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Greg Ceccarelli
Greg Ceccarelli

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Built tny.dev: API & MCP first link shortener for devs who hate SaaS bloat

#webdev #api #mcp #ai

Built an API/MCP first link shortener that costs $9/month for custom domains, slugs and webhooks because was tired of paying $40 for bitly. API-first, terminal-friendly, no feature creep. Built to be outgrown. Try it completely free..

Remember when Klarna announced last September they were ditching Salesforce and Workday last year? They saved $40M by building internal tools with AI.

The internet went wild. "Death of SaaS!" they cried.

By May, Klarna was hiring humans back. Turns out, you still need people sometimes. But they'd proven something important: those "essential" enterprise tools? Maybe not so essential.

While everyone debated whether AI could kill Salesforce, we had a different question at SpecStory.

Why the hell does a URL shortener cost $40/month?

The Problem: Death by a Thousand $$ Subscriptions

Heres a sample of my startup's monthly "utility bill" per seat:
Link shortening:     $40/mo  (Bitly)
Calendaring:         $20/mo  (Calendly) 
Forms:               $50/mo  (Typeform)
Social scheduling:   $15/mo  (Typefully)
Product docs:       $100/mo  (Mintlify)
Applicant tracking: $300/mo  (Greenhouse)
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Total:              $525/mo/person
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Each tool solving one tiny problem. Each vendor adding features to justify the price. Each month, the same parking tickets.

Our Solution: Software That Knows What It Is

Built TNY.dev on three principles:

  1. Terminal-First, Not Tab-First
  2. Built for AI Agents (with first class MCP & Claude DXT support)
  3. Priced Like a Utility: $9/month

On GitHub here: https://github.com/specstoryai/tnydev-mcp

  • No usage tiers: Unlimited links
  • No feature gates: Everything included
  • No upsells: We won't "scale with you"
  • Edge infrastructure: Sub-50ms redirects globally

The Philosophy: Built to Be Outgrown

We expect you to leave us.

When need "enterprise features" beyond the basics graduate to something bigger. We'll celebrate. That's success.

We're the disposable camera of SaaS. Perfect for right now, memorable for what we enabled, graceful in our obsolescence.

P.S. If you're from Bitly and reading this nothing personal. You built a great product. I just think it should cost $9.

About
I'm Greg, co-founder at SpecStory. We're building tools for the agent first tooling era to help you context engineer from your chat history.

tny.dev is an experiment in radically simple, radically affordable business utilities

Find me on LinkedIn | Twitter | GitHub | Substack

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