Built a tool to promote my side project – it accidentally BECAME the side project

The accidental pivot

Over Christmas, I was working on an app and needed to promote it across multiple social accounts. I looked at Buffer, Hootsuite, Later. They all worked, but the pricing climbed fast once you needed to add more than 2-3 social accounts.

For a solo dev just trying to build an audience? $40+/month felt excessive for what I needed.

So I did what we all do: "I'll just build something quick for myself."

Two weeks later

What started as a weekend hack turned into something more. The core was simple - connect all of my social accounts, write a post, schedule it. But then I wanted auto-scheduling based on engagement patterns. Then cross-platform customization. Then an AI assistant to help me write content (not my forte).

Two weeks became four. Polish became features. And somewhere along the way, the tool I built to promote my side project became the side project.

What Cue does now

7 platforms: Twitter/X, Bluesky, Threads, Mastodon, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook (TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube coming)
Auto-scheduling: Picks optimal times based on the platform you're posting to
Write once, customize per platform: Same post, adapted for each network
AI writing assistant: For drafts, rewrites, and image generation
Full REST API + n8n integration: For the automation nerds like me
MCP integration: Schedule posts directly from Claude or other AI assistants

What I learned building this

Building is easy now. Distribution is king. AI assistants have made shipping faster than ever - the hard part isn't the code anymore, it's getting people to notice.
Scratching your own itch works. I use Cue daily now. That feedback loop beats user interviews.
Pricing matters for indie hackers. The big tools price for teams and agencies. We need something different.

Where I'm at now

I launched on Product Hunt a few days ago and hit #3 product of the day. Honestly, I didn't put a ton of time into marketing the launch – which tells me there's real demand for a tool like this.

I've started welcoming first users. Free tier to get started, paid plans when you need more. If you're an early user and want to upgrade, I'm doing 50% off for 3 months - just DM me.

I'd genuinely value feedback. What features matter most? What's missing? What would make you switch from your current tool?

→ oncue.so