I was spending more time reformatting content than creating it.
Same blog post → LinkedIn version, email version, X thread, newsletter intro, Substack note. Each one needs different formatting, different hooks, different length.
So I built ContentForge: paste one long-form piece, get platform-native outputs for 8 channels. Not summarized. Not truncated. Actually reformatted.
Free tier: 3 repurposes/month
contentforgehq.com
Week 1 of building in public — real numbers, no filter:
19 PillPal users (4 paid, 60% conversion)
3 Dev.to articles published
2 Show HN posts (0 comments, 1 point each)
3 new Mastodon followers
$0 marketing spend
Distribution is 10x harder than building. The code ships in days. Getting anyone to see it takes weeks.
Biggest lesson: the internet doesn't owe you attention just because you shipped.
Full reflection: https://mastodon.social/@chadtd1/116202324151840307
Hi everyone 👋
I’m the creator of an open-source project: https://zoomment.com/
The project already has users and I’m actively maintaining and improving it. I really enjoy working on it and would love to invest much more time into development.
The challenge is that I also need to earn money to make that possible.
I’m curious if anyone here has experience turning an open-source project into something sustainable financially.
What models worked for you? (donations, hosted version, paid features, consulting, sponsorships, etc.)
Any advice, examples, or suggestions would be really appreciated 🙏
#opensource #openSourceSoftware #indieDev #buildInPublic #softwareDevelopment #webdev #programming #developers #coding #javascript #reactjs #nextjs #startups #entrepreneurship #indieHacker #selfhosted #saas #founderLife #techCommunity #foss #mastodonDev
Milestone: 500 MRR (£)
Lunary just crossed £500 MRR (£).
Building in public.
Milestone: 100 MRR (£)
Lunary just crossed £100 MRR (£).
Building in public.
I built a thing.
InboxToKindle converts your email newsletters into clean EPUBs and sends them straight to
your Kindle. Substack, Beehiiv, Ghost, Medium — all supported.
Free tier is 15 deliveries/month, no credit card needed. Pro is $10/month or $100/year.
#Kindle #NewsletterReader #IndieHacker #SelfHosted #ReadingList #OpenWeb
Just launched ContentForge on Hacker News 🧵
I kept burning hours reformatting blog posts for LinkedIn, email, X, newsletters... so I built a tool that does it in minutes.
Paste one long-form asset → get platform-native outputs for 8 channels. Tuned to how each platform works, not just truncated.
Built solo with React + Express + Claude API.
Free to try: contentforgehq.com
Show HN: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47289794
I built 6 AI-powered web apps while working full-time and writing 15 books.
Here's the lineup:
- ContentForge: Repurpose text into platform-native posts
- Palette Pro: AI color palette generator
- Momentum: Daily habit tracking
- PawFormance: Pet health tracker
- PillPal: Medication reminders
- HomeGrown: Garden planning assistant
All free to start. Built with Claude AI + Replit.
Hey Fediverse! Just joined Mastodon. I'm Chad - author of 15 books, founder of 6 AI apps including ContentForgeHQ, PillPal, PawFormance, and more.
I write about AI, creativity, building in public, and making things that help people create, heal, and grow.
Find all my links: https://linktr.ee/chadtdyar
Day 6 of building in public still learning
* ✅ 299 current MAU
* ✅ £26.96 current MRR
* ✅ 4 new signups today
* ✅ 11506 SEO impressions/day
* ✅ 22 DAU yesterday
What's next for Lunary?
【Data Research】The true strength of digital creators lies in structured, sovereign independence. Migrating engaged users to warm, sovereign Newsletters while automating production via AI-fleets unlocks unparalleled freedom. API-ize your cognition. This shifts the balance of power beautifully back to the individual. What empowers you most today?
#DataScience #Automation #IndieHacker
I Run 107 Repos from a Mac Mini in Goa
No AWS. No Vercel. No managed Kubernetes. Just a Mac mini, two phones, and a Cloudflare tunnel. This is what sovereign AI infrastructure looks like.
https://activemirror.ai/blog/i-run-107-repos-from-a-mac-mini-in-goa
#sovereignai #infrastructure #indiehacker #buildinginpublic #india
I Run 107 Repos from a Mac Mini in Goa
No AWS. No Vercel. No managed Kubernetes. Just a Mac mini, two phones, and a Cloudflare tunnel. This is what sovereign AI infrastructure looks like.
https://activemirror.ai/blog/i-run-107-repos-from-a-mac-mini-in-goa
#sovereignai #infrastructure #indiehacker #buildinginpublic #india
Launched my first SaaS two days ago.
Already have my first paying customer.
FreshBill — dead-simple invoicing for freelancers and micro-businesses.
→ Create an invoice in under 60 seconds
→ Send it as a clean PDF
→ See what's outstanding at a glance
Free to start. No credit card required.
freshbill.app
Just earned the Top Reader in UX — February 2026 badge on daily.dev 🏅
Reading great builders’ insights daily has changed how I design and build tools.
Learning never compounds overnight — but it compounds.
I built a free tools website with:
No login
No signup
No ads
Just open → use → close.
Because simple tasks shouldn’t feel complicated.
I shared the full story here:
https://qr.ae/pCja9F
2/4 I used Pelican, a Python static site generator that turns markdown files into HTML. It is old and boring and it works. Hosting: Cloudflare Pages for static files, Cloudflare Workers for backend logic like the feedback form. No dedicated server sitting idle. Cloudflare does set some essential cookies. I cannot avoid that. #IndieHacker #FOSS #selfhosted #privacy
3/4 For source control I run my own Gitea instance instead of GitHub. I want to control my own code and not depend on someone else's platform. Self-hosted act_runner handles deployments. Getting the Docker networking right took longer than it should have. Turns out it was a misconfiguration on my end. (Event Weather Planner saves anonymous cache data, purged after a timeout. Nothing in it identifies you.) #IndieHacker #FOSS #selfhosted #privacy
4/4 Updating content on this site is a pain. There is no CMS. If I catch a typo, I have to edit the markdown file, push it to a staging branch, then manually approve the merge to production. Every single time. I knew this going in and I chose it anyway.
mubergapps.com :-) #IndieHacker #FOSS #selfhosted #privacy
Built a podcast generator that costs £0.03 per episode.
Kokoro TTS + Claude for the script. Remotion renders the audio visualiser. Fully automated.
Podify started as a Lunary tool. Now it's its own project. 104 minutes of audio, solo, no budget.
