# OccupySaaS: what the open-source Salesforce and Auth0 replacements implement

Published: 2026-11-03

OccupySaaS is using AI to develop self-hostable alternatives to subscription software. SalesCompel, its Salesforce-compatible project, has an early persistent Go/PostgreSQL customer-record slice and a separate exploration prototype whose edits stay in memory. ZeroAuthy records tests with named Auth0 clients and has a narrow OpenID conformance self-certification listing. Moving production still requires workflow, migration and operating evidence. The verdict is NEEDS REVIEW.

Canonical: https://thedailydiff.dev/video/2026-11-02-occupysaas-rebuild/

## What this video covers

- Salesforce advertises Pro Suite at $100 USD per user per month, billed annually. This is one paid plan, with lower-priced and free offerings also available. The episode reports the project's goal of reducing per-seat dependence, without measuring savings or claiming equivalent product coverage.
- The OccupySaaS site dates ZeroAuthy's public project to October 14, 2026 and SalesCompel's to October 15. The November 2 event is fresh discussion. The site's layoff narrative is attributed self-description; the contributors' employment histories were not independently established here.
- SalesCompel's implementation guide describes persistent Account and Contact operations in a tenant-scoped Go/PostgreSQL candidate. Its separate Vue exploration prototype uses synthetic data and keeps edits in memory without backend calls. No full program milestone has a recorded exit-gate pass, and production certification has not been reached.
- ZeroAuthy's matrix names client versions and distinguishes client checks from server-only tests. The OpenID Foundation lists zeroauthy commit 38b4229 for Basic OP, Config OP and Form Post OP profiles. Self-certification concerns specific protocol profiles; it is distinct from a blanket security audit or full Auth0 parity. Multi-factor sign-in and an operational hardening sweep remain later roadmap work.
- In SalesCompel's early backend guide, an authorized database operator revokes a provisioned token by deleting its stored digest row. The guide puts token lifecycle and public login in future work. This concrete procedure illustrates the operating responsibility a company takes on when hosting its replacement.
- An October 21 report by PostgreSQL committer Robert Haas describes AI-assisted bug discovery outpacing human review. The episode uses this dated, attributed explanation as maintenance context rather than a new release announcement or a measurement of OccupySaaS defects.
- The Daily Diff's verdict is NEEDS REVIEW for a production switch. Test the supported slice against real workflows, permissions and recovery needs, and name the operator responsible for the service. The stated clean-room policy acknowledges contractual risk, and an open-source license does not remove infrastructure or maintenance costs.

## Questions and answers

### What does the open-source Salesforce replacement SalesCompel implement?

SalesCompel implements an early persistent customer-record slice, according to its README and implementation guide. The Go/PostgreSQL backend supports Account and Contact operations with tenant-scoped access and limited queries. A separate Vue exploration prototype uses synthetic records and keeps edits in memory. The project documents unfinished migration and wider workflow work, and production certification has not been reached.

### How can a compatible server help a company leave its SaaS vendor?

A compatible server can accept requests from an existing software client at a different destination, preserving more of an application's existing integration. ZeroAuthy's matrix records checks with named Auth0 clients, while SalesCompel's guide lists a limited implemented surface. The company's actual records, permissions and custom workflows still need a migration rehearsal against the supported behavior before production use.

### What does ZeroAuthy's OpenID self-certification listing establish?

The OpenID Foundation lists a specific ZeroAuthy commit for three provider conformance profiles. The Foundation defines self-certification as an entity's formal declaration about a deployment's conformance through testing. The claim has a defined protocol scope. ZeroAuthy's roadmap separately places multi-factor sign-in and operational hardening in later work, so a production decision needs evidence beyond the listing's limited scope.

### How is a provisioned access token revoked in SalesCompel's early backend?

An authorized database operator deletes the provisioned token's stored digest row, according to SalesCompel's implementation guide. The digest is the token's fingerprint in the database. The same guide puts token lifecycle and public login in future work. This is a documented early-candidate procedure that a self-hosting operator needs to understand; the episode does not claim to have executed a production offboarding test.

### What was The Daily Diff's verdict on a production switch to this replacement?

The Daily Diff's verdict was NEEDS REVIEW. The episode recommends testing supported slices because a compatible open server can create an exit option. Production remains gated on migration evidence and clear operating responsibility, reflecting SalesCompel's documented early scope and unfinished roadmap. A rehearsal should cover the company's real workflows, permissions and recovery needs before customer access depends on the replacement.

## Chapters

- 0:00 Can you cancel Salesforce and keep the product?
- 0:42 Why rebuild something companies already buy?
- 1:41 What already works with Auth0 clients?
- 2:31 How much Salesforce is implemented?
- 3:39 Who maintains the code after AI writes it?
- 4:12 Where does SalesCompel put the off switch?
- 4:59 Would I move production onto this exit plan?

## Transcript

### Can you cancel Salesforce and keep the product?

0:00 A Salesforce clone sounds like cancelling the bill and keeping the product. OccupySaaS has public code, and its roadmap shows how much remains. In this video, what already works? What follows you out? And who gets the off switch? When an employee leaves, their access needs to stop. The Salesforce rebuild's instructions tell you who has to do that job. We'll follow the exact step before the verdict.

0:21 It's Monday, November second, and this is The Daily Diff. OccupySaaS is an open-source effort using AI to rebuild subscription software from public documentation. ZeroAuthy targets Auth0, the service that handles application logins. SalesCompel targets Salesforce, where sales teams keep customer records. Both projects are early and self-hostable. Salesforce advertises its Pro suite at a hundred dollars per user per month,

### Why rebuild something companies already buy?

0:45 billed annually. Every extra seat enlarges that bill. OccupySaaS calls per-seat pricing a tax on growth. Procurement has finally discovered a subscription to hiring people. The proposed escape is compatibility. Your application already sends the vendor requests through a software client. Build a server that understands those requests, and the same client can talk to your server instead. You keep more of the application you've already paid engineers to build.

1:09 That matters when leaving means rebuilding years of company habits. A customer record can carry custom fields, and another application can depend on exactly how a request behaves. Keeping that working is the difficult promise. The useful question is which part of your existing setup this code can already understand. The website's slogan is, they laid us off, we're rebuilding their SaaS. Those employment histories are unverified here.

1:32 Today's event is the Hacker News discussion. The site's own timeline puts the two public projects in mid-October. The revenge movie has been in development for weeks. The same effort's Auth0 replacement gives us something concrete to check.

### What already works with Auth0 clients?

1:44 ZeroAuthy's compatibility matrix records sign-in and access credentials tested with named Auth0 software clients, including the React client. It names exact versions and distinguishes client checks from tests of the server alone. Those boundaries make the claim useful. The OpenID Foundation's own list names a specific ZeroAuthy version for three login-standard profiles. That's a checkable self-certification claim with a defined scope. The project's roadmap still puts multi-factor sign-in and operational hardening in later work.

2:11 You can inspect both the achievement and the unfinished work before trusting it with customers. On Hacker News, commenter ozim points to backups and security updates as part of what customers buy. Fair objection. A company choosing self-hosting needs somebody responsible for those jobs, even when the license arrives without a sales call. Somebody still gets paged during dinner. SalesCompel makes that boundary especially visible.

### How much Salesforce is implemented?

2:33 Its Go backend stores Account and Contact records in PostgreSQL, with tenant-scoped access and limited queries. Its implementation guide lists the supported operations. Broader query behavior and migration remain outside that slice. Your company's years of customization travel as a separate problem. And be careful which screen you're admiring. The separate Vue exploration prototype uses synthetic data and keeps edits in memory. The backend slice persists records.

2:57 The readme explains both. An attractive customer list can demonstrate a layout while the migration plan is still being written. To the builders' credit, they write down the unfinished work. The roadmap says no full program milestone has a recorded exit-gate pass, and production certification hasn't been reached. Their remaining estimate runs to hundreds of bounded work packages.

3:16 That's an estimate of scope; there's no delivery date hiding inside it. So what follows you out? Your records need a verified destination. Integrations need their actual requests tested. Permissions need checking against your real organization. A familiar API lowers one migration barrier; every unsupported workflow still belongs on the acceptance list. The clone inherits your company's weirdness for free.

3:38 An older report explains the workload.

### Who maintains the code after AI writes it?

3:40 On October twenty-first, PostgreSQL committer Robert Haas wrote that AI-assisted bug discovery was outrunning human review. He linked that pressure to late feature reversals and the version nineteen delay. His October explanation is useful context for these clones. Haas says models can draft fixes, and humans still check correctness and project standards. Work on older releases also diverts reviewers. Owning the replacement gives you that maintenance obligation,

4:05 too. Budget for a maintainer alongside the machine producing code. The easy part of cancelling a subscription is finding the button.

### Where does SalesCompel put the off switch?

4:12 Now that employee needs their access removed. In SalesCompel's early backend guide, the access credential is a token. To revoke a provisioned token, an authorized database operator deletes its stored digest row. That's the token's fingerprint in the database. The guide puts token lifecycle and public login in future work. You control the server, and you're responsible for making access stop. I like having that choice.

4:33 I'd rehearse real workflows and recovery before putting customers behind it. Their stated clean-room policy excludes confidential employer material and acknowledges contractual risk. Apache licensing gives you permissions for this code; your legal homework survives the download. The public roadmap gives you something useful to interrogate while the homepage celebrates the occupation. If you'd rather read this than hear me say it, the diff lands in your inbox

4:55 every morning, free at the daily diff dot dev, link below. So, today's verdict is NEEDS REVIEW.

### Would I move production onto this exit plan?

5:01 I'd test the supported slices because a compatible open server can give developers an exit. I'd keep production gated on migration evidence and operating responsibility. Subscribe, hit the bell, and tell me in the comments if you'd have stamped it differently. And that's the diff for today. I'm Niko from Axrisi. Merge responsibly.

## Sources

- [SalesCompel README: candidate, prototype and roadmap limits](https://github.com/occupysaas/salescompel/blob/2aa326536f38768c24744079398966d325bb6589/README.md) — OccupySaaS / SalesCompel
- [SalesCompel early backend: implemented surface and token revocation](https://github.com/occupysaas/salescompel/blob/2aa326536f38768c24744079398966d325bb6589/docs/compat/plan-2-implementation.md) — OccupySaaS / SalesCompel
- [ZeroAuthy README and roadmap](https://github.com/occupysaas/zeroauthy/blob/5d1c30c1ac7c90d88307c1958af7d7fd20ef0d54/README.md) — OccupySaaS / ZeroAuthy
- [Certified OpenID providers and profiles](https://openid.net/certification/certified-openid-providers-profiles/) — OpenID Foundation
- [What is self-certification?](https://openid.net/developers/what-is-self-certification-faq/) — OpenID Foundation
- [Sales pricing: Pro Suite annual billing](https://www.salesforce.com/sales/pricing/) — Salesforce
- [OccupySaaS: stated method and October timeline](https://occupysaas.com/) — OccupySaaS
- [Postgres 19 is late, and it's AI's fault — October 21, 2026](https://neon.com/blog/postgres-19-is-late-and-its-ais-fault) — Robert Haas / Neon
- [ZeroAuthy stated clean-room policy](https://github.com/occupysaas/zeroauthy/blob/5d1c30c1ac7c90d88307c1958af7d7fd20ef0d54/CLEAN_ROOM.md) — OccupySaaS / ZeroAuthy
- [ZeroAuthy compatibility matrix](https://github.com/occupysaas/zeroauthy/blob/5d1c30c1ac7c90d88307c1958af7d7fd20ef0d54/docs/compat/matrix.md) — OccupySaaS / ZeroAuthy
- [SalesCompel progress and remaining roadmap](https://github.com/occupysaas/salescompel/blob/2aa326536f38768c24744079398966d325bb6589/docs/plans/2026-10-20-progress-and-remaining-roadmap.md) — OccupySaaS / SalesCompel
- [OccupySaaS discussion — November 2, 2026](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50331402) — Hacker News
- [Cover portrait: Marc Benioff by Christie Hemm Klok / Salesforce; cropped and background removed](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marc_Benioff.jpg) — Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
- [Cover portrait and adapted artwork license: CC BY-SA 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/) — Creative Commons