The latest articles on DEV Community by qrstudiovault (@qrstudiovault). https://dev.to/qrstudiovault https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3896270%2Ffc2ae77d-4c34-474e-ab93-eb353669f756.png https://dev.to/qrstudiovault en qrstudiovault Fri, 24 Apr 2026 21:18:37 +0000 https://dev.to/qrstudiovault/i-built-a-freemium-saas-on-wordpress-in-4-months-stack-mistakes-lessons-cja https://dev.to/qrstudiovault/i-built-a-freemium-saas-on-wordpress-in-4-months-stack-mistakes-lessons-cja <h1> I built a freemium SaaS on WordPress in 4 months </h1> <p>Today I'm launching QR Studio Vault (<a href="https://qrstudiovault.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://qrstudiovault.com</a>), a freemium QR code generator. It's my first SaaS, built solo, on WordPress. Here's the full story.</p> <h2> Why WordPress? </h2> <p>When I told other developers I was building SaaS on WordPress, I got laughed at. "Use Next.js." "Use Laravel." "WordPress is for blogs."</p> <p>Here's why I chose it anyway:</p> <ul> <li>I'm solo. Speed matters more than prestige.</li> <li>Paid Memberships Pro handles subscriptions, access control, drip content — $0 upfront.</li> <li>WordPress has 50,000+ plugins. Almost anything I needed already existed.</li> <li>Hosting is cheap.</li> <li>SEO is battle-tested.</li> </ul> <h2> The stack </h2> <ul> <li>WordPress 6.x</li> <li>Paid Memberships Pro (free core)</li> <li>PayPal payment gateway</li> <li>Custom QR engine (qrcode.js + SVG rendering)</li> <li>SMTP email plugin</li> <li>Shared hosting with SSL</li> </ul> <h2> The 9 QR code types </h2> <ol> <li>URL</li> <li>WiFi (auto-connects)</li> <li>vCard (contact info)</li> <li>Email (prefilled)</li> <li>SMS (prefilled text)</li> <li>Phone (auto-dial)</li> <li>Plain text</li> <li>Location (opens maps)</li> <li>Event (adds to calendar)</li> </ol> <p>SVG rendering for vCard was the hardest — encoding contact data creates very dense QR codes.</p> <h2> The Stripe disaster </h2> <p>Set up Stripe, tested it, everything worked. 24 hours before launch, Stripe banned my account with zero explanation. No appeal.</p> <p>Scrambled to set up PayPal. Took 2 days of debugging webhook issues:</p> <ul> <li>PMPro auto-registered a ghost webhook</li> <li>I ended up with 3 stale webhooks with wrong URLs</li> <li>Users were created but not assigned memberships</li> </ul> <p><strong>Lesson:</strong> always have a backup payment gateway ready BEFORE launch.</p> <h2> The PayPal webhook fix </h2> <p>For anyone doing PMPro + PayPal:</p> <ol> <li>Log into PayPal Developer Dashboard</li> <li>Delete ALL existing webhooks</li> <li>In WordPress, clear Client ID + Secret → Save</li> <li>Paste credentials back → Save</li> <li>Verify webhook URL: <code>https://yourdomain.com/wp-json/pmpro-paypal/v1/webhook</code> </li> <li>Subscribe to ALL events (min: PAYMENT.SALE.COMPLETED, BILLING.SUBSCRIPTION.ACTIVATED)</li> </ol> <h2> Pricing strategy </h2> <ul> <li>Free: 5 codes/month</li> <li>Starter: $9.99/mo</li> <li>Pro: $19.99/mo (SVG)</li> <li>Business: $49.99/mo (API)</li> </ul> <p>Competitors charge $30-50/mo for SVG. My Pro plan is deliberately affordable.</p> <h2> Mistakes </h2> <ol> <li>Scope creep. Cut 4 features to ship.</li> <li>No email list before launch.</li> <li>No warm audience.</li> <li>Underestimated payment setup.</li> <li>No marketing prep in advance.</li> </ol> <h2> What went right </h2> <ol> <li>WordPress speed — 4 months vs 8+ in Next.js.</li> <li>Real free tier, no dark patterns.</li> <li>Fair pricing.</li> <li>Battle-tested SEO foundation.</li> </ol> <h2> Try it </h2> <p>Free tier, no credit card:<br> 👉 <a href="https://qrstudiovault.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://qrstudiovault.com</a></p> <p>Feedback welcome, especially on the API design.</p> <p>Building solo, launching scared. 💪</p> <p>— Diego</p> showdev saas webdev wordpress qrstudiovault Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:13:19 +0000 https://dev.to/qrstudiovault/i-built-a-freemium-saas-on-wordpress-in-4-months-heres-the-stack-the-mistakes-and-lessons-fch https://dev.to/qrstudiovault/i-built-a-freemium-saas-on-wordpress-in-4-months-heres-the-stack-the-mistakes-and-lessons-fch <h1> I built a freemium SaaS on WordPress in 4 months — here's what I learned </h1> <p>Today I'm launching QR Studio Vault (<a href="https://qrstudiovault.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://qrstudiovault.com</a>), a freemium QR code generator. It's my first SaaS, built solo, on WordPress. Here's the full story.</p> <h2> Why WordPress? </h2> <p>When I told other developers I was building SaaS on WordPress, I got laughed at. "Use Next.js." "Use Laravel." "WordPress is for blogs."</p> <p>Here's why I chose it anyway:</p> <ul> <li>I'm solo. Speed matters more than prestige.</li> <li>Paid Memberships Pro handles subscriptions, access control, drip content — $0 upfront.</li> <li>WordPress has 50,000+ plugins. Almost anything I needed already existed.</li> <li>Hosting is cheap (~$10/mo vs $50+ for Vercel + database).</li> <li>SEO is battle-tested.</li> </ul> <h2> The stack: </h2> <ul> <li> <strong>CMS/Framework:</strong> WordPress 6.x</li> <li> <strong>Membership/subscriptions:</strong> Paid Memberships Pro (free core)</li> <li> <strong>Payment gateway:</strong> PayPal (more on this below)</li> <li> <strong>QR generation:</strong> Custom engine built on top of qrcode.js with SVG rendering</li> <li> <strong>Caching:</strong> [your cache plugin]</li> <li> <strong>Email:</strong> WordPress + SMTP plugin</li> <li> <strong>Hosting:</strong> [your host] with SSL</li> </ul> <h2> The 9 QR code types </h2> <p>I built support for:</p> <ol> <li>URL (standard)</li> <li>WiFi (auto-connects)</li> <li>vCard (contact info)</li> <li>Email (prefilled)</li> <li>SMS (prefilled text)</li> <li>Phone (auto-dial)</li> <li>Plain text</li> <li>Location (opens maps)</li> <li>Event (adds to calendar)</li> </ol> <p>The SVG rendering for vCard was the hardest — encoding contact data creates very dense QR codes that needed optimized rendering.</p> <h2> The Stripe disaster </h2> <p>I set up Stripe in live mode, tested it, everything worked. 24 hours before launch, Stripe banned my account with zero explanation. No appeal. No specifics. Just "not a fit for our platform."</p> <p>Scrambled to set up PayPal. Took 2 days of debugging webhook issues:</p> <ul> <li>PMPro auto-registered a webhook that didn't actually exist in PayPal</li> <li>I ended up with 3 stale webhooks with wrong URLs</li> <li>Users were being created but not assigned memberships</li> </ul> <p>Lesson: always have a backup payment gateway ready BEFORE launch.</p> <h2> The PayPal webhook fix </h2> <p>For anyone doing PMPro + PayPal:</p> <ol> <li>Log into PayPal Developer Dashboard</li> <li>Delete ALL existing webhooks</li> <li>In WordPress, clear Client ID + Secret → Save</li> <li>Paste credentials back → Save (forces fresh registration)</li> <li>Verify webhook URL is: <code>https://yourdomain.com/wp-json/pmpro-paypal/v1/webhook</code> </li> <li>Subscribe to ALL events (or minimum: PAYMENT.SALE.COMPLETED, BILLING.SUBSCRIPTION.ACTIVATED)</li> </ol> <h2> Pricing strategy </h2> <ul> <li>Free: 5 codes/month</li> <li>Starter: $9.99/mo (50 codes)</li> <li>Pro: $19.99/mo (500 codes + SVG)</li> <li>Business: $49.99/mo (unlimited + API)</li> </ul> <p>Competitors charge $30-50/mo for basic SVG exports. My Pro plan is deliberately underpriced to win the "I just need a nice QR code with my brand colors" market.</p> <h2> Mistakes I made </h2> <ol> <li> <strong>Scope creep.</strong> Cut 4 features last minute to ship.</li> <li> <strong>No email list.</strong> I have no one to tell about my launch.</li> <li> <strong>No warm audience.</strong> Building in public would've helped.</li> <li> <strong>Underestimated payments.</strong> Payment setup took 30% of my build time.</li> <li> <strong>No marketing prep.</strong> Should've written launch posts weeks in advance.</li> </ol> <h2> What went right </h2> <ol> <li> <strong>WordPress speed.</strong> I shipped in 4 months what would've taken 8 in Next.js.</li> <li> <strong>Real free tier.</strong> No dark patterns.</li> <li> <strong>Fair pricing.</strong> Customers tell me it's refreshing.</li> <li> <strong>SEO foundation.</strong> WordPress + Yoast gave me a head start.</li> </ol> <h2> What's next </h2> <ul> <li>[ ] Add Stripe via a different business structure</li> <li>[ ] Build Zapier integration</li> <li>[ ] Launch API docs site</li> <li>[ ] SEO content push (10 articles in 30 days)</li> </ul> <h2> Try it </h2> <p>If you use QR codes, try the free tier — no credit card:<br> 👉 <a href="https://qrstudiovault.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://qrstudiovault.com</a></p> <p>Would love feedback from this community especially on the API design.</p> <p>Building solo, launching scared, doing it anyway. 💪</p> <p>— Diego</p> showdev saas webdev