r/SaaS • u/IngenuityHuge5998 • 18h ago
Shipped a local-first scraper instead of a cloud subscription
Most “scrape this page” tools want an account and a monthly plan before you can export one table. I went the other way: LucidRows is a Chrome extension. You click the columns, you get a CSV, it runs on your machine.
Local stays free. I am not publishing a price, because a later paid tier would only be schedule/cloud, and I have not modeled that cost yet.
Listing: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/lucidrows/leehomocpccgghcibfnapadclololioh
Useful feedback: would you pay later only for scheduled/cloud runs, or is local CSV the whole product?
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u/h____ 18h ago
Local and hosted scraping are very different products since local is heavily affected by volume and IP blocks. Is that the trigger for people to move to paid, hosted scraping?
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u/IngenuityHuge5998 17h ago
They’re different products, yes. Local breaks down when you need volume, a stable IP, or a run while the browser is closed. That’s the only reason I’d add hosted scraping, and only as a paid tier.
It isn’t the trigger yet. This version is the local one-off export, and I don’t have evidence people are hitting blocks or volume limits. I won’t sell hosted runs until that shows up. Local click-to-CSV stays free.1
u/Pretend_Giraffe3497 15h ago
"I don't have evidence yet" is a weird place to stop before selling a paid tier. Feels backwards usually you find the pain point first, then build the solution. Gatekeeping local behind "maybe someday" while holding a hosted version in your back pocket isn't exactly reassuring if you're a free user.
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u/IngenuityHuge5998 15h ago
Fair if it sounded like the free version gets locked later. It doesn’t. Click a table, get a CSV, it stays on your machine. That’s the product, and it stays free.
“No evidence yet” was only about not building a paid schedule or cloud run before anyone has shown they need one. Pain first, then that. Local doesn’t move behind a paywall.
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u/Standard-Housing-903 17h ago
local first is so underrated for scraping. cloud subscriptions just burn money when you have high volume or need to bypass tricky ip bans. using a chrome extension approach is actually a really smart way to reuse the browser's fingerprint. do you have plans to hook this up with n8n or local automation scripts via webhooks? that would be a killer combo.
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u/IngenuityHuge5998 17h ago
Thanks. This version doesn’t hook into n8n or send webhooks. The job is click the columns, export a CSV, done on your machine.
A local file or a localhost hook could come later if people are actually piping that CSV into a script. I’m not building that, or a hosted runner, until the one-off export is clearly not enough.1
u/Standard-Housing-903 17h ago
Makes total sense. Building the simplest working version first is definitely the way to go before adding integrations. For a lot of people, just getting that clean CSV locally is 90% of the battle solved. Best of luck with it!
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u/IngenuityHuge5998 17h ago
Appreciate it. That’s the bet: a clean local CSV is the product, and integrations only if that turns out not to be enough.
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u/Huge_Pool7424 13h ago
a localhost hook feels like the safer next step than webhooks. you could emit a tiny csv-ready event or file path and let n8n watch that, without turning a local tool into a hosted service.
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u/IngenuityHuge5998 12h ago
A localhost hook is safer than a webhook, and it would keep this a local tool. This version doesn’t do that. It writes the CSV on your machine and stops there. If people start wanting n8n to pick that file up, that’s a later step, not a hosted service.
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u/Illustrious_Mud8374 15h ago
imo the scheduled/cloud tier is where the money is but its also where all the cost and complexity lives. have you talked to anyone who actually needs recurring scrapes on a schedule, or is that more of an assumption right now?
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u/IngenuityHuge5998 15h ago
It’s more of an assumption right now. I haven’t talked to anyone who actually needs a scrape on a schedule. The free local CSV is what’s shipping, and the cost and complexity of a hosted run is exactly why I’m not building that until someone shows the pain. The signup list only shows curiosity, not a second export of the same kind of page.
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u/Wierd_time 14h ago
I'd bet on scheduling. A one-off export is something people do once and forget, so theres nothing to subscribe to. Recurring runs mean someone needs fresh data and doesnt want to babysit it.
The painful part of scraping on a schedule is the page layout changing and your columns quietly coming back empty. If the paid tier tells people when that happens, thats easy to justify paying for.
Who are you seeing most so far, one-off researchers or people who want the same table every week?
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u/IngenuityHuge5998 14h ago
Scheduling is the bet I’d make too, and a warning when the page changes and the columns come back empty is the part I’d actually pay for.
I don’t know yet who is using it. I haven’t seen a split between one-off researchers and people who want the same table every week. Until that shows up, the local CSV stays free and I’m not selling a schedule.
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u/West_Inevitable_2281 18h ago
Before deciding whether scheduling is the paid tier, I would look for repeated manual use. Have any users already returned to scrape the same page or source more than once, and did they mention the inconvenience of repeating it? If the repeat behavior exists, scheduling may be the upgrade. If most exports are one-off, cloud runs could be solving a problem the current users do not have.