DEV Community: Nick Davies

Why I Switched to Hostinger — Honest Review After Using It for Months

Nick Davies — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 06:02:06 +0000

I've tried multiple hosting providers over the years. Here's why Hostinger is my current recommendation, especially for developers and small businesses.

What I Like

Price-to-Value Ratio

Starting at $2.99/mo for the Premium plan, you get more than most hosts charge $10+/mo for:

Free domain (1 year)
Free SSL
CDN included
WordPress one-click install
Drag-and-drop builder
Email accounts

NVMe Storage

The Unlimited ($3.79/mo) and Cloud Startup ($7.99/mo) plans use NVMe storage, which is noticeably faster than regular SSD hosting.

Vibe Coding

This is a newer feature — describe your website in plain English and AI builds it. Useful for quick prototypes and landing pages.

Developer-Friendly

Node.js support
SSH access
Git integration
Multiple PHP versions
WP-CLI support

Plan Breakdown

Plan	Price	Storage	Websites	Key Feature
Premium	$2.99/mo	20 GB SSD	3	Best starting point
Unlimited	$3.79/mo	50 GB NVMe	Unlimited	Best value
Cloud Startup	$7.99/mo	100 GB NVMe	Unlimited	Best performance

Who Should Use Hostinger

Beginners launching their first site
Freelancers managing multiple client sites (Unlimited plan)
Small businesses that need reliable hosting without enterprise pricing
Developers who want Node.js + WordPress on the same host

30-day money-back guarantee on all plans.

Latest Hostinger Coupon Codes

Code	Deal
BLACKFRIDAY	10% off your orders.
TECHROOSTSAVINGS	81% Off All Orders
IMAGE

Apply at checkout: Hostinger pricing

Check Hostinger plans →

Top 10 NEWS APIs & Scrapers in 2026 — Ranked by Active Users

Nick Davies — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 05:56:55 +0000

Looking for the best news tools? I put together a list of the top 10 most popular ones on Apify, ranked by active users.

1. Reddit Scraper Lite

40K users | 4.6/5 rating | Pay per event

Pay Per Result, unlimited Reddit web scraper to crawl posts, comments, communities, and users without login. Limit web scraping by number of posts or

Try it on Apify

2. Facebook Posts Search

11K users | 4.2/5 rating | Pay per event

✨ Search for Facebook posts using keywords or hashtags. Retrieve post URLs, content, publication dates, author details, and engagement metrics. Ideal

Try it on Apify

3. Google News Scraper

2K users | 3.9/5 rating | Pay per event

Powerful Google News scraper, collect up to 5000 news articles with flexible search options, language support. Perfect for news aggregation, market re

Try it on Apify

4. Google Trends Scraper

13K users | 3.6/5 rating | Pay per event

Scrape data from Google Trends by search terms or URLs. Specify locations, define time ranges, select categories to get interest by subregion and over

Try it on Apify

5. Smart Article Extractor

8K users | 4.8/5 rating | Free

📰 Smart Article Extractor extracts articles from any scientific, academic, or news website with just one click. The extractor crawls the whole websit

Try it on Apify

6. Google Jobs Scraper

3K users | 4.5/5 rating | Pay per event

The most advanced Google Jobs Scraper available! Built with enterprise-grade flexibility, lightning-fast performance, and comprehensive customization

Try it on Apify

7. Google News Scraper (Pay Per Event)

2K users | 4.9/5 rating | Pay per event

Scrape Google News in real time, including images and descriptions. This tool extracts complete structured data: high-resolution visuals, full, titles

Try it on Apify

8. New York Times News Scraper

55 users | New rating | Pay per event

Extract New York Times articles at scale: headline, byline, authors, publication date, categories, tags and the article text as served to anonymous vi

Try it on Apify

9. Facebook Posts Details Scraper

2K users | 4.7/5 rating | Pay per event

Scrap Facebook posts fast and easy. This actor is a lightweight version of the Facebook Posts actor. It is designed to be fast and efficient, so it ca

Try it on Apify

10. VK Posts Scraper

221 users | 5.0/5 rating | Pay per event

Collect public VK wall posts and direct posts. Get text, authors, dates, engagement counts, repost data, media details, target types, and source links

Try it on Apify

Why Apify?

All of these tools run in the cloud with zero setup. No servers, no proxies, no code. Just configure your inputs and get structured data back as JSON, CSV, or Excel.

Every new account gets $5/month in free credits — sign up here.

Want to see all 26,000+ tools? Check out the full directory on GitHub.

How to Generate 10,000+ Leads Per Month Using Automation Tools

Nick Davies — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:15:19 +0000

Manual lead research is dead. Here's how to automate the entire pipeline.

The Problem

Most developers still write custom scripts for data collection. This means:

Hours of development time
Maintaining proxy infrastructure
Dealing with CAPTCHAs and rate limits
Scripts breaking every time a website changes

The Solution

Platforms like Apify offer pre-built tools (called "actors") that handle all of this for you. There are over 26,000 of them covering every major website and use case.

Best Tools for Lead Generation

1. Instagram Scraper (380K users)

Extract Instagram posts, reels, profiles, places, hashtags, carousels, and comments. Get data from Instagram using one or more Instagram URLs or search queries: content, context, metrics, metadata. Ex

Try it free

2. TikTok Scraper (247K users)

Extract data from TikTok videos, hashtags, and users. Use URLs or search queries to scrape TikTok profiles, hashtags, posts, URLs, shares, followers, hearts, names, video, and music-related data. Expo

Try it free

3. Google Maps Scraper (583K users)

Extract data from thousands of Google Maps locations and businesses, including reviews, reviewer details, images, contact info, including full name, email, and job title, opening hours, prices & more.

Try it free

4. Google Search Results Scraper (173K users)

Scrape Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Select the country or language and extract organic and paid results, AI Mode, AI overviews, ads, queries, People Also Ask, prices, reviews, like a Go

Try it free

5. Website Content Crawler (151K users)

Crawl websites and extract text content to feed AI models, LLM applications, vector databases, or RAG pipelines. The Actor supports rich formatting using Markdown, cleans the HTML, downloads files, an

Try it free

Getting Started

Create a free Apify account — comes with $5/month in credits
Browse the full directory of 26,000+ tools
Pick a tool, configure your inputs, and hit Run
Download results as JSON, CSV, or push to Google Sheets

No servers. No code. No proxies. Just data.

Build Apps Without Code: Built-in Database with Base44

Nick Davies — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:10:08 +0000

Building software used to require months of development time. Base44 changes that completely.

What is Base44?

Base44 is a no-code/vibe-coding platform that lets you build full applications by describing what you want in plain English. The AI generates your app — frontend, backend, database, and deployment — in minutes.

Feature Spotlight: Built-in Database

Every app gets a database automatically. No setup, no schemas to write — just describe your data.

Why Developers and Non-Developers Love It

AI-powered generation — describe your app, get a working prototype
Built-in database — no schema design or migration headaches
Authentication included — user login works out of the box
One-click deploy — go live instantly, no DevOps needed
AI agents — build intelligent automations natively

Get Started

Base44 is free to start. No credit card required.

Try Base44 free →

How to Build Ecommerce Without Writing a Single Line of Code

Nick Davies — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 21:49:12 +0000

Need ecommerce but don't have the budget for a dev team? Here's how to build it yourself in minutes.

The Problem

Traditionally, building ecommerce requires:

A frontend developer
A backend developer
Database design
DevOps for deployment
Weeks or months of development time

The Solution: Base44

Base44 lets you skip all of that. Just describe your ecommerce app in plain English, and the AI builds everything:

Describe — Tell Base44 what your ecommerce app should do
Customize — Tweak the generated UI and logic
Deploy — Go live with one click

What You Get

Full working application with database
User authentication built in
Mobile-responsive design
Custom domain support
No monthly developer costs

Perfect For

Non-technical founders building ecommerce
Freelancers delivering ecommerce to clients fast
Teams prototyping before committing to custom development

Build your ecommerce app free →

No-Code in 2024: Why AI-Powered App Builders Are Replacing Drag-and-Drop

Nick Davies — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 21:44:01 +0000

The no-code space has evolved. Drag-and-drop builders were the first wave. AI-powered builders like Base44 are the next.

Traditional No-Code vs AI-Powered No-Code

Feature	Drag & Drop Tools	Base44 (AI-Powered)
App creation	Manual component placement	Describe in English
Database	Manual schema design	Auto-generated
Authentication	Plugin or add-on	Built-in
AI agents	Not available	Native support
Learning curve	Hours to days	Minutes
Deployment	Separate configuration	One click

What Makes Base44 Different

You describe, AI builds. Instead of dragging components around a canvas, you tell Base44 what your app should do in plain English. The AI generates the full stack — frontend, backend, database, auth, and hosting.

Full-stack output. Most no-code tools give you a frontend. Base44 gives you a complete application with a real database, API endpoints, and user management.

AI agents built in. Build intelligent automations that can process data, answer questions, and trigger actions — no third-party integrations needed.

Who It's For

Founders who want to validate ideas fast
Agencies building client apps without dev overhead
Teams that need internal tools yesterday

Try Base44 free →

No-Code in 2024: Why AI-Powered App Builders Are Replacing Drag-and-Drop

Nick Davies — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 19:24:45 +0000

The no-code space has evolved. Drag-and-drop builders were the first wave. AI-powered builders like Base44 are the next.

Traditional No-Code vs AI-Powered No-Code

Feature	Drag & Drop Tools	Base44 (AI-Powered)
App creation	Manual component placement	Describe in English
Database	Manual schema design	Auto-generated
Authentication	Plugin or add-on	Built-in
AI agents	Not available	Native support
Learning curve	Hours to days	Minutes
Deployment	Separate configuration	One click

What Makes Base44 Different

Full-stack output. Most no-code tools give you a frontend. Base44 gives you a complete application with a real database, API endpoints, and user management.

AI agents built in. Build intelligent automations that can process data, answer questions, and trigger actions — no third-party integrations needed.

Who It's For

Founders who want to validate ideas fast
Agencies building client apps without dev overhead
Teams that need internal tools yesterday

Try Base44 free →

How to Launch a Portfolio site for Under $3/Month

Nick Davies — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 19:19:34 +0000

You don't need expensive hosting to launch a portfolio site. Here's how to get one live in under an hour for $2.99/mo.

What You Need

A domain — Hostinger includes one free for the first year
Hosting — The Premium plan ($2.99/mo) is enough to start
A platform — WordPress (one-click install) or Hostinger's drag-and-drop builder

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Pick Your Plan

For a portfolio site, the Premium plan works great. You get 20 GB SSD storage, free SSL, CDN, and 24/7 support.

If you think you'll add more sites later, the Unlimited plan ($3.79/mo) gives you unlimited websites and daily backups.

2. Register Your Domain

Pick a domain during checkout — it's free for the first year with WHOIS privacy included.

3. Install WordPress or Use the Builder

Hostinger's control panel lets you install WordPress in one click. Or use their drag-and-drop builder if you want something simpler.

They also have vibe coding — describe your site in plain English and AI generates it.

4. Set Up Email

Create a professional email address (hello@yourdomain.com) through Hostinger's built-in email tools.

5. Go Live

Activate SSL (free), enable CDN, and you're live. The whole process takes 30-60 minutes.

Why Hostinger?

NVMe storage on higher plans
99.9% uptime guarantee
Built-in ecommerce support
Free automatic website migration
30-day money-back guarantee

Latest Hostinger Coupon Codes

Code	Deal
BLACKFRIDAY	10% off your orders.
TECHROOSTSAVINGS	81% Off All Orders
IMAGE

Apply at checkout: Hostinger pricing

Get started with Hostinger →

Hostinger Plans Compared: Which One Do You Actually Need in 2026?

Nick Davies — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 06:35:57 +0000

Choosing a hosting plan shouldn't be complicated. Here's a breakdown of Hostinger's three main plans so you can pick the right one without overpaying.

Plan Comparison

Plan	Price	Websites	Storage	Backups	Best For
Premium	$2.99/mo	3	20 GB SSD	Weekly	Personal sites, blogs
Unlimited	$3.79/mo	Unlimited	50 GB NVMe	Daily	Freelancers, growing brands
Cloud Startup	$7.99/mo	Unlimited	100 GB NVMe	Daily + on-demand	Agencies, high-traffic sites

What All Plans Include

Free domain for 1 year
Free SSL certificate
CDN for global speed
WordPress one-click install
Drag-and-drop website builder
Vibe coding — describe your site, AI builds it
24/7 priority support
99.9% uptime guarantee

My Recommendation

The Unlimited plan at $3.79/mo is the sweet spot. Unlimited websites, daily backups, unlimited mailboxes, and NVMe storage. If you're managing client sites or running multiple projects, it's hard to beat.

For high-traffic sites or agencies, Cloud Startup adds dedicated IP, 4 CPU cores, and 4 GB RAM.

Latest Hostinger Coupon Codes

Code	Deal
BLACKFRIDAY	10% off your orders.
TECHROOSTSAVINGS	81% Off All Orders
IMAGE

Apply at checkout: Hostinger pricing

All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Check Hostinger pricing →

How to Launch an Ecommerce store for Under $3/Month

Nick Davies — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 06:30:46 +0000

You don't need expensive hosting to launch a ecommerce store. Here's how to get one live in under an hour for $2.99/mo.

What You Need

A domain — Hostinger includes one free for the first year
Hosting — The Premium plan ($2.99/mo) is enough to start
A platform — WordPress (one-click install) or Hostinger's drag-and-drop builder

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Pick Your Plan

For a ecommerce store, the Premium plan works great. You get 20 GB SSD storage, free SSL, CDN, and 24/7 support.

If you think you'll add more sites later, the Unlimited plan ($3.79/mo) gives you unlimited websites and daily backups.

2. Register Your Domain

Pick a domain during checkout — it's free for the first year with WHOIS privacy included.

3. Install WordPress or Use the Builder

Hostinger's control panel lets you install WordPress in one click. Or use their drag-and-drop builder if you want something simpler.

They also have vibe coding — describe your site in plain English and AI generates it.

4. Set Up Email

Create a professional email address (hello@yourdomain.com) through Hostinger's built-in email tools.

5. Go Live

Activate SSL (free), enable CDN, and you're live. The whole process takes 30-60 minutes.

Why Hostinger?

NVMe storage on higher plans
99.9% uptime guarantee
Built-in ecommerce support
Free automatic website migration
30-day money-back guarantee

Latest Hostinger Coupon Codes

Code	Deal
BLACKFRIDAY	10% off your orders.
TECHROOSTSAVINGS	81% Off All Orders
IMAGE

Apply at checkout: Hostinger pricing

Get started with Hostinger →

Why I Switched to Hostinger — Honest Review After Using It for Months

Nick Davies — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 23:04:26 +0000

I've tried multiple hosting providers over the years. Here's why Hostinger is my current recommendation, especially for developers and small businesses.

What I Like

Price-to-Value Ratio

Starting at $2.99/mo for the Premium plan, you get more than most hosts charge $10+/mo for:

Free domain (1 year)
Free SSL
CDN included
WordPress one-click install
Drag-and-drop builder
Email accounts

NVMe Storage

The Unlimited ($3.79/mo) and Cloud Startup ($7.99/mo) plans use NVMe storage, which is noticeably faster than regular SSD hosting.

Vibe Coding

This is a newer feature — describe your website in plain English and AI builds it. Useful for quick prototypes and landing pages.

Developer-Friendly

Node.js support
SSH access
Git integration
Multiple PHP versions
WP-CLI support

Plan Breakdown

Plan	Price	Storage	Websites	Key Feature
Premium	$2.99/mo	20 GB SSD	3	Best starting point
Unlimited	$3.79/mo	50 GB NVMe	Unlimited	Best value
Cloud Startup	$7.99/mo	100 GB NVMe	Unlimited	Best performance

Who Should Use Hostinger

Beginners launching their first site
Freelancers managing multiple client sites (Unlimited plan)
Small businesses that need reliable hosting without enterprise pricing
Developers who want Node.js + WordPress on the same host

30-day money-back guarantee on all plans.

Latest Hostinger Coupon Codes

Code	Deal
BLACKFRIDAY	10% off your orders.
TECHROOSTSAVINGS	81% Off All Orders
IMAGE

Apply at checkout: Hostinger pricing

Check Hostinger plans →

Amazon Scraping Tools Compared — Which One Should You Use in 2026?

Nick Davies — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 22:59:16 +0000

If you need to scrape Amazon data, there are multiple tools available. But which one should you pick? I compared the top 5 options.

Tool	Developer	Rating	Users	Pricing
Amazon Product Scraper	Junglee	3.8	22K	Pay per event
Amazon Scraper	Junglee	5.0	14K	Pay per event
Amazon Reviews Scraper	Junglee	3.9	13K	Pay per event
Amazon Bestsellers Scraper	Junglee	4.4	5K	Pay per event
Amazon ASINs Scraper	Junglee	5.0	2K	Pay per event

Detailed Breakdown

1. Amazon Product Scraper

Use this Amazon scraper to collect data based on URL and country from the Amazon website. Extract product information without using the Amazon API, including reviews, prices, descriptions, and Amazon

Users: 22K
Rating: 3.8/5
Pricing: Pay per event

Try it on Apify

2. Amazon Scraper

Gets you product data from Amazon. Unofficial API. Scrapes and downloads product information without using the Amazon API, including reviews, prices, descriptions, and ASIN.

Users: 14K
Rating: 5.0/5
Pricing: Pay per event

Try it on Apify

3. Amazon Reviews Scraper

Amazon scraper to extract reviews from Amazon products. Scrape and download detailed reviews without using the Amazon API, including rating score, review description, reactions and images. Download yo

Users: 13K
Rating: 3.9/5
Pricing: Pay per event

Try it on Apify

4. Amazon Bestsellers Scraper

Scrape the Amazon Best Sellers categories and extract details on top 100 most popular items on Amazon. Download product name, price, URL, and thumbnail image. Best used on .com, .co.uk, .de, .fr, .es,

Users: 5K
Rating: 4.4/5
Pricing: Pay per event

Try it on Apify

5. Amazon ASINs Scraper

Gets you product data from Amazon. Unofficial API. Scrapes and downloads product information without using the Amazon API, including reviews, prices, descriptions.

Users: 2K
Rating: 5.0/5
Pricing: Pay per event

Try it on Apify

All tools are available on Apify with $5/month in free credits for new accounts.

Full directory: 26,000+ tools on GitHub