Build in public.
Get paid for it.
OpenBuild gives indie developers a place to ship in the open, build an audience, and turn that into sustainable income.
One big feature before v2. What matters most to you?
128 votes
newJust released Gather, a bookmark manager I've been prototyping. All backers have access.
Why we're keeping the free tier
Ran the numbers. Conversion from free to paid is 4.2% and growing. Removing the free tier would kill the funnel for a small short-term bump.
Week 12. Rewrote the file picker. Old one was fine on desktop but unusable on tablets. Took longer than expected but it's way better now.
Why build in public
Most devs treat building in public as a content strategy. It's more useful than that.
It's user research
Polls, decision journals, build logs. Each one is a conversation with the people using your product. You learn what matters before you spend three weeks building the wrong thing.
It's marketing
People share progress, not landing pages. When your process is visible, every update is something someone can stumble onto. You don't need a launch day if you never stop shipping.
Everything you need to build in the open
Tools designed for the process of building, not just the output. Share your journey, involve your audience, get paid.
Build logs
Share what you shipped, what broke, and what's next. Every update is proof you're building, and a reason for people to stick around.
Decision journals
Explain your thinking. Why you changed direction, what tradeoffs you made, what you said no to. Transparency builds trust.
Roadmap voting
Your users decide what gets built next.
Built-in kanban
Manage your project with a drag-and-drop board your backers can see. They follow your progress in real time, no status updates needed.
Subscriptions with tiers
Backers get access to your tools, updates, and new releases. You get income you can plan around. Not donations. Real recurring revenue.
Early access
The people backing you try new things first. They get value, you get feedback before launch.
Polls
Get feedback from your audience on anything. Quick, lightweight, built into the flow.
Public progress tracking
Milestones, streaks, and shipping history. Your audience sees momentum, not just promises.
Audience building
Grow a following around your work, not your content. Every build log, every decision, every poll is a touchpoint.
Builder networking
Connect with fellow indie builders. Share feedback, collaborate on ideas, and support each other's projects. Building alone is hard. You don't have to.
Revenue dashboard
See what's working. Track subscribers, revenue, and growth in one place.
Connect with GitHub
Link your repo and generate build logs automatically from commits, PRs, and releases. Ship code, and your audience sees the progress. No extra work.
Why people pay
They use the product
It's already part of their day. Paying keeps it alive and moving forward. Not charity. Closer to a subscription they actually want.
They want a say
Vote on what gets built next. Not +1 on a feature request that goes nowhere. Actual input from the people using the thing.
They trust the maker
You don't evaluate every release. You trust the pattern. This person makes things that work for me, so I'll keep paying attention.
Get early access
We're onboarding creators one at a time.