I built a free tool that checks eligibility for 100+ Indian government schemes — $0 revenue, 107 users in 4 days
Hey IH! 👋
Just launched my first product — LaabhMitra
## The Problem
India runs 700+ government welfare schemes. Free health
insurance, farmer subsidies, housing loans, pensions,
women's savings schemes — the list is massive.
But here's the sad part: most families use 0-1 of them.
Not because they don't qualify. Because they don't KNOW
they qualify.
My own family missed a ₹2.67 lakh ($3,200) housing subsidy
because nobody told us we were eligible.
## What I Built
LaabhMitra (laabh = benefit, mitra = friend) — a free
eligibility checker for Indian government schemes.
→ Answer ~10 questions (age, income, state, occupation)
→ Instantly see every scheme you qualify for
→ 100+ central government schemes
→ 15+ financial calculators (Income Tax, Home Loan EMI,
SIP, NPS, HRA, Salary, Gratuity, FD comparison)
→ Available in Hindi
→ Blog with tax guides
## Tech Stack & Costs
- Frontend: Next.js 14 (App Router, SSG)
- Backend: FastAPI + PostgreSQL
- Hosting: Vercel (frontend) + Railway (backend)
- CDN: Cloudflare
- Monthly cost: $0 (entirely on free tiers)
## Traction So Far (Day 3)
- 58 users (all organic — WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Quora)
- 723 events
- 4 active users right now
- $0 spent on marketing
- 1 Google Search Console impression (just got indexed!)
## Monetization Plan
- Google AdSense (applying in 2 weeks when site is old enough)
- Affiliate links to financial platforms (Groww, PolicyBazaar,
BankBazaar) on calculator pages
- Target: $100-300/month by month 3
## What I Learned
1. Government data is a MESS. Every ministry uses different
formats. I spent more time structuring data than coding.
2. Hindi content doubles your addressable market in India.
Most competitors are English-only.
3. You can launch a production app for literally $0/month
using Vercel + Railway + Cloudflare free tiers.
4. WhatsApp sharing is the #1 distribution channel in India,
not Twitter or Reddit.
5. SEO takes time — 3 days in and Google has barely noticed
me. Playing the long game.
## What's Next
- Google AdSense application (March)
- State-level schemes (Maharashtra, UP, Bihar)
- WhatsApp bot for scheme alerts
- YouTube Shorts for awareness
Would love feedback from the IH community:
- How would you monetize this?
- Any growth hacks for the Indian market?
- What features would make this stickier?
