Monetizing two open-source projects and hitting a 6-figure
ARR
Manuel Astudillo built an open-source project to scratch his own itch and was surprised when people started using it. Eventually, after one failed attempt at monetizing, he grew taskforce.sh and Castmill to six figures per year.
Here's Manuel on how he did it. 👇
An early start in computer science
My background is in computer science. I've been fascinated by computers since I was a child, growing up in the eighties. I started programming at an early age, so it was quite natural that I studied computer science for my graduate studies.
Currently, I spend most of my time on two projects, BullMQ, an open-source distributed job processing library built on top of Redis, and Castmill, an open-source digital signage solution.
We are currently in the six-figure ARR range, growing at around 50% yearly.
Seeing an opportunity for monetization
I wrote BullMQ as a side project to be used in Castmill. I needed a reliable queue service for NodeJS, and there weren't any I was happy with at the time — this was 2011-2012. So, I wrote a library based on Redis to fulfill my needs. I published the library as open source and published it on NPM.
Later, I started getting issue reports on GitHub. I was surprised that so many people were finding the library useful, and I was just happy to be able to contribute to the open source community with a useful piece of software.
But as years passed, the number of issues started to grow; it was not only bug fixes, but also new feature requests, which I would happily implement if they were not too big. It came to a point where I started to think about the viability of the project, as I could only work on it in my spare time. But since it was so popular, I thought there might be an opportunity for monetization.
Building the wrong monetization strategy
I thought that maybe I could add something extra to attract more customers — since BullMQ is based on Redis, I figured that offering a Redis hosting solution built into the dashboard would be a huge success, as I had many thousands of users using the open-source library.
They were in need of a hosting solution, so what could be better than buying it from the creator of BullMQ itself?
I spent about six months building this feature and then I released it. But it turned out to be a disaster. Not only was the growth super slow — even slower than the dashboard subscription itself — but I also kept losing sleep. There would be hosting issues and customers would get angry because Redis was offline.
So, I had to throw that solution away, as I realized it was going to burn me out. I instead, I pivoted to a professional version of the library, which turned out to be the most successful pivot for me.
In hindsight, I should have understood that my unfair advantage was my knowledge in queue technology, whereas hosting was something new to me.
The psychological challenges of indie hacking
Eventually, I realized that something missing was a dashboard or front end that would help you manage and get a higher-level overview of your code, and so taskforce.sh was born. It offers SaaS and library products for developers who need more advanced tools for their solutions based on BullMQ.
It took me about a year to make the first release, as I was working full-time and maintaining the open-source library, but in 2017 I released it to the public.
When it takes so long to develop the MVP, there are, of course, many moments of doubt, where you just think you may be wasting your time.
In moments when I doubted myself, I just took a leap of faith. I told myself that it was worth the effort, and I kept pushing harder until I managed to finish it.
Even after launching, my biggest challenge was psychological. I had to keep pushing even when the customer acquisition was pretty slow.
What helped was that I could see a steady and healthy growth in the open-source library. That kept me going, as I knew I was at least bringing some value to the world. I just needed to keep improving the dashboard so that more paying customers would see the value of paying for the subscription as well.
In the end, it proved to be a good investment of my time.
Model and stack
Monetizing an open-source project is a leap of faith. I had no idea if there were going to be any customers willing to pay for it. I was quite inexperienced in business at the time.
However, I had a winning card, which was that I had a pretty large audience. I knew from GitHub Insights that I had a lot of visitors to my README page, and so I had the feeling that I would be able to convince enough people to use and pay for the dashboard.
As for the stack, it's Angular for the frontend, NodeJS (including BullMQ itself for the alert and monitoring subsystem) for the backend, and PostgreSQL for the database.
Leveraging SEO and landing pages
I put some banners and text in the README pointing to the dashboard. I think it took about three months to get the first eight customers, and then it continued to grow very slowly after that. To date, this is the best funnel we have to get paid users.
But I also created a landing page. I put a lot of work into making the landing page as SEO-efficient as possible, using tools such as Ahrefs to find potential areas for improvement.
And I created a blog where I add tutorials and other content that Google will hopefully index to send potential new users and customers to me. After publishing, I promote my blog posts on twitter and sometimes run paid ads for extra exposure.
I am sure a lot more can be done, but for now, it has served me well. It took several years, but I was eventually able to quit my job.
Indie hackers need to be stubborn
If you are considering starting a business as an indie hacker, remember not to lose hope — even though sometimes, it feels like the way to success is very long.
For some lucky people, success is an overnight story, but for most of us, it will require a lot of work and sacrifice, so be prepared for that.
I think that being stubborn, in a positive way, is going to be one of your most valuable traits.
Also, reserve some time to reflect on the past and keep reprioritizing your task list; things that feel super important today may not be that important in a couple of days.
What's next?
I have a few goals in mind to make the company more robust and secure.
For one, we are currently pursuing SOC2 Type II compliance, which is quite a hard process to follow, but the result is a very secure and more professional company all around.
SOC2 Type II is the gold standard in security compliance, and for most large companies, not having it would be a no-go. I have read horror stories about companies losing absolutely everything from one day to another because some hacker took over their AWS accounts, for example. With the processes required for being SOC2 Type II compliant, we will vastly minimize this risk so that we can sleep better at night.
Secondly, I want to hire more people so that we can have more redundancy and even less response time for both bug fixes and customer support. I also want to implement new features so that we can take on larger customers and charge more for our services.
You can follow along on X. And check out taskforce.sh and BullMQ.
Leave a Comment
This really resonates. The part about choosing the wrong monetization path and realizing where your true unfair advantage lies is such an important lesson. It’s easy to assume that adjacent opportunities (like hosting) will be easier, but they often introduce entirely new stress and risk.
I also appreciate how openly you talked about the psychological side — slow acquisition, long MVP cycles, and self-doubt don’t get discussed enough. Seeing steady value in the open-source side while patiently refining the paid offering is a great reminder that progress isn’t always loud or fast.
Stories like this are encouraging for anyone building developer tools or utilities. I’m working on a small utility myself, Randoms Object Generator, and this reinforces how focusing on core strengths and long-term value beats chasing every monetization idea. Thanks for sharing this journey
Tough to balance two projects at once. Nice job !
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Nice 👍
This was a really grounding read – especially the parts about:
scratching your own itch with an open-source tool
picking the wrong monetization angle first
and the psychological side of pushing through slow growth
The Redis hosting detour resonated a lot. It’s so tempting to bolt on “obvious” revenue ideas just because there’s an audience, but your point about unfair advantage (queues vs hosting) is a great mental model.
I’m in the very early stages of something much smaller – a writing helper called Rephrazo that does inline AI rewriting (highlight → hotkey → popup with a paraphrase → one click to insert). It also came from scratching my own itch, and I’m now at the “tiny but real usage + lots of questions about monetization” stage.
Your story is a good reminder that:
slow, steady adoption can still compound into a real business
the first monetization experiment can be completely wrong and that’s fine
being “stubborn in the right direction” matters more than chasing every shiny idea
Thanks for sharing the details, not just the end result. It’s super helpful to see the missteps and pivots laid out this clearly.
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That's amazing，but could pls show more how you get the paid user?
Love this story — especially how it didn’t start with some big vision or complex business plan, just solving your own problem and putting it out there. The failed monetization attempt is such a relatable part too. Most people would’ve given up after burning months on something that flops, but pivoting toward your actual strength (the product itself) was such a smart move.
Really inspiring to see how long-term consistency, small bets, and stubbornness can turn an open-source project into a real business with six-figure ARR. Super motivating. 🙌
The GitHub Insights part is interesting, using README page visits as a validation signal before building the dashboard.
Most of us wait for explicit "will you pay for this?" signals. But if thousands are reading your docs, that's already validation that you're solving a real problem.
The 3 months to first 8 customers feels slow, but for a technical product with no marketing budget, that's actually very solid. What was your conversion rate from README → paid?
Nice MVP! Performance looks great. Are you planning to add payments or keep it free for now?
Innovating smart and scaling fast, this journey shows how two open-source projects turned into a powerful six-figure ARR success. A perfect blend of creativity, community trust, and strategic monetization.
Monetizing two open-source projects to reach a 6-figure ARR requires strong community trust, premium features, smart pricing, consistent updates, and scalable support plans that convert loyal users into paying customers.
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Really inspiring story — I love how you turned an open-source side project into a six-figure business while staying true to your strengths. The lessons about focusing on your unfair advantage, learning from failed monetization attempts, and pushing through psychological challenges are gold for indie hackers. I also appreciate the emphasis on leveraging SEO, content, and your existing user base rather than overcomplicating growth strategies. Excited to see how SOC2 compliance and team expansion will take Taskforce and BullMQ to the next level. Your journey is a great blueprint for anyone looking to monetize open source thoughtfully and sustainably.
Monetizing two open-source projects to achieve six-figure ARR showcases innovation, dedication, and entrepreneurial success.
Monetizing two open-source projects to hit a 6-figure ARR is a powerful validation of value and strategy. By offering premium features, support plans, or SaaS integrations, open-source projects can transform into sustainable revenue engines. This approach not only builds a loyal community but also proves that transparency and collaboration can coexist with profitability, turning passion projects into serious business ventures while scaling impact and revenue simultaneously.
Great story. The pivot from the hosting idea to focusing on your core strength was a smart move. The honesty about slow growth and the psychological pressure is refreshing. The SEO and README funnel insight is useful. Thanks for sharing the journey.
The moment that really got me was when you were seriously thinking of shutting it all down… and then turned it into six-figure ARR just by going all-in on what you’re actually amazing at. That pivot takes guts. Also thanks for being so open about the hard parts, super motivating to read as someone just getting started.
yeah this was a great information for me .
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the part where you mention not to give up and keep grinding..
man, I feel those more often than I would want to admit.
thanks for sharing your experience.. I just followed you on X.
best of luck and looking forward to reading more of your stores.
This is really inspirational.
“Love this story. The biggest takeaway for me is how you leaned into your real strength instead of forcing a monetization path that didn’t fit. That pivot to your true advantage is what so many indie hackers miss. Your persistence + SEO strategy is inspiring — thanks for sharing the journey.”
The hosting pivot failure is the part that stuck with me. Six months building something outside your core expertise, then having to kill it. That's a hard lesson but the right call - ops work at 3am isn't sustainable for a solo founder. Smart to double down on what you actually know deeply.
I'm new here! I’ve started joining discussions because I want to learn, grow, and become part of this community. My goal is to contribute value, build trust, and share my own journey soon. Excited to connect with everyone here!
“Impressive achievement! Monetizing two open-source projects to reach six-figure ARR demonstrates innovation and business savvy.”
I appreciate your post
I used Bull on a project last year and it worked really well; I didn't know about the dashboard product but probably would have paid for it. Nice work on the banner CTA growth hack; simple and smart.
For those of us trying to monetize open source without killing the free part, what exact revenue streams ended up working for you?
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