Ask HN: Why did my free tools site with 600 tools make almost $0 after 2 years?

Re:Ask HN: Why did my free tools site with 600 tools make al... by benoau on Saturday July 26, 2025 @02:43PM (#44696153)

Make an app-version of the website with ads + pay-to-remove-ads and focus the website on promoting that.

Make it easier to share results with people so they visit your website too, this would need presentation changes to emphasize the result like looking at your amortization calculator the answer is just a plain number tucked over to the side of the page even if I could share my calculation with someone I'd probably have to tell them where to look.

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Re:Ask HN: Why did my free tools site with 600 tools make al... by KodyBerns99 on Saturday July 26, 2025 @02:44PM (#44696165)

Thanks for that idea, i really appreciate that.

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Re:Ask HN: Why did my free tools site with 600 tools make al... by benoau on Saturday July 26, 2025 @02:49PM (#44696192)

Also allow customization, most people probably want specific tools repeatedly nobody will want everything or to wade through it all. You could do this through browser storage mechanisms pretty easily but it also gives you a reason to provide accounts, then you could offer groups shared space for the tools they need and the answers/results they need, and charge subscriptions too.

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Re:Ask HN: Why did my free tools site with 600 tools make al... by giantg2 on Sunday July 27, 2025 @07:38AM (#44700556)

I don't think this will work. There are plenty of free tool apps already established. You'd need to find a unique one and heavily market it. Even that has a low chance of success. The most money I made on apps was the $250 settlement money Google paid as part of that class action.

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