Why I Built Another Feedback Tool
Let’s be honest - the market doesn’t need another feedback tool. But I needed one I could afford.
As a freelance developer at Daring Designs, I was paying $59/month for Marker.io. Great tool, but the price stung every month. So I did what every developer does when faced with a recurring cost: “How hard could it be to build this myself?”
Narrator: It was harder than that.
The Core Problem
Most feedback tools fail not because of features, but because of friction. Clients don’t want to:
- Create another account
- Remember another password
- Learn another platform
- Check yet another tool for updates
So I built Notedis with one key feature: **clients can reply via email, and their feedback automatically appears on v…
Why I Built Another Feedback Tool
Let’s be honest - the market doesn’t need another feedback tool. But I needed one I could afford.
As a freelance developer at Daring Designs, I was paying $59/month for Marker.io. Great tool, but the price stung every month. So I did what every developer does when faced with a recurring cost: “How hard could it be to build this myself?”
Narrator: It was harder than that.
The Core Problem
Most feedback tools fail not because of features, but because of friction. Clients don’t want to:
- Create another account
- Remember another password
- Learn another platform
- Check yet another tool for updates
So I built Notedis with one key feature: clients can reply via email, and their feedback automatically appears on visual boards.
Making It Dead Simple to Install
One thing I learned from using feedback tools: if installation is complicated, people abandon it. I’ve seen tools that require OAuth flows, API key management, or complex configuration just to get started.
For Notedis, I wanted it to be as simple as Google Analytics - just drop a script tag on your site and you’re done.
The Installation Process
When you create a site in Notedis, you get a unique widget key. Installation is literally just adding one line of code in the
tag of your website like this:
<head>
<!-- Notedis Snippet -->
<script>
window.notedisConfig = {
siteKey: 'site_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx',
apiUrl: 'https://notedis.com'
};
</script>
<script src="https://notedis.com/js/widget.js" async></script>
</head>
That’s it. No configuration objects, no initialization code, no API keys to manage. The widget automatically:
- Loads asynchronously (won’t block page rendering)
- Positions itself in the bottom-right corner
- Captures screenshots with html2canvas
- Handles the entire feedback flow
- Works across all modern browsers
Why This Approach Works
For developers: Copy, paste, ship. No documentation to read, no setup wizard to complete.
For clients: The feedback button just appears. They click it, describe their issue, and they’re done.
For me: Each site gets a unique key tied to their account, making it easy to route feedback to the right place and enforce trial/subscription limits at the API level.
The widget script is dynamically generated per site, so I can update the functionality globally without users needing to update their snippet.
The Technical Challenge: Email-to-Platform Integration
The hardest part wasn’t the screenshot annotations or the visual boards - it was making email replies work reliably.
What I had to solve:
1. Email Parsing
- Handle different email clients (Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, etc.)
- Parse reply threading correctly
- Strip signatures and quoted text
- Handle forwards and BCCs
2. Mapping Replies to Feedback Items
- Generate unique identifiers in email headers
- Handle out-of-order replies
- Preserve context across multiple replies
Implementing Usage-Based Trial Limits
One challenge I didn’t anticipate: how do you offer a meaningful free trial for a feedback tool without getting abused?
Most SaaS products use simple time-based trials (14 days, take it or leave it). But for a feedback tool, time alone isn’t a good metric - a user could sign up, never use it, and complain the trial expired.
The Solution: Usage-Based Limits
Instead of just counting days, I track actual usage in the database. Each user has counters for sites created and feedback collected during their trial period.
Trial limits:
- 1 site (enough to test it out)
- 30 pieces of feedback (enough to see real value)
- 14 days (standard time limit)
The key is enforcing these limits at creation time, not just checking them after the fact. When a user tries to create feedback, the system checks if they’ve exceeded their limit. If they have and they’re not subscribed, the request is blocked with a clear message to upgrade.
Why This Works Better
Traditional time-based trial:
- User signs up
- Never uses it
- Trial expires
- “I didn’t even get to try it!”
Usage-based trial:
- User signs up
- Creates 30 pieces of real feedback
- Sees actual value
- Makes informed decision to upgrade
Plus, it prevents abuse - someone can’t create unlimited sites or collect unlimited feedback during their trial.
The Dashboard Experience
Users see their trial usage in real-time in the dashboard. They can track exactly how many sites they’ve created, how much feedback they’ve collected, and how many days remain. This creates transparency - users know exactly where they stand and what they can still do.
The counters increment automatically as users create sites and collect feedback, so there’s no confusion about usage.
The Business Side
Pricing: $20/month (vs $59+ for competitors)
Target Market: Freelancers and small agencies who need core functionality without enterprise bloat.
Current Status: Launched on Product Hunt, got first paying customers who aren’t friends/family. Small wins, but feels huge as a solo builder.
Tech Stack
Kept it lean to minimize costs:
- Laravel backend for email processing
- Canvas API for screenshot annotations
- Webhook integration for incoming emails
- Minimal infrastructure overhead
What I’d Do Differently
- Validate pricing earlier - Still not sure if $20/mo is the sweet spot
- Build email integration first - It became the selling point but was the hardest part
For Other Indie Devs
If you’re thinking about building a SaaS to replace an expensive tool you use:
✅ Do it if: You understand the problem deeply and have a clear differentiator
❌ Don’t if: You’re just competing on price alone
The “cheaper alternative” only works if you’re solving a real pain point for an underserved market.
Try It Out
If you’re managing client feedback and tired of the friction, check out notedis.com.
Would love feedback from fellow devs - especially on the email integration approach. How would you have tackled this differently?
Questions for the community:
- Have you built email-to-platform integrations? What were your biggest challenges?
- What’s your take on competing with established players on price vs features?
- Any tips for solo devs doing SaaS marketing on a budget?
- How do you handle free trials - time-based or usage-based?
Drop your thoughts below! 👇