DEV Community: Steven Henry

How I built an encrypted messenger that requires zero accounts — not even a username

Steven Henry — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 21:05:43 +0000

Most encrypted messengers solve the privacy problem but create a new one: they still need to know who you are. Phone number for Signal. Email for ProtonMail. Account on someone's server for Matrix.

I wanted to see if you could have genuine E2E encryption with nobody knowing who you are — not even at signup.

The result: WRTC — open the browser, you're instantly a node on the network.

How identity works without accounts

When you first open the app, the browser generates a NaCl keypair (Curve25519 + XSalsa20-Poly1305) entirely client-side. Your "address" is the base58-encoded public key — something like
wmail://8S4WzU1KJA...
. No server ever sees your private key.

Backup is a BIP39 12-word seed phrase. That's the whole "account" — 12 words.

How messages are delivered

Since there's no central user directory, I built a relay server that:

Accepts encrypted message blobs addressed to a public key
Holds them until the recipient connects
Delivers and deletes — no persistence

The relay never sees plaintext. It just shuffles ciphertext boxes from pubkey A to pubkey B.

The invite flow

The UX problem with "no accounts": how does someone find you?

Answer: invite links. Your address becomes a shareable URL:
wrtc.app/app?chat=wmail://yourpubkey
. Someone taps it, their keypair generates, and they're immediately in a chat with you — pre-filled with an intro message. Zero friction.

Voice & video

WebRTC P2P calls, signaled through the relay. The relay passes the SDP offer/answer, then gets out of the way — actual media never touches the server.

What's next

• Named identities (
.wrtc
names, optional)
• Group chats
• Self-hosted relay one-liner

Repo + live demo: wrtc.app

Curious what the dev community thinks — especially the "is a relay-based model actually private enough?" question.

Link-in-Bio Pages for Free: Create Your Own Landing Page

Steven Henry — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 21:21:30 +0000

Link-in-Bio Pages for Free: Create Your Own Landing Page

You know those "link in bio" tools that charge $5-20/month? Yeah, those are unnecessary.

The Problem

Social media gives you one link. Services like Linktree capitalize on this by charging monthly fees for a simple landing page with your links.

The Free Solution

knu.day offers free link-in-bio pages with:

Custom URL - knu.day/yourname
Unlimited links - Add as many as you want
Analytics - See which links get clicked
No branding - Clean, professional look
Mobile optimized - Looks great everywhere

How to Create One

Go to knu.day
Sign up (free)
Create a new bio page
Add your links
Share your custom URL

That is it. No credit card. No trial period. Just a free landing page.

Why Free?

Because charging monthly fees for what amounts to a simple HTML page feels wrong. Link-in-bio pages are not complex technology - they are basic web pages with links.

Who Uses This?

Content creators
Small businesses
Freelancers
Musicians
Artists
Anyone with multiple online presences

Stop paying for link-in-bio. Start at knu.day.

Have questions? Drop them in the comments!

Bitly Alternatives in 2026: Free URL Shorteners That Work

Steven Henry — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 20:56:25 +0000

Bitly pricing has gotten out of hand. Here are the best free alternatives for 2026.

Why People Are Leaving Bitly

Bitly used to be the go-to URL shortener. Then they changed their pricing:

Free tier: 10 links/month, no analytics
Core plan: $35/month for basic features
Growth plan: $300/month for teams

For most users, that is absurd. Let us look at better options.

The Best Free Alternatives

1. knu.day (Best Overall)

Price: Free, forever

knu.day is what Bitly should be. Everything is free:

Feature	knu.day	Bitly Free	Bitly $35/mo
Short links	Unlimited	10/month	Unlimited
Custom aliases	Yes	No	Yes
Click analytics	Full	None	Basic
QR codes	Yes	No	Yes
A/B testing	Yes	No	No
API access	Yes	Limited	Yes

Verdict: If you want Bitly features without the price tag, this is it.

2. TinyURL

Price: Free (paid plans available)

The OG URL shortener. Simple and reliable, but:

Limited analytics on free tier
No A/B testing
Basic QR codes only on paid

Best for: Quick, no-frills shortening

3. Rebrandly

Price: Free tier, paid from $13/mo

Focused on branded links. Good for:

Custom domains
Team collaboration

Downsides: Free tier is very limited (25 links)

4. Short.io

Price: Free tier, paid from $20/mo

Good analytics and custom domains, but:

1,000 links on free tier
Limited tracked clicks

5. Dub.co

Price: Free tier, paid from $24/mo

Modern interface, good for:

Developers (great API)
Teams

Downsides: Free tier has 25 links/month limit

My Recommendation

If you just need a URL shortener that works:

Personal/Small projects: knu.day - unlimited everything, free
Enterprise/Teams: Dub.co or Rebrandly - better team features
Custom domain required: Short.io or Rebrandly

The Bottom Line

Do not pay $35/month for URL shortening. The free alternatives are just as good, sometimes better.

I have been using knu.day for all my projects. Give it a try and see the difference.

What URL shortener do you use? Let me know in the comments!

Track Link Clicks for Free: Complete Guide to Link Analytics

Steven Henry — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 20:55:59 +0000

Want to know who is clicking your links? Here is how to get detailed analytics without paying for expensive tools.

Why Track Links?

If you are sharing links anywhere, social media, emails, newsletters, or marketing campaigns, you are flying blind without analytics.

Tracking tells you:

How many people clicked
Where they are located
What device they are using
Where they came from (referrer)
When they clicked

The Expensive Way

Tools like Bitly charge $35/month for basic analytics. Enterprise plans run $300+/month.

For most people, that is overkill.

The Free Way: knu.day

knu.day gives you full analytics at no cost.

What You Get

Click Metrics

Total clicks
Unique visitors
Click timeline

Geographic Data

Country breakdown
City-level data (when available)

Technical Data

Device type (mobile/desktop/tablet)
Browser breakdown
Operating system

Traffic Sources

Referrer tracking
Direct vs. referred traffic

How to Use It

Go to knu.day
Paste your URL
Share the short link
View analytics at knu.day/stats/your-link

Pro Tips

1. Use Custom Aliases

Instead of random characters, create memorable links like knu.day/spring-sale to make links trackable by campaign.

2. A/B Test Your Links

knu.day supports A/B testing. Send half your traffic to one landing page, half to another, and see which converts better.

3. Password Protect Sensitive Links

Sharing confidential documents? Add a password to your short link.

Conclusion

You do not need to pay $35/month for link analytics. knu.day gives you everything you need for free.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

What metrics do you track for your links? Share your workflow in the comments.

Free QR Code Generator for Developers: No Limits, No Signup

Steven Henry — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 20:47:34 +0000

Need QR codes for your project? Here is how to generate them instantly with no account required.

The Problem with QR Code Generators

Most QR code tools either:

Require signup for basic features
Watermark your codes
Limit downloads
Charge for high-resolution exports

A Better Solution

knu.day generates QR codes for free as part of its URL shortener. Here is how it works:

Step 1: Create a Short Link

Go to knu.day and paste your URL. You will get a short link like knu.day/abc123.

Step 2: Download Your QR Code

Every short link automatically gets a QR code. Just visit:

\n
Or click the QR button on your link stats page.

Step 3: Track Scans

The best part? Every scan is tracked. You can see:

Total scans
Unique visitors
Countries
Devices
Browsers

API Access

Need to generate QR codes programmatically? Use the API:

Use Cases

Event Registration: Link to signup forms
Product Packaging: Link to manuals or support
Business Cards: Link to your portfolio
Restaurant Menus: Link to your online menu
Marketing Campaigns: Track which print ads perform best

Why It Is Free

knu.day is a side project I built because existing QR tools were overpriced. The entire service runs on minimal infrastructure, so there is no reason to charge.

Try it at knu.day.

What is your favorite use case for QR codes? Drop it in the comments!

Why I Built a Free URL Shortener And Gave Everything Away

Steven Henry — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 20:47:12 +0000

The $35/Month Wake-Up Call

Last year, I needed to track clicks on a few marketing links. Simple enough, right? I signed up for Bitly, created my links, and everything was great until I hit their free tier limits.

Want custom aliases? Pay up.
Want to see which countries your clicks come from? Pay up.
Want QR codes? You guessed it.

The cheapest plan that included basic analytics was $35/month. For a URL shortener. That is $420/year just to see where people are clicking.

So I did what any frustrated developer would do: I built my own.

Introducing knu.day

knu.day is the URL shortener I wished existed. Everything is free:

Unlimited short links with custom aliases
Real-time analytics (country, device, browser, referrer)
QR code generation for every link
A/B testing to optimize your links
Link-in-bio pages like Linktree
Password-protected links
Full API access

No credit card. No upgrade to unlock nonsense. No catches.

The Tech Stack

For those curious about what is under the hood:

Backend: FastAPI (Python)
Database: SQLite with WAL mode
Hosting: Fly.io with persistent volumes
Analytics: Custom tracking with GeoIP
QR Codes: Generated server-side with Python

The entire thing runs on a single $5/month server and handles thousands of redirects without breaking a sweat.

Why Free?

I am not trying to build the next unicorn. I built this because:

URL shortening is a solved problem, it should not cost $35/month
I wanted a tool I would actually use
The marginal cost of serving another user is basically zero

Try It Out

Head over to knu.day and create your first short link. No signup required.

If you find it useful, I would love to hear about it in the comments. And if you find bugs, please let me know!

What tools do you think are overpriced? I am always looking for my next side project.