Welcome Page
Explore Page of Traveller
Settings/More page
Login Screen
Booking for Traveller
Package of Guide
Guide Dashboard
Request Page for Guide

Inspiration

Guidely was inspired by a common problem I noticed in Nepal. Travellers often want authentic local experiences, but finding trustworthy independent guides is difficult. Most bookings still happen through hotels, agencies, or informal social media referrals, making it hard for travellers to compare options and for independent guides to build their own presence.

I wanted to create a platform that connects travellers directly with verified local guides, making the booking process simpler, safer, and more transparent. Guidely starts with Pokhara and is designed to expand across Nepal.

What it does

Guidely is a travel marketplace that connects travellers with verified local guides.

For Travellers

Browse and discover tour packages.
Search and filter trips by destination and interests.
Save favourite packages.
View detailed package information.
Send secure booking requests directly to guides.

For Guides

Create and manage professional profiles.
Publish and edit tour packages.
Upload cover photos and trip highlights.
Manage incoming booking requests.

For Admins

Review and approve guide applications.
Moderate tour packages.
Manage support requests.
Maintain platform quality and trust.

How we built it

Guidely was built as a cross-platform Flutter application powered by Supabase.

Flutter for the traveller, guide, and admin experiences.
Supabase Auth for secure login, persistent sessions, password recovery, and role-based access.
PostgreSQL with Row Level Security (RLS) to protect user accounts, bookings, reviews, saved trips, and admin data.
Supabase Storage for profile images and package cover photos.
Resend SMTP with a custom domain for reliable authentication emails.
Custom SQL migrations and PostgreSQL functions for secure booking requests, package management, and guide approval workflows.

I also designed a clean, modern interface with responsive layouts, subtle animations, and a custom Guidely app icon to create a polished user experience.

Challenges I ran into

The biggest challenge was making a travel marketplace feel simple while keeping it secure.

Building three separate experiences for travellers, guides, and administrators required careful planning to keep the application intuitive while avoiding unnecessary complexity.

Securing the backend was another major challenge. I implemented strict Row Level Security policies, limited database permissions, protected privileged SQL functions, prevented unauthorized data modifications, and ensured admin privileges could never be granted from the client application.

I also had to keep the MVP focused. Instead of adding payments, live chat, notifications, or availability calendars too early, I prioritized building a reliable booking request workflow that could serve as a strong foundation for future features.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Built a complete Flutter MVP as a solo developer.
Designed dedicated dashboards for travellers, guides, and administrators.
Implemented secure authentication with persistent sessions and password recovery.
Configured custom SMTP email delivery using Resend.
Built secure booking requests with database-level validation for package availability, guide ownership, booking capacity, travel dates, and user identity.
Developed guide package creation and editing with rich descriptions, highlights, and cover images.
Added package search, filtering, saved trips, reviews, booking management, and support requests.
Designed a polished brand identity with a custom launcher icon, modern UI, and smooth animations.

What I learned

Building Guidely reinforced that security should be part of the product from the beginning rather than something added later.

Working with Supabase gave me practical experience implementing Row Level Security, database permissions, secure SQL functions, and role-based access control for a real-world application.

I also learned the importance of building a focused MVP. Delivering a reliable booking request workflow provides far more value than trying to ship many unfinished features.

AI tools helped accelerate research, debugging, UI design, and development while still requiring me to understand and validate every architectural and security decision.