The problem

For six years, Thore Cardel was trapped in what he calls "mass production." As a skilled designer and developer working primarily in the Shopify ecosystem, he had built a successful freelance practice creating custom themes for clients. But the work had become repetitive and limiting.

"For six years I was just doing mockup to theme for every client. It was constant, it was repetitive, and I was tired of it." Thore explained.

The frustration wasn't just about monotony. Thore could see opportunities to solve his clients' problems in ways that themes simply couldn't address. He wanted to build Shopify apps to create more sophisticated solutions, but every time he looked into app development, he hit the same wall.

"I wanted to try building apps for a long time, but I felt like it was just too much of a jungle for me to understand all of the documentation from Shopify," he shared. The complexity of authentication, webhook handling, and infrastructure setup made app development feel impossibly daunting for someone focused on design and frontend work.

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This technical barrier kept Thore stuck in a cycle that limited his growth potential. While he was constantly booked with theme projects, he was missing out on higher-value opportunities and the chance to build products that could generate recurring revenue. His business was entirely dependent on client work, with no path toward the kind of scalable income that successful app developers enjoy.

Thore knew he had the design and problem-solving skills to create valuable apps. He just couldn't bridge the gap between his frontend expertise and the backend complexity that app development seemed to require.

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The solution

It was a former colleague that told Thore about Gadget. They had heard about the platform's reputation for rapid development and MVPs, and with a checkout customization project on the horizon, they suggested Thore give it a try.

After months of unsuccessfully trying to decipher Shopify documentation, set up infrastructure, and build even a simple prototype, the difference was immediately apparent. "Easy is an understatement," Thore recalled. "I ran into some bumps along the way, but ultimately went from never building an app to launching on the app store in less than 3 months. That's crazy."

Gadget eliminated all of the technical barriers that had previously blocked Thore from app development. The built-in Shopify connection handled authentication automatically, so he didn't have to wrestle with OAuth flows. Infrastructure was managed entirely by the platform, so there was no need to deal with the "servers and things" that had felt overwhelming before. And the platform provided a developer experience that was so intuitive, Thore was able to tackle issues well beyond his experience level.

Gadget’s visual data modeling is a great example of how the platform works well for his design-oriented approach. "It feels like Lego in a way," he explained. "When I'm in this stage of designing or thinking about the broad picture, I'm able to quickly model data structures without feeling like a huge commitment. I can just remove it again. It’s just so easy."

More recently, Thore has started integrating AI tools into his workflow. He uses code assistants like Cursor as he builds locally, and will leverage Gadget's AI assistant for guidance on the app as a whole. But the real power comes from having Gadget's infrastructure beneath it all. "I use AI constantly," Thore explained. "But what makes it actually work is having Gadget handle all the infrastructure and complex Shopify integration. Without that foundation, AI-generated code often breaks in production."

The combination of Gadget with AI tooling completely changed how Thore could approach client problems. Instead of being limited to Shopify themes, he could prototype app solutions quickly and iterate on data structures without the fear of getting locked into complex technical decisions.

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The results

In 2023, Thore founded his own company, Inux. In less than two years, his business model has completely changed — and he hasn't looked back. He's gone from working as a freelancer building themes and restricted by one-off projects, to a full-stack app developer generating recurring revenue.

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I use AI constantly. But what makes it actually work is having Gadget handle all the infrastructure and complex Shopify integration. Without that foundation, AI-generated code often breaks in production.
— Thore Cardel, Inux

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Financial growth

‍Thore’s first app alone has generated over $35,000 in revenue — and it's growing every day. "It's crazy that all of that came from the first app I ever built," Thore shared. "And it’s because I had Gadget."

With Gadget, Thore has finally managed to break away from the service-only revenue model that restricted his growth. With revenue coming in from his public apps, he can prioritize client projects that sound interesting and fun to work on, and he’s proud that he can pursue interesting problems while balancing stability.

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A new business model

‍Gadget has fundamentally changed how Thore works with clients and approaches opportunities. He can offer app development alongside theme work, giving him the ability to solve the same problems that previously felt impossible.

Thore has found that many of the custom solutions he builds can be converted to public apps. Clients continue to get a fully custom solution tailor-made for their business, while Thore can quickly repurpose the app and extend the value to other merchants.

The most recent example of this transformation was a custom address translation app for a client who was manually copying and pasting orders into translation tools. After building the initial solution, he forked it into a public app that now serves multiple merchants with AI-powered automatic translations.

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Development superspeed

‍Projects that would have required months of learning and setup can now be prototyped and launched in weeks. Thore's ability to rapidly iterate and test ideas has opened up opportunities he never could have pursued when limited to theme customizations.

Since starting to build with Gadget in late 2023, Thore has launched 4 public apps, and has more in the works.

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More technical capabilities

‍Thore regularly takes on projects that would have been unthinkable during his theme-only days. He's building a queue system for flash sales and drops, developing GitHub workflow integration tools, and creating AI-powered solutions that automate complex business processes.

The combination of AI in his development workflow and Gadget's managed infrastructure has unlocked huge potential for Thore. While AI can quickly generate code, Gadget's managed infrastructure is what ensures anything he builds will actually work at scale. His address translation app is a great example: AI handles the complex translation logic, while Gadget manages the Shopify webhooks, data synchronization, and scaling automatically.

"The game has really changed with AI," Thore shared. "I can build things I never thought possible. But you still need rock-solid infrastructure underneath it all, and that's where Gadget is essential. AI can help you code faster, but everything needs to work when customers start using it. Gadget makes sure it always does."

With Gadget handling the complex infrastructure and providing the rapid development capabilities he needs, Thore has expanded beyond the limits of theme development. He’s become a versatile app developer, and with the revenue from his public apps, he can has the freedom to prioritize client projects he’s excited about, without risking his financial stability.

"It's really nice to have the opportunity to do work that brings so much value not only to my clients, but to strangers as well," Thore said. "Building with Gadget, I'm more confident now. I feel like whatever clients throw at me, I can solve it."