Why I Removed Signup and Login From My Tools — Users Loved It

#webdev #productivity #buildinpublic #ux

I didn’t remove signup and login because it was trendy.
I removed it because users kept leaving.

I was building small browser-based tools for simple daily tasks—things like format conversion, quick generators, one-off utilities. The kind of stuff you want to use for 30 seconds and move on.

But there was a problem.

People opened the tool…
and the first thing they saw was a signup screen.

Most never came back.

The moment it clicked

I started asking myself a simple question:

If I just want to convert something quickly, would I create an account?

Honestly? No.

So why was I forcing others to?

That’s when I decided to try something radical (at least for me):
remove signup and login completely.

What happened after removing signup

A few things changed immediately:

Users reached the tool faster
Bounce rate dropped
People actually used the tools instead of leaving
Feedback became more positive

No onboarding.
No email verification.
No “create an account to continue”.

Just: open → use → done.

And users loved that.

When signup makes sense (and when it doesn’t)

I’m not anti-authentication.

Signup does make sense when:

You’re storing user data
There’s personalization or history
Payments or subscriptions are involved
Security really matters

But for simple, one-off tools?

Signup becomes friction, not value.

For those cases, it often answers the wrong question.
Users aren’t asking “Can I trust this app long-term?”
They’re asking “Can I finish this task right now?”

What I learned as a builder

Removing signup taught me something important:

Trust isn’t created by accounts.
Trust is created by respecting the user’s time.

Fast load.
Clear UI.
No surprises.
No forced commitments.

That matters more than any onboarding flow.

Where I’m heading next

I’m continuing to build tools that:

Work directly in the browser

Don’t require accounts

Respect privacy

Solve one small problem well

It’s been a mindset shift—from “how do I onboard users?”
to “how do I get out of their way?”