So my mom asks me like once a month if her email got hacked. I always send her to Have I Been Pwned but she finds it confusing. Last month I finally just built her something simpler.
That's how SecurityScore.me happened.
What it does
Pretty basic honestly - you type your email, it checks 800+ breaches via the HIBP API, shows you results in a few seconds.
Added a timeline view and some explanations in normal language instead of tech speak.
No signup, no BS. Just check and go.
The tech
Next.js because that's what I know, HIBP API for the data, Tailwind for styling. Took about 3 weeks of evenings.
Nothing fancy - just wanted something my mom could actually use without calling me.
Where I'm stuck
Here's the weird part. I built the whole payment system already. Stripe works, subscriptions are ready, premium features are coded. Everything.
But I haven't turned it on.
Been live for a month now with 40 people using it. Getting some traffic from weird places (apparently people ask ChatGPT about breach checkers and it mentions mine sometimes?).
But I keep chickening out on actually charging money.
Why though
Mostly just - what if nobody pays? HIBP is free and honestly does the job. Am I just adding a coat of paint and calling it premium?
The premium stuff I built:
- Real time alerts when new breaches happen
- Check multiple emails at once
- Password strength checker
- Some phishing detection thing
Is that worth $5-10/month? I genuinely don't know.
Questions for you
If you've launched something paid before - how did you know when to just do it? Did you wait until you had X users? Or just flip the switch and see?
And if you're a potential user - would you actually pay for this? Or is checking HIBP manually once in a while good enough?
Link if you wanna try it: https://securityscore.me
Honest feedback appreciated. If it's dumb just tell me lol.
Anyone else get stuck like this? Built everything but can't hit publish on the paid tier?
Top comments (2)
Don't be afraid to charge for what you've built. You already have users, that's more than many funded companies can say. This is a fantastic product. Meaningful users won't churn over $5-$10. Just my two cents :)
Thanks! Yeah you're right. Think I'm overthinking this. Gonna flip it on this week and see what happens 🤞