AI-powered software cloning is quite the hot topic. Software companies are likely unhappy with the notion of vibe coders ganging up to try and copy their software. Simultaneously, users tired of subscription models, price hikes, and drops in software quality are more than happy to rebel, as proven by the buzz around the Adobe-replacement ArtCraft. Now, OccupySaaS is the latest user-led revolt against the software system, aiming to create clean-room, open-source reimplementations of common services using AI tools.

The initiatives already underway in the project look to replace Auth0 and Salesforce with minty fresh alternatives called ZeroAuthy and SalesCompel, respectively. Given that these services all run on their companies' servers, there are no binaries to examine and decompile — the reimplementations are done referencing available documentation, APIs, development kit behaviors, and any applicable open standards. Judging from the project website, it seemingly wants new software to acts as a API-compatible drop-in replacement where applicable.

The project puts a sharp pin on its development ethics and requirements: all work must be a fully clean-room reimplementation, with no decompiled code, no confidential information (including source code) taken from any previous employers, and no copying of UI assets or any other trademarks.

Creating software in this manner is both easier and harder than usual. On the one hand, the only thing that matters is that whichever user inputs are processed and produce the same outputs as the original software, and those behaviors are largely defined by the aforementioned specifications.

At the same time, hosted software is effectively a black box with internal behaviors and "gotchas" that aren't immediately obvious.

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