r/micro_saas

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to share a small win. This March, I finally crossed $100 in monthly revenue (hit $169!) for my Android apps for the first time.

It’s been 8 months of hard work alongside my 9-to-5 iOS developer job. Today, I’m feeling on top of the world. I wanted to share this with the community to motivate others, because these types of posts have truly motivated me throughout this journey.

The majority of my revenue comes from Lifetime Pro Offers, which is why my MRR is relatively low ($18). Since my apps don't require a backend, I don't have any overhead issues with offering lifetime deals.

So far, my marketing has mostly consisted of posting in relevant subreddits and focusing on ASO. I haven't spent anything on paid marketing yet. I’m now looking for a strategy to grow further—maybe Google Ads or social media? I’m not quite sure yet.

Any suggestions on how to scale from this point are very welcome. If you want to ask me anything about the process, please feel free!

Keep pushing! Keep believing!

Show us What you’ve been working on this week 👇🏽 Let’s Support Each Other

Name: OpenSourceAIHub.ai

What it does: We provide an AI Firewall that stops company data from leaking into LLM prompts and Smart LLM Router to cut LLM costs to great extent. Drop-in OpenAI SDK compatible proxy that adds real-time multi-modal DLP (PII redaction in text + images via OCR), blocks prompt injections, and autonomously routes to the cheapest/fastest model (Llama, Groq, Claude, Grok, etc.). 1M free credits, no card required.

Why use it:

• 💸 Stop AI data leaks + cut LLM cost by 30% with one API
• 🛡️ Security: Flexible DLP that automatically redact PII, PCI and other sensitive data such as emails, API keys, and SSNs in text and images (OCR) (28+ entities).
• 💸 Cost Control: Smart-route requests between Groq, Together AI, DeepInfra, Mistral AI, Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI, Google Gemini, xAI (Grok) to save up to 90%.
• 📊 Governance: Enforce per-project budgets and export audit-ready CSV logs.
• ⚡ Ease: 100% OpenAI SDK compatible. Just change your baseURL and you're protected.

Latest Update: Just launched our Multi-modal OCR scan—we now catch PII in screenshots before they reach the model provider.

Discount: 1M Free credits upon signup. Wallet Top-ups and Pro BYOK tier.

Drop your project below, let’s support each other 👇🏽

Seeing a great launch fail because of a 'Spam Trap' is heartbreaking.

Google and Outlook now use AI to flag 'Broadcast Tone' that founders cannot see. I built InboxGuard as a pre-send risk engine to give you a technical x-ray before you hit send.

Since I am at $0 MRR, I am giving a Lifetime Free Plan to the first 10 founders here.

Run a 60-second scan: tool

I am jumping into 3 products from this thread now to give technical feedback on their deliverability flow!

I have been working on something recently and wanted a sanity check from folks here.

While building with LLM APIs, I kept running into two issues:

- costs getting unpredictable depending on model/provider

- users occasionally pasting sensitive stuff into prompts without realizing it

So I started putting a thin layer in front of model calls to catch obvious sensitive data before it gets sent out route requests to cheaper/faster models when possible

Nothing too complex, just trying to solve a couple of practical problems I kept seeing.

Curious what you guys think about this tool.

Most "AI Gateways" are just loggers. I’ve been working on a design for an active firewall that redacts sensitive data (PII, PCI, Secrets) before it reaches the LLM provider.

The Security Posture:

1. Stateless Sovereignty: Prompts processed in volatile memory only. No content persistence.
2. Fail-Closed Logic: If the scanner fails, the request is killed (500). Zero unscanned data leakage.
3. IP Guard: Custom regex-based detection for internal project names and proprietary terminology.
4. Multi-Modal: OCR-scan of images to catch PII in screenshots.
5. Audit Trail: Metadata logging only (Violation type + timestamp).

I’m looking for feedback from security pros: If you were auditing a vendor like this, what is your #1 concern? Does "Metadata-only logging" satisfy your audit requirements for SOC2/HIPAA?

I’ve documented the architecture here: https://opensourceaihub.ai/security

Would love to hear where the "weak links" are in this proxy model.

i spent 5 months paying for ahrefs. exported spreadsheets full of keywords with volume scores and difficulty ratings. wrote content targeting 30+ of them. organic traffic barely moved.

then i started reading reddit threads where people were describing their actual problems. the language they used was completely different from what any keyword tool suggested. started targeting those phrases instead and three of them hit page one within 6 weeks.

here's the exact process i use now.

1/ find where your buyers complain

go to reddit and search for your niche + words like "frustrated", "looking for", "anyone know", "alternative to", "tired of". the subreddits where people actively describe problems are where your keywords live. not in a tool's autocomplete database.

sort by recent. you want fresh language, not recycled terms from 2023.

2/ copy their exact words

when someone writes "i need a way to find saas keywords that actually convert instead of just high volume garbage", that entire phrase is a content opportunity. the long-tail version of what they typed is probably what they also googled.

keyword tools would give you "saas keyword research." reddit gives you "find saas keywords that actually convert." one of those has 50 competitors. the other has zero.

low competition + high specificity = rankings that stick.

3/ check if anyone answered well

if the thread has 40 replies and none of them actually solve the problem, that's your content gap. write the definitive answer as a blog post targeting that exact phrase. you're filling a hole that google's algorithm already knows exists because people searched for it, landed on reddit, and didn't find a real answer elsewhere.

4/ score the keywords before you write

this is where i wasted the most time early on. i'd find 60 phrases from reddit threads and then write content for all of them. half had zero real search intent behind them. people vented on reddit but never actually googled the same thing.

now i score every keyword on four things before writing a single word: how specific it is, whether the searcher is browsing or buying, how relevant it is to what i sell, and how likely someone searching this would actually sign up. if it doesn't pass on at least three of those, i skip it.

this filtering alone cut my wasted content in half.

5/ target the "ready to buy" phrases first

"best crm for small teams" is informational. "crm that doesn't require training for non-technical staff" is someone ready to swipe a card. reddit threads reveal which version your buyers actually use because they write it out when they're frustrated.

phrases with qualifiers, specific use cases, and comparisons convert 3-4x better than generic head terms. those are the ones worth writing for first.

6/ don't sleep on competitor threads

search for your competitors on reddit. every "alternative to [competitor]" thread is a keyword and a buying signal at the same time. people asking for alternatives have already validated the category. they just want a better option.

what didn't work

i tried using ai to generate keyword lists from scratch without any reddit input. the output was generic and overlapped with everything already ranking on page one. ai is great at scoring and filtering keywords you already found, but terrible at discovering the weird specific phrases real people use.

i also tried automating the reddit scraping part manually with python scripts. took forever to maintain and broke constantly. eventually i started using a tool that handles the reddit scanning and ai keyword scoring in one place, but honestly the manual process above still works if you have a couple hours a week to spare.

the bigger point is your best keywords aren't hiding in a database somewhere. they're sitting in threads where someone spent 10 minutes at 11pm typing out their exact problem because nothing else solved it.

what's your process for finding keywords that actually convert? curious if anyone else is pulling from reddit or forums instead of relying on traditional seo tools.

also i started a discord for founders doing seo and building in public, feel free to join if you want to keep the conversation going

First time founders obsess over product. Second time founders obsess over distribution.

If you want your startup to succeed in this current era, you are going to have to think deeply about distribution.

Below, I'm listing the distribution tips to help you succeed:

1. Bake growth mechanics into the product. Not just tacked on, but a core functionality of the product. You are playing on hard mode if you don't do this.
2. Timing matters. Use tools to find your customers in the heat of the moment when they are experiencing their problem. This will significantly improve conversions.
3. Go deep and niche. The more specific your product or ICP is, the easier it is to find qualified leads and sell to. You can always expand your TAM later.
4. Do things that don't scale. Getting your first customers will be a manual effort where you spend time to get your first batch of customers. This is the hardest part of the journey.
5. Leverage your existing network. The warmer the better.
6. Make it dumb to say no. Offer so much value upfront at such little cost that there is no real reason to say no. Also employ risk reversals.
7. Think deeply about your startup. The more intimately you understand your business, brand, positioning, etc., the better your distribution endeavors will be.

Things that compound but no gain short term:

1. Consider content. If you have a loyal audience, you are playing startup distribution on easy mode. However cultivating an audience is much more difficult than expected. Might be worth starting now.
2. Consider GEO. It is worth being intentional about how AIs experience your project, making sure your website is crawlable, and creating tons of blog posts or content for AI to intake.
3. Consider SEO. Takes a long time to kick in but compounds like crazy.

Cold email template I am using for my startup:

1. Hey [Name],
2. [Personalization]
3. [Why my product is good for you]
4. [CTA]
5. [Link]
6. [PS: (Emphasize CTA; feels more personal)]
7. -- [Name]

Here is the actual cold email template I am using on creators for reference:

1. Hey [Name],
2. [Personalization]
3. Recently, I launched a feedback tool/startup for creators: lumeforms. The core loop is that you create intentional spaces for your audience to drop honest, blunt feedback and receive tailored actionable analysis that drives better metrics, better content, and sustained growth for your channel. Also, it ensures you are in constant conversation with your audience and helps signal to them that you are serious about the quality of your work.
4. If this resonates with you, because I am still validating the idea for creators, I'd be happy to give you a month free in exchange for your honest feedback on the tool. No strings attached, and if you’d like, I'll work with you closely and make sure you get value. I think it would be a good fit for you.
5. Website: https://www.lumeforms.com/content-creators
6. PS: Check out the free creator audit I made that gives you a tailored starting point for your channel specifically. Just type in channel details and get results in less than 10 seconds. No email or account required.
7. -- Akhil

Drop 1-2 lines and the link to increase visibility for your SaaS.

I’m building - www.techtrendin.com - to help founders launch and grow their SaaS.

What are you building?

Share it below and on TechTrendin.

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to share a small win. This March, I finally crossed $100 in monthly revenue (hit $169!) for my Android apps for the first time.

It’s been 8 months of hard work alongside my 9-to-5 iOS developer job. Today, I’m feeling on top of the world. I wanted to share this with the community to motivate others, because these types of posts have truly motivated me throughout this journey.

The majority of my revenue comes from Lifetime Pro Offers, which is why my MRR is relatively low ($18). Since my apps don't require a backend, I don't have any overhead issues with offering lifetime deals.

So far, my marketing has mostly consisted of posting in relevant subreddits and focusing on ASO. I haven't spent anything on paid marketing yet. I’m now looking for a strategy to grow further—maybe Google Ads or social media? I’m not quite sure yet.

Any suggestions on how to scale from this point are very welcome. If you want to ask me anything about the process, please feel free!

Keep pushing! Keep believing!

🚀 Building AI agents just got visual (and way faster) Most people think building automation or AI agents requires heavy coding… But with Workflow Builder on GiLo.Dev we are quietly changing that. Instead of writing complex logic, you design workflows visually like drawing a map of how your AI should think and act. 💡 What makes Workflow Builder powerful? It’s not just drag & drop… it’s a full system to design intelligent behavior: Triggers → define when your workflow starts (event, schedule, webhook) Actions → execute tasks (API calls, messages, updates) Conditions → create decision-making logic Tools / Functions → connect external capabilities Human approvals → keep control when needed Everything runs through a visual canvas, making complex logic easy to understand and scale. 🧩 Why this matters Traditional automation = rigid scripts Workflow Builder = flexible, modular systems You can: Build AI agents without starting from scratch Prototype workflows in minutes Iterate visually instead of rewriting code

Combine automation + AI + APIs in one place The result: faster development + clearer logic + better collaboration ⚡ The bigger shift We’re moving from: “Write code to define behavior” To: “Design systems that define behavior” And tools like Workflow Builder are at the center of this shift. If you're building AI agents, SaaS tools, or automation systems… this is a layer you should not ignore. #AI #Automation #Workflow #NoCode #Agents #SaaS #TechInnovation

Just got approved for the $1000 AWS Activate grant for my startup.

Might not be a big grant, but it helps my app render 30,000 youtube shorts for free, which is a win for my users because I'm going to pass these benefits directly to them.

AWS is just one service my app relies on. and I've also applied for the other services like transcript service (Deepgram/Elevenlabs), file storage service (cloudflare R2) and a couple more.

Will post here as I get responses from them.

Does anyone here have experience getting startup grants?

Do share.