Launched ToDone — a privacy-first sticky-note planner. Asking for advice on how to grow without a social budget.
Hey IH,
Just launched ToDone (https://todone.ca), a visual task manager built
around draggable digital sticky notes. It's genuinely free, works
offline, and sends zero data to any server.
Differentiators (vs Todoist / Notion / Trello):
• No account, no email, no sign-up
• No analytics, no tracking pixels, no third-party fonts/CDNs
• Full offline support (Service Worker + LocalStorage)
• Backup/restore as a JSON file you own
• Single HTML file, open source tech stack
The business question:
ToDone is 100% free and has a Buy-Me-A-Coffee link — that's the
business model. I don't plan to add a paid tier, enterprise plan, or
anything that compromises the privacy story.
The obvious trade-off is distribution. I have no X/Twitter, no LinkedIn,
no newsletter. My plan so far:
• Product Hunt launch
• Show HN
• AlternativeTo + uses.tech
• Organic SEO (FAQ schema, sitemap, good OG image, comparison pages)
What else would you prioritise for a privacy-first side project with
no marketing budget? Especially curious about:
- Niche productivity communities that matter
- Whether a "privacy-first" angle is an actual differentiator for the
to-do space or just noise - If launching on PH without an audience is still worth it
Happy to share the tech/build story if anyone's curious.
Love the simplicity + privacy-first angle — especially the “no account, no tracking” approach. That alone makes it stand out.
On growth without budget, one thing I’ve seen work well for tools like this: leaning hard into very specific use-cases instead of “general productivity.”
e.g. students, devs, writers — where the privacy angle actually matters, not just nice to have.
Curious — have you noticed any early group that seems to “get it” faster than others?
Nice project. Simple and privacy-first is a really nice combo.