Hey Devs,
This is not a self-promotion... PDF to txt isn't a business :-) ... but a neat little way to test my theory on "simple API" market.
I just launched 🔗 https://pdftxt.dev - a focused, dead simple API for extracting text from PDF files after I found most PDF APIs are overbuilt. You need a PhD to parse their pricing tiers, and their docs read like legal contracts. I wanted something developers could use in 30 seconds. Yes. 30 seconds with no frills.
Solution:
One endpoint: POST /extract
Simple pricing: 100 free requests/month, then contact us
No signup: Generate your own API key (pdfbot_*) and go
Clean docs: curl example right on the homepage
Business model:
Free tier: 100 requests/month
Pro: Contact us (manual for now, will automate if there's demand)
Target: Developers who need occasional PDF parsing without enterprise complexity
Current metrics:
Time to build: ~48 hours
Monthly cost: $5 (VPS + domain)
First goal: 10 active users
Revenue goal: $20/month (covers costs + 🍺 money)
Ask: Would you use this? What would make it a no-brainer for your projects?
What other such "simple API" be useful for Devs ?