AWS Amplify

Our verdict on AWS Amplify

AWS Amplify is not where the interesting work happens for us, and that is the point. It is the hosting layer in our standard stack, so when Sam finishes an app in an AI coding tool, getting it live is "pretty simple" once everything is connected.

We have not reviewed Amplify's features, pricing or limits on the show. This page is about how it fits into the way we ship internal tools.

What we built with AWS Amplify

• ScreenEval (January 2026): a recruiter screen evaluator and coaching tool. Sam built it in roughly six hours of work between Monday afternoon and Wednesday, in Claude Code with Supabase. When we recorded Episode 29, he was at the deploy step, about a day from going live with recruiters on a Ryz Labs subdomain.
• Offsiteio estimator and client presentation generator (April 2026): a tool for pricing corporate offsites and turning bids into a shareable client presentation website. It started in Claude Code, moved to OpenAI Codex for bug fixes, uses Supabase for the backend, and the React front end runs on Amplify. It is live and used daily, and cut turnaround on seven or eight estimates from about a week and a half to three or four days.

You know, our stack is Amplify, AWS, and GitHub and but, you know, really, once it's all connected, you it's pretty simple to to get it live on a Ryz Labs subdomain.

— Sam Nadler, Episode 29

How we use AWS Amplify

1. Build the app first, deploy last. Both apps were built and tested locally in Claude Code or Codex before anyone touched hosting.
2. Keep data in Supabase. Sam finds Supabase "very easy to understand," so the database lives there, not in AWS.
3. Make the front end a React web app. That is what the estimator is, and it is what Amplify hosts for us.
4. Connect the GitHub repo. Our stack is Amplify, AWS and GitHub together, so code goes to GitHub and Amplify picks it up.
5. Put it on a company subdomain. ScreenEval was headed for a Ryz Labs subdomain, so teammates use it like any internal tool.
6. Set the stack up once and reuse it. Sam is not a developer. What makes deploys easy for him is that the plumbing already existed.

Jordan asked one question about the estimator's front end, "On Amplify?", and Sam's answer was simply yes. That is about how much thought hosting takes once the pattern is in place.

Why hosting matters for a tool like this

A tool on someone's laptop does not change how a team works. A hosted link does. The estimator's output is itself a website: Offsiteio sends clients a link where they can shortlist properties, instead of a PDF built in Canva. Sam said the first repeat client who saw the new format went on to book their biggest offsite with us yet.

That only works because the app is live on the web, on the stack the team already uses.

Where AWS Amplify falls short

• Regulated data needs more than a deploy. In Episode 24, Jordan said a healthcare app can't just be pushed to "some firebase or some supabase or some amplify project" and left alone the way other vibe coded projects can, because of HIPAA and patient privacy. See AI in healthcare.
• It is one option among many. In Episode 14, Jordan said Google won't stop with Firebase, Amazon won't stop with Amplify, and Vercel has v0, so he expects multiple winners in AI app building and hosting.
• We have not tested it deeply. No talk of cost, scaling or Amplify's own backend features on the show.

Episodes featuring AWS Amplify

• Episode 14: Jordan on Amplify, Firebase and v0 competing for AI app builders.
• Episode 24: why HIPAA apps can't be deployed like other vibe coded projects.
• Episode 29: ScreenEval and our Amplify, AWS and GitHub stack.
• Episode 38: the Offsiteio estimator, live in production on Amplify.

FAQ

What do you use AWS Amplify for?

Hosting the internal web apps Sam builds with AI coding tools. The front end is a React app, the backend is Supabase, and Amplify plus GitHub deploys it to a Ryz Labs subdomain.

Is AWS Amplify hard to set up for a non-developer?

Sam, who has never written a line of code, said that once everything is connected it is pretty simple to get an app live. Our team had the stack in place before he started.

Can you host a HIPAA app on Amplify like any vibe coded project?

Not without more work. Jordan said in Episode 24 that healthcare apps can't simply be pushed to a Firebase, Supabase or Amplify project the way other vibe coded projects can, because of compliance and patient privacy.

What apps have you deployed on AWS Amplify?

ScreenEval, a recruiter screen evaluator, was deploying to Amplify in Episode 29, and the Offsiteio estimator and client presentation generator runs on Amplify in production.