I launched an API monitoring tool. $0 MRR, 0 paying users. Here's what I've tried.
I'm a solo developer in Seoul. Every time I tried to monitor my own APIs, I hit the same wall: free tiers that say "non-commercial use only."
So I built CheckAPI — 10 monitors, free, no commercial restrictions. Response body keyword validation included, because a 200 OK doesn't mean your API is actually returning the right data.
What I've tried so far:
- Product Hunt: 12 upvotes, no signups
- Hacker News: minimal traction
- Dev.to article: a few hundred views, no signups
- Tweet about my launch: 22 views
- Tweet about Claude being down that day: 606 views
The product works. I use it myself. The problem feels real.
What I can't crack is how to reach API developers. They're not browsing Product Hunt looking for monitoring tools. They're heads-down shipping code.
If you build APIs or run any kind of backend service, I'd love for you to try it and tell me what's missing, what's confusing, or what would make you actually pay for it. Honest feedback beats silence every time.
And if you've gotten past the cold-start problem with a dev tool — not with a viral launch, just steady early traction — I'd genuinely like to know what moved the needle.
The 'Claude being down tweet' getting 606 views vs 22 for the product tweet is the signal. API developers are on Twitter to complain about things that just broke — they're not there to find tools. But they'll share content that validates their frustration.
The dev tool cold-start playbook that consistently works: find the place where API developers go when things are already broken (Stack Overflow, GitHub issues on tools they depend on, HN thread about a major outage). Commenting there with genuine insight builds a very different kind of trust than a Product Hunt launch.
A more direct thing to try: find a GitHub issue thread on a major API (Stripe, OpenAI, GitHub itself) where people complained about monitoring or unexpected failures. Not to self-promote — to give actually useful information. When people search for that issue later, your helpful comment is the introduction. Then your profile leads to CheckAPI.
The 'API developers are heads-down' problem is real. They don't browse for tools; they solve problems and then look for what fixed it.
This reframes everything. I've been optimizing for visibility on launch platforms, but API devs aren't there to discover tools — they're there when something's already on fire.
The GitHub issues angle is something I haven't tried at all. Going to find a few Stripe/OpenAI threads where people hit monitoring gaps and leave genuinely useful comments. No pitch, just signal.
Thanks for this — easily the most actionable feedback I've gotten so far.