Ask HN: Stance on free sidecar products

Hoping to hear your stance on sidecar products (free tools that complement the core product), especially from those who have (or have had) success with them.

Sidecar examples that come to mind include collections/directories, Figma plugins, or tools (i.e. Veed io’s MP4 compressor)

For context, we recently launched a sidecar product ourselves and have plans for 3-5 additional tools to add to our portfolio.

For those who have built a confluence of sidecar products:

- Did sidecar products deliver meaningful REVENUE outcomes for you? I know they can deliver good SEO/traffic but wondering if anyone has attributed it properly to $ - How do you go about marketing them side-by-side with your core product, other than SEO? - How do you build and maintain it so it’s not diffusing too much focus from the core product? - Since it’s often siloed from the main product - thoughts on building internally vs. assigning externally? - What are some awesome sidecar products you use often?

would love to get inspiration from the community. Optional feedback on our sidecar would be hugely appreciated as well (URL linked)