13-Virtues

After launch, we realized our initial assumptions around pricing and UX needed validation.

So based on actual user feedback, here’s what we shipped:

UX & feature improvements:
• Simplified onboarding
• Social login
• Smoother navigation
• Reduced tracking friction
• Clearer 13-week cycle explanation

Pricing changes:
• Monthly plan
• Annual plan
• Lifetime option (anchor + premium)
• 14-day full feature trial

For early adopters, we granted a free full 13-week cycle as a token of appreciation.

Why the changes?

1. Lower entry barrier

2. Reduce decision friction

3. Keep lifetime for committed users

4. Reward early trust

Since operational costs are minimal, we can safely A/B test price points and observe behavior.
Now we want to watch conversion patterns over 14-day trial → subscription → retention.

Curious — for indie SaaS, what pricing model worked best for your early revenue + retention?

🚀 Today’s the day.

After months of work, my partner Julien (the dev behind this) and I are launching 13 Virtues on Product Hunt.

The problem we’re solving:
Personal development advice is frustratingly vague. “Be better” — but better at what, exactly?

Our solution:
Benjamin Franklin’s 1726 system, modernized.

•         13 specific virtues, modernized

•         Daily tracking

•         Deep reflection

•         Clear progress

Not another productivity hack. A framework for building character.

If you’ve ever felt lost in generic self-help advice, this is for you.

👉 We’re live on Product Hunt:

https://www.producthunt.com/products/13-virtues?utm_source=other&utm_medium=social

I’d genuinely love your feedback — especially on:

-          Is the concept immediately clear, or do you feel confused at first glance?

-          Does “building character” resonate, or feel too abstract?

-          What you feel is missing?

Thanks for being part of this journey 🙏

Hi Indie Hackers,

I’m feeling anxious and excited at the same time — tomorrow is the big launch on Product Hunt!

We’ve already improved our web app by adding social login.

No idea if it’s going to work… we’ll see!
Either way, we’ll learn a lot, and that already means a lot to my husband and me.

Talk to you soon,
Hélène

Hi Indie Hackers!

Yesterday my husband and I launched 13-Virtues. It's a character tracker based on Benjamin Franklin's 13-week cycle.

We had a wild first 24 hours (including getting caught in some spam filters because we're new here, haha!).

Quick recap for those who missed it:

• Tech: Laravel + Vue (Inertia)

• Model: Lifetime pricing ($79) instead of subscriptions.

• Feature: You can try the ledger directly on the homepage without an account.

We're building this in public and would love to chat with other makers about building as a couple and choosing 'Anti-SaaS' pricing.

Check it out: https://www.13-virtues.com"

Hi Indie Hackers 👋

I’m Hélène. My husband and I (builders from Belgium) have spent the last few months building a side project called 13 Virtues, and we’re launching it today.

The concept:

The idea comes from Benjamin Franklin’s personal character system. Instead of tracking many habits at once, he focused on one virtue per week (Temperance, Silence, Order, etc.), cycling through 13 virtues over 13 weeks, then repeating the cycle. He documented this practice over many years.

We wanted an app that follows this structure strictly, not another flexible habit tracker. One virtue at a time. One day at a time. Repeat.

Trying it without friction:

We didn’t want people to sign up just to “peek”, so the ledger is interactive directly on the homepage. You can mark faults for today and see the current virtue with Franklin’s original quotes without creating an account:

https://www.13-virtues.com

Business model:

We deliberately avoided subscriptions. Franklin’s system predates SaaS by a few centuries, and a monthly fee felt wrong for something meant to be practiced quietly over years.

- Free tier: the full 13-week cycle and daily ledger

- Lifetime upgrade ($79 launch price): long-term history, guided reflections, data export, and a downloadable Modern Virtue Guide (PDF)

The guide is something we wrote ourselves to modernize Franklin’s original 1791 definitions and turn them into a usable daily reflection framework today.

Tech & build:

- Backend: Laravel 11

- Frontend: Vue + Inertia

- CSS: Tailwind

- Delivered as a PWA

Built over ~12 weekends. My husband handled the engineering; I focused on product and design.

We’d love feedback, especially on:

- Would you personally choose lifetime pricing over a subscription for a tool like this?

- Does being able to try the core interaction without signing up make you more likely to explore?

Happy to answer questions about the build, the business model, or what it’s like building a product together as a couple.