I built 250 free powerful and actually helpful tools. Here's what's working:

Stack: Next.js 16, Vercel, Gemini 2.5 Flash, Razorpay, Upstash Redis. Monthly cost: $0.

Numbers (2 weeks):

- 108 visitors, 384 PV/week

- 900+ URLs indexed on Google

- Reddit = 48% of traffic, Google = 3%

- 0 paying customers (Pro is ₹199/mo / ~$2.50)

What's working:

- Programmatic SEO. One data file + one dynamic route = hundreds of indexed pages. I have /free/, /compare/, /alternatives/, /use-case/, /templates/, /glossary/ — all auto-generated.

- Reddit. One r/SideProject post = half my traffic. Twitter gave me nothing.

- No sign-up free tier. Zero friction. Output blur after first generation nudges toward Pro.

What's NOT working:

- Google organic still tiny. SEO needs time.

- Cold WhatsApp outreach to local businesses. 20+ messages → 1 deal. Calls close 10x better.

- Pricing confusion. $2.50/mo feels too cheap for pros, too expensive for Indian students.

Biggest mistakes:

Built 250 tools before getting a single user. Should've launched with 20.

Sold a website to a dentist who didn't need one. Now I ask first.

Underpriced for advanced clients — they didn't take it seriously.

Takeaways:

- Programmatic SEO is a cheat code for early indexing

- Free tier + smart friction > hard paywall

- Reddit > Twitter for early distribution

- $0/mo SaaS is possible (Vercel + Gemini + Upstash free tiers)

- In India, Razorpay is your only option (LemonSqueezy rejected me, Stripe doesn't support individuals)

Site: myclaw-tools.vercel.app

happy to answer questions about the stack or SEO strategy.