Ask HN: Built a dev tool, but struggling with traction – advice?
A few weeks ago I launched https://jspad.dev. There’s no upsell or paywall. The plan is to keep the current set of features (and few more) free forever and introduce paid tiers for niche features like collaborative sessions, creating/managing interview sessions etc. TBH I don't even want to think too much about paid tier at the moment, since the traction has been so low.
Since launch, I’ve done some light promotion:
Shared it on Reddit, Twitter, dev communities
Shared it on HN
Mentioned it in a blog posts
Added it on google search console
But… traction has been so underwhelming. A trickle of users find it, and a few love it, but it hasn’t really spread. I would love for more devs to actually know about and use it — maybe the way they use it eventually helps me find a way to monetize it a mutually useful way.
For other indie hackers or dev tool creators: What worked for you to get your first 1,000 active users? How do you grow something useful but niche when you're not charging for it and can’t rely on traditional paid channels?
Also open to any feedback on the site or idea itself.
Thanks a lot!