I got tired of paying $198/mo for A/B tests, so I built a $9 alternative
TL;DR: Launched PageDuel (pageduel.com) — visual A/B testing for indie hackers and small teams. $9/mo instead of $198/mo (VWO) or $299/mo (Convert). Just shipped last week.
The problem
I've been running side projects for years. Every time I wanted to A/B test a landing page or pricing change, I had two options:
- Google Optimize — free but confusing as hell, now discontinued
- VWO/Convert — $198-299/mo, enterprise sales calls, overkill for a solo founder
I just wanted to change a headline, split traffic 50/50, and see which version converted better. Without writing code. Without a sales demo. Without eating my entire MRR on a single tool.
What I built
PageDuel is a visual A/B testing tool that takes 5 minutes to set up:
- Visual editor — point and click to change text, colors, images, buttons
- No-code — paste a snippet, done
- Simple analytics — conversion rate, statistical significance, winner declared automatically
- 7-day free trial — no credit card
Pricing: $9 / $19 / $49 / $199/mo (agency tier)
Tech stack
- Frontend: Next.js + Tailwind + TypeScript
- Backend: .NET 9 + PostgreSQL
- Hosting: Vercel (frontend) + Railway (backend)
- Time to MVP: ~6 weeks of nights/weekends
Launch results (Week 1)
- Show HN: 2 points (oof)
- Twitter launch: ~200 impressions, 2 signups
- Direct traffic: 14 trial signups, 1 paid conversion
Not exactly hockey stick growth, but the one person who paid said: "I was about to pay $198 for VWO, this is exactly what I needed."
That validated it for me.
What's next
- WordPress plugin (submitted to WP.org, waiting for approval)
- Webflow app marketplace listing
- Case studies with actual conversion lift numbers
Who's this for?
Indie hackers, solopreneurs, small teams who want to run A/B tests without enterprise complexity or pricing.
If that sounds like you: pageduel.com
Questions welcome. Also happy to share more about the tech stack, pricing decisions, or what's not working.
Your target market (indie hackers) moves fast. They don’t want sales calls — they want clarity.
A clean product walkthrough pinned to your homepage or Twitter could massively increase trial → paid conversions.
Seeing the visual editor in action would reduce friction instantly.
I help SaaS founders package tools like this into conversion-focused demo videos. Happy to connect if that sounds useful.
The pricing gap you identified is real and it's the same pattern across so many B2B tool categories. Enterprise tools price for enterprise budgets, and indie hackers just go without.
I'm building finance tools for small businesses and the exact same dynamic exists — QuickBooks charges $80/mo+ for features most solo founders don't need, so they just... use spreadsheets and suffer.
One thing from your launch results that jumps out: the Show HN flop vs. the direct signups. In my experience the best early traction for tools like this comes from being present in communities where people are actively complaining about the expensive alternative. Reddit threads about VWO pricing, IH posts about conversion optimization costs, etc. The people searching "VWO alternative" or "cheap A/B testing" are way higher intent than any Show HN audience.
$9/mo is a great wedge price. Curious how you're thinking about feature gating between tiers — is it traffic-based or feature-based?