning Platform MVP — Trip’d** ## About the Project I’m building **Trip’d**, a travel discovery and group trip planning platform designed to help people: **Find it. Plan it. Split it. Go.** The goal is to combine the excitement of discovering unusually cheap travel deals with the tools people actually need once they decide to take the trip. Trip’d should help users go from: **“Wow, that flight is cheap.”** to: **“Okay, we can actually make this trip happen.”** The platform will focus on affordable travel discovery, flexible trip planning, group coordination, estimated trip costs, and automatic expense splitting. I already have a front-end prototype, brand direction, feature concepts, and a clear product vision. I’m looking for a full-stack developer who can help turn this into a real, functional MVP. This is not simply a static website build. ## Core Product Idea Trip’d has three main parts: ### FIND Discover cheap flights and affordable travel opportunities. ### PLAN Turn a deal into a real trip and plan it with friends. ### SPLIT Automatically calculate trip costs, per-person shares, and who owes who. The overall experience should feel modern, social, affordable, visual, and easy to use. It should not feel like Expedia, Kayak, or a traditional airline website. --- # MVP FEATURES ## 1. User Accounts Users should be able to: * Create an account * Log in * Set home/departure airports * Set a typical flight budget * Select travel preferences * Save destinations * Save flight deals * Create trips * Join trips through an invite link Preferred authentication can be handled through Supabase Auth or a similar service. --- ## 2. Cheap Travel Deal Discovery Trip’d should surface affordable flight opportunities instead of relying only on traditional destination-first search. Users should be able to browse deals based on: * Departure airport * Maximum flight budget * Flexible dates * Domestic / international * Trip duration * Weekend trips * Last-minute trips * Destination * Travel vibe Examples: **New York → Puerto Rico** $128 round trip Usually $287 Save $159 Or: **How far can $200 take me?** Budget-based discovery should be a major part of the platform. Deal cards may include: * Destination * Country * Origin airport * Flight price * Typical price * Amount saved * Travel dates * Trip duration * Airline * Nonstop / connecting * Destination photo * External booking link * Estimated total trip cost Users should be able to save deals and turn a deal into a trip. --- ## 3. Flexible Travel Filters Users should be able to filter deals by: * Origin airport * Budget * Destination * Travel dates * Flexible dates * Trip length * Domestic / international * Nonstop * Airline * Weekend * Long weekend * Last-minute * Beach * Party * City * Relaxing * Adventure * International Prominent discovery options could include: **Everything under $200** **Weekend trips under $250** **International deals under $500** --- ## 4. Trip Creation A user should be able to select a deal or destination and create a trip. Example: ### CANCÚN 2027 🌴 May 20–25 6 travelers A trip should have: * Destination * Dates * Travelers * Flight information * Stay information * Estimated budget * Saved activities * Notes * Expenses * Trip members Users should be able to invite friends through a unique link. --- ## 5. Group Trip Planning Trip’d should make it easier for groups to actually organize travel. For the MVP, group planning could include: * Invite friends * Join trip * Shared destination * Shared dates * Saved flight options * Saved accommodations * Shared notes * Estimated cost per person * Polls for destinations * Polls for dates * Polls for accommodations Full real-time group chat is NOT required for V1. A simple comments or notes feature may be enough initially. --- ## 6. Automatic Trip Cost Splitting This is an important feature. Users should be able to add trip expenses and Trip’d should automatically calculate how much each traveler owes. Example: ### Airbnb Total: $1,260 Travelers: 6 Trip’d calculates: **$210/person** Another example: ### Airport Uber Total: $84 Participants: * Derek * Maya * Chris * Jordan Trip’d calculates: **$21/person** Expenses should support: * Expense name * Expense category * Total amount * Who paid * Who participated * Split equally * Custom split * Per-person amount * Payment status Trip’d should also calculate balances. Example: **Maya owes Derek $46.50** **Chris owes Jordan $18** **Derek is owed $64.50 total** For the first MVP, Trip’d does NOT need to process money. Users can simply: * Mark an expense as paid * Mark a balance as settled Payment integrations can be considered later. --- ## 7. Estimated Total Trip Cost Trip’d should help users understand the full cost of a trip, not just airfare. Example: ### 4 Days in Puerto Rico Flight: $128 Stay: ~$185/person Transportation: ~$45 Activities: ~$90 Estimated total: **$448/person** Trip costs may include: * Flight * Accommodation * Transportation * Food estimate * Activities * Other group expenses Clearly label estimates as approximate. The goal is to answer: **“Can we actually afford this trip?”** --- ## 8. My Trips Dashboard Users should have a dashboard showing: * Upcoming trips * Saved trips * Deals they are watching * Group trips * Amount they owe * Amount they are owed * Trip budgets * Saved destinations Example: ### Puerto Rico 🌴 Oct 9–13 5 travelers Flight: $128 Estimated trip total: $462/person Your balance: **You are owed $54** --- ## 9. Destination Pages Each destination should have a visual page containing: * Current deals * Typical airfare * Suggested trip length * Estimated cost * Travel vibe * Things to do * Saved trips * Outfit inspiration * Vacation playlist The initial content can be manually entered through an admin dashboard. --- ## 10. Outfit Inspiration I want Trip’d to include a lifestyle component. Users should be able to select a destination or country and see outfit inspiration for the trip. Examples: * Beach look * Daytime look * Dinner look * Night-out look * Color palette * Packing inspiration This can initially use manually curated content and images. --- ## 11. Vacation Playlists Destinations should also have a vacation playlist section. Examples: ### Jamaica 🇯🇲 Trip’d Jamaica Playlist ### Spain 🇪🇸 Trip’d Spain Playlist ### Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 Trip’d Puerto Rico Playlist For the MVP, playlists can simply display curated song information or link to Spotify / Apple Music playlists. A more advanced music integration is not required initially. --- ## 12. Social Sharing Trip’d should make trips and deals easy to share. Examples: **“Who’s coming with me? 👀”** **“$128 round trip is crazy.”** Users should be able to share: * Flight deals * Trips * Trip invite links * Destination cards * Estimated trip costs Possible sharing options: * Text * Copy Link * GroupMe * Instagram-friendly share card * Other native mobile sharing options where possible --- ## 13. Admin Dashboard I need an admin area where I can manage platform content. Admin functions should include: * Add flight deals * Edit flight deals * Delete flight deals * Add destinations * Manage destination content * Add outfit inspiration * Add playlist information * Add estimated trip costs * Manage users if necessary * Manage featured deals * Manage travel categories Initially, manually curated flight deals are acceptable. The system should be built so automation can be added later. --- # FLIGHT DATA The project should be structured so a legitimate flight data provider can be connected. Potential providers may include: * Duffel * Amadeus * Skyscanner Partners * Other legitimate flight APIs Please do not use illegal scraping methods. Users do NOT need to purchase airline tickets directly through Trip’d in the first MVP. Trip’d can surface the opportunity and then send users to an airline or trusted booking provider to complete the reservation. I am open to technical recommendations regarding the best flight data solution. --- # PREFERRED TECHNOLOGY I am open to recommendations, but my current preferred stack is: * Next.js * React * TypeScript * Supabase * PostgreSQL * Supabase Auth * Vercel * Responsive / mobile-first development The project should use reusable components and a clean architecture. The code should be documented and organized so other developers can work on it later. --- # DESIGN DIRECTION The brand is called: # TRIP’D Tagline: **Find it. Plan it. Split it. Go.** Trip’d should feel like a combination of: * Modern travel startup * Social travel app * Group trip planner * Lifestyle travel brand The visual experience should feel: * Youthful * Modern * Clean * Social * Fun * Affordable * Trustworthy * Visual * Mobile-friendly It should feel Gen Z-friendly without being childish or overly trendy. The platform should prioritize visual travel discovery. Users should want to browse Trip’d even when they do not already know where they want to travel. I already have a prototype that will be provided as the primary design reference. --- # WHAT I NEED FROM THE DEVELOPER I’m looking for someone who can handle both frontend and backend development. You should be comfortable with: * React * Next.js * TypeScript * Supabase * PostgreSQL * Authentication * Database architecture * Responsive UI development * API integration * User-specific data * Group/member permissions * Financial calculations * Deployment * Production web applications Experience building any of the following is a plus: * Travel platforms * Expense splitting applications * SaaS products * Consumer apps * Social products * Group planning tools * Marketplaces * Recommendation/discovery platforms --- # PROPOSED MVP MILESTONES I prefer a milestone-based fixed-price project instead of paying the full project price upfront. ### Milestone 1 Project architecture, database setup, authentication, hosting, and deployment ### Milestone 2 User profile, departure airports, travel preferences, and deal discovery ### Milestone 3 Flight deal database, filters, budget discovery, and saved deals ### Milestone 4 Trip creation, group invitations, trip members, and shared planning ### Milestone 5 Expense tracking, automatic splitting, balances, and settlement tracking ### Milestone 6 Destination pages, estimated trip costs, outfit inspiration, and vacation playlists ### Milestone 7 Admin dashboard and content management ### Milestone 8 Flight API integration or preparation for future integration ### Milestone 9 Testing, mobile optimization, bug fixes, analytics, and production launch I am open to changing this structure based on the developer’s recommendations. --- # OWNERSHIP I need full ownership of the finished product. All final source code, databases, custom components, documentation, and intellectual property created for Trip’d as part of the contract must be transferred to me upon payment. Whenever possible, the project should be built inside accounts that I own or control, including: * GitHub * Supabase * Vercel * Domain * Analytics * API accounts Please do not build the entire product inside accounts that only the developer controls. --- # WHEN APPLYING Please include: 1. Examples of web applications you personally built 2. Your experience with Next.js and React 3. Your experience with Supabase and/or PostgreSQL 4. Examples of third-party APIs you have integrated 5. Whether you handle both frontend and backend development 6. Any experience with group expense splitting or financial calculations 7. Your proposed approach to building this MVP 8. Which features you would prioritize for the first launch 9. Which features you would recommend postponing 10. Your estimated fixed project price or hourly rate 11. Your availability Please begin your proposal with: **TRIP’D** so I know you read the entire project description. I’m looking for someone who can help turn an existing product concept and prototype into a legitimate functional MVP — not simply convert a design into static HTML.