50 users, first lifetime customer: should I double down on privacy-first subscription tracking or add more automation?
I have been building SubBuddy (subbuddy.io) , a subscription tracker for people who want to manage recurring expenses without connecting their bank account.
Most products in this space seem to assume bank sync is the default. I went in the opposite direction and built something manual-first and privacy-first.
The product now has:
- renewal alerts
- calendar view
- analytics
- spending comparisons
- pause and pin
- monthly budget tracking
- multi-currency support
- CSV import
- Gmail import extension for paid users
- English and Spanish support
I am still very early, but I have around 50 users now and just got my first paying customer on the lifetime plan.
A few things surprised me:
Some users see no bank connection as a strong positive, not a missing feature
The most requested improvements were practical things like pause, budgeting, multi-currency, and better filtering
Lifetime pricing seems to resonate because people do not love adding another monthly subscription just to manage their subscriptions
The thing I am trying to figure out now is where to focus next.
Option 1: Improve onboarding and activation
Option 2: Build more import and automation flows
Option 3: Go harder on the privacy-first positioning and keep the product intentionally simple
If you were in my position, which one would you prioritize first?
