DEV Community: old big

I Built a Tool to Monetize Any App in 5 Minutes (And You Can Too)

old big — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:14:28 +0000

Body:

The AI economy is booming. Every developer is building apps with Cursor, v0, Devin.

Here's the problem: Building the app takes hours. Making money from it takes significantly longer.

The Pain

Every time a developer wants to monetize, they face:

Set up Stripe → time-consuming, many pitfalls
Build license key system → time-consuming and error-prone
Handle subscriptions/refunds → time-consuming and error-prone

That's a lot of work just to accept payments!

The Enterprise Pain (NEW)

But there's an even bigger pain for B2B developers:

Enterprise seat allocation: Manually assigning licenses to 50+ employees → extremely time-consuming
License tracking: Which employee has which license? → error-prone
Employee turnover: When someone leaves, manually revoke and reassign → error-prone
Bulk operations: Batch license assignments → highly error-prone
Enterprise refunds: Complex approval workflows and proration calculations → mistakes lead to financial losses

This is the hidden killer of B2B monetization.

The Solution: License Hub

License Hub - a complete licensing and subscription management platform.

✅ One-click Stripe Connect
✅ Auto license key generation
✅ Team license management
✅ Enterprise self-service portal
✅ Sales analytics

5 minutes to integrate. Copy-paste code.

How It Compares

Feature	Gumroad	LemonSqueezy	Paddle	Payhip	Keygen.sh	License Hub
5-min Integration	❌ Embed links	⚠️ Config	⚠️ Config	⚠️ Config	⚠️ Dev	✅ 5 min
License System	Basic	Basic	Basic	Basic	Full	Full + Self-serve
Enterprise Seats	❌	❌	⚠️ Complex	❌	⚠️ Dev	✅ Built-in
Analytics	Basic	Basic	Full	Basic	Requires integration	✅ Full Dashboard
Refund Handling	Manual	Manual	Manual	Manual	Requires development	✅ One-click
Pricing Model	High fees	Higher fees	Higher fees	Higher fees	Subscription	Pay when you earn

Who is this for?

VS Code extension/theme developers
Browser extension developers
Desktop app makers
Web SaaS founders
Anyone building with AI

Code Example

// Validate a license key
const response = await fetch('https://api.licensehub.top/v1/licenses/validate', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    licenseKey: 'LH-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX'
  })
});

const { valid, plan, user } = await response.json();

That's it. Your app now has paid features.

🎁 Launch Special

Submit your product before April 30, 2026:

Earn money → Permanent 30% discount on fees
Don't earn → Pay nothing

Free to start. Only pay when you profit.

👉 https://licensehub.top

📺 Watch Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJUu5-mBG-Ki8nj-Sh3xpBGSFVNutlU4h

Stop Manually Editing Local Storage: I Built a Tool to Manage Tab State Like Git

old big — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 11:50:51 +0000

The Problem: Our Browser State is a Mess

As web developers, we live in the browser's DevTools, but managing application state is still a major pain point. If you're testing an app with different user roles (e.g., admin, editor, guest), you're stuck in a loop: log out, clear storage, log in, test, repeat. It's a workflow that feels stuck in the past.

Manually editing localStorage is clumsy, and there's no easy way to save and restore a complete browser state for a specific test case.

The Solution: Treat Your Tab's Storage Like a Git Repo

I wanted a better way. I wanted to be able to "commit" a storage state, give it a name, and "checkout" that state whenever I needed it. This idea led me to build Tab Storage Copier, a browser extension that brings proper state management to your workflow.

The Game-Changing Feature: Profiles

The heart of the extension is Profile Management. This isn't just about copying and pasting; it's about true state control.

Save Profile & Version: Got the app set up for an "Admin User"? Click "Save Profile," name it "Admin," and give it a version name like "v1 - Full Permissions." The extension snapshots everything: localStorage, sessionStorage, and all cookies.
Load Profile: Need to test the admin view again? Just click "Load Profile," select "Admin v1," and your current tab's storage is instantly wiped and replaced with the snapshot. No more logging in.
Manage Profiles: As you create more profiles and versions, a simple manager lets you delete what you no longer need, keeping your workspace tidy.

More Than Just Profiles

While profiles are the main event, the extension also includes essential utilities:

Quick Clear Tool: A big "Clear" button to nuke storage from the active tab. It has a smart confirmation dialog to prevent you from accidentally wiping the wrong thing.
Simple Storage Copy: The original feature that started it all. Quickly copy storage from another tab when you don't need a full profile.

Why This Changes Everything

This tool has fundamentally changed how I test and debug. I can switch between a dozen different user states in the time it used to take me to log out and log back in once. It makes reproducing bugs and setting up demos incredibly efficient.

If you've ever felt the frustration of managing browser state manually, I built this for you.

You can install it from your favorite browser's store:

I hope it helps you reclaim some of your valuable development time. Let me know what you think!

🤯 Ditch Redux: Meet redux-lite — the Lightweight, Type-Safe, High-Performance, and Super Easy-to-Use/test State Manager

old big — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 01:03:59 +0000

Are you tired of the boilerplate and complexity of Redux? Do you want a state management solution that is fast, simple, and a joy to test?

Meet @oldbig/redux-lite, a new zero-dependency state management library for React that delivers high performance and an effortless developer experience.

Redux DevTools Integration

The Problem with "The Old Way"
Traditional Redux is powerful, but it comes with a cost:

Boilerplate: Writing actions, action creators, reducers, and selectors for every piece of state is tedious.
Complexity: The learning curve can be steep, especially for newcomers.
Bundle Size: Adding Redux and its ecosystem libraries can increase your app's size.
The redux-lite Philosophy: Simplicity is Key
redux-lite derives your entire state management setup from a single object. That's it.

Here’s the magic.

Define Your Store Create a single source of truth. Use the optional helper for state slices that might not be present initially.

// src/store.ts
import { initiate, optional } from '@oldbig/redux-lite';

export const storeDefinition = {
    user: {
      name: 'Guest' as string | null,
      age: 25,
    },
    settings: optional({
      theme: 'dark',
    }),
};

Initiate the Store Call the initiate function once. It returns everything you need.

// src/store.ts (continued)
export const { ReduxLiteProvider, useReduxLiteStore, useSelector } =
 initiate(storeDefinition);

Provide and Consume Wrap your app in the ReduxLiteProvider and use the useReduxLiteStore hook to access state and dispatchers.

// MyComponent.tsx
import { useReduxLiteStore } from './store';

function UserProfile() {
  const { user, dispatchPartialUser } = useReduxLiteStore();

  const handleLogin = () => {
    dispatchPartialUser({ name: 'Alice' });
  };

  return (
    <div>
      <h2>Welcome, {user.name ?? 'User'}!</h2>
      <button onClick={handleLogin}>Log In</button>
    </div>
  );
}

Notice how dispatchPartialUser is automatically generated and fully type-safe? You get dispatchers for every top-level key in your store definition!

Why It's Better
Blazing Fast: With a tiny footprint and built-in deep equality checks, it's designed for top-tier performance, eliminating unnecessary re-renders automatically.
Super Easy to Learn: The entire API can be mastered in minutes. You define one object, and you're done.
Effortless to Test: Testing components is trivial. Your state is a simple object, so there's nothing complex to mock.
Zero Boilerplate: Forget actions, reducers, and selectors.
End-to-End Type Safety: Catch errors at compile time, not runtime.
Ready to simplify your state management?

GitHub Repo: https://github.com/oldbig/redux-lite
NPM Package: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@oldbig/redux-lite
Live Demo: [Link to your deployed todo-list example]
Give it a try and let me know what you think in the comments!