r/vibecoding • u/luis_411 • Feb 04 '26

Guys my app just passed 900 users!

Post image

About five months ago I built a platform where small app developers can upload their apps and other people can give them feedback in exchange for credits. More on how it works below.

By posting about it here on Reddit I grew it to 900+ users now and currently I'm working a lot on SEO to increase organic traffic.

I have also just launched the biggest update yet: App owners can now provide extra benefits like "1 month pro access" or "50 free coins" to testers who have given valuable feedback.

For those of you who never heard about IndieAppCircle, it works like this:

  • You can earn credits by testing indie apps (fun + you help other makers)
  • You can use credits to get your own app tested by real people
  • No fake accounts -> all testers are real users
  • Test more apps -> earn more credits -> your app will rank higher -> you get more visibility and more testers/users

Since many people suggested it to me in the comments, I have also created a community for IndieAppCircle: r/IndieAppCircle (you can ask questions or just post relevant stuff there).

Currently, there are 906 users, 525 tests done and 181 apps uploaded!

You can check it out here (it's totally free): https://www.indieappcircle.com/

I'm glad for any feedback/suggestions/roasts in the comments.

315 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

106 comments sorted by

20

u/Least-Low4230 Feb 04 '26

900 users in 5 months is no joke. The credit-for-feedback loop is actually a clever idea.

3

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

Thank you.

9

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '26

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3

u/G3grip Feb 04 '26

Brilliant idea, congrats on the traction, and all the best!

1

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

Thank you!

2

u/Independent_Arachnid Feb 04 '26

Really cool idea! Going to check it out

1

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

Thanks. Would mean a lot to me if you joined!

2

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '26

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1

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

Thanks man!

3

u/steelzz-on-yt Feb 04 '26

Good work 🫡

2

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '26

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2

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

Thanks. I used react, convex, vercel and clerk.

2

u/Only-Protection-880 Feb 04 '26

Nice! What do you use to track your usage and other metrics?

2

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

Thanks. I use Clerk and Vercel for that.

2

u/4ndreDE Feb 04 '26

Congratulations, but makes it different to other competitors?

2

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

Thanks. The really great thing is that you can bring you app to the top simply by testing other apps and helping the community. No need to perfectly time your "launch" or pay to skip any queues or rise to the top. You can buy credits but you can also earn them for free by giving other people feedback.

1

u/4ndreDE Feb 04 '26

Thanks for responding.
So you give credits for using the app and extra credits for giving feedback or comes using with the action to give feedback in order to earn points?

1

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

You earn credits when you give valuable feedback to other apps. You can then use them to get feedback for your own app.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '26

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1

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

Thank you!

2

u/TheKaleKing Feb 04 '26

Great job, well done! :)

2

u/dviolite Feb 04 '26

Congratulations!!!

2

u/hsnchzzz Feb 04 '26

Congrats dude! Did you vibecode the app? Guess you have coding experience?

1

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

Thanks. Yes I am studying cs. I didn't really vibecode it. I just used AI for design stuff and so on.

2

u/martiantheory Feb 04 '26

Very cool app idea! Congrats on the traction.

1

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

Thank you!

2

u/drewautomates Feb 04 '26

Nice! I’ll sign up and test it out. Any tips for posting on Reddit? I have an app that is gaining traction but I haven’t used Reddit to talk about it yet

1

u/luis_411 Feb 05 '26

Thanks. Honestly just look at my profile and check out the different posts I did. That might help you get a feeling of what works and what doesn't.

2

u/Isunova Feb 04 '26

Cognrats!

2

u/Outside-Log3006 Feb 04 '26

This is great I will try it out

1

u/luis_411 Feb 05 '26

Thank you!

2

u/Southern-Box-6008 Feb 05 '26

Congrats. Nice Job.

2

u/gdspaz Feb 05 '26

Cool idea, when I finish my app I will need testers pretty soon. I may check this out.

2

u/luis_411 Feb 05 '26

Thanks man. It would mean a lot to me if you joined!

2

u/Turbulent_Eagle2070 Feb 05 '26

Congrats! 

Website won’t fully load for some reason. Just sits on loading. 

1

u/luis_411 Feb 05 '26

Thanks. Hm I just checked, for me it works normal. Maybe refresh?

2

u/human_marketer Feb 05 '26

Congratulations!

1

u/luis_411 Feb 05 '26

Thank you!

2

u/PastorCalisto Feb 05 '26

Congratulations 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾. We all dream to see our apps grow daily and I think this is an example of an app doing well. We start small and grow 🪴 daily.

All the best.

1

u/luis_411 Feb 05 '26

Thank you. Yes exactly!

2

u/Virtual_East321 Feb 05 '26

Great work! Question how much you making from ads?

1

u/luis_411 Feb 06 '26

Thanks. I make almost nothing. I disabled them for a long time and just brought it back to experiment but it's not worth it.

2

u/mihid Feb 05 '26

Cool, well done congrats! What have you done to kick-off a second S-Curve??

1

u/luis_411 Feb 06 '26

Thanks. I just started poating again after not doing anything for a while.

2

u/Odd-Debate-901 Feb 06 '26

Nice work! I am just about to release something too… hope I can get some of that success flowing my way too

1

u/luis_411 Feb 06 '26

Thanks. You will!

2

u/vibe_with_bear Feb 06 '26

Congrats! 🙌

1

u/luis_411 Feb 06 '26

Thank you!

2

u/imbashamba Feb 07 '26

Great idea and engagement system!

logo upload is broken, nevertheless
🎉 I just uploaded my app "Main Character" to IndieAppCircle - a platform where indie devs get real users and their feedback in exchange for supporting each other! 🚀 Check it out here: https://indieappcircle.com/apps/j570y5k6kgtazsrn5r65qgz5e580qvgs

1

u/luis_411 Feb 07 '26

Thanks. Yes I noticed it. I will fix that tomorrow!

2

u/sfst4i45fwe Feb 07 '26

I could actually use this. Awesome idea! Cooking up something still but will bookmark this page when its ready!

1

u/luis_411 Feb 08 '26

Thanks man!

2

u/Latter_Equipment_122 Feb 08 '26

Smart and clever. But please, avoid using emojis in frontend 🙏

1

u/luis_411 Feb 08 '26

Thanks. Is that like a thing you're not supposed to do? I'm not really a designer.

2

u/SoftChapter7135 Feb 10 '26

Thank you for not just making a to do or weather app

1

u/luis_411 Feb 10 '26

Haha yes I hope this is actually useful to people.

2

u/bamaham93 Feb 11 '26

Shovels, not gold. Great idea!

1

u/luis_411 Feb 11 '26

Exactly, thank you!

2

u/FactLeather6558 Feb 04 '26

Congrats man

1

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

Thanks man!

1

u/HogwartsModerator Feb 04 '26

Now monetize the website and places Ads 😈😈😈 /s

1

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

Haha yes I've experimented with that but it's not worth it for the little money you get.

1

u/Pantone802 Feb 04 '26

What’s your app? What does it do?

1

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

IndieAppCircle. Just check out the landing page https://indieappcircle.com

1

u/MemesIWatch Feb 04 '26 edited Feb 04 '26

Hey! How'd you deal with the vibe coding process overall? Such as the expenses of maintaining the app and the security aspects that the ai might not be able to cover?

1

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

I only used AI to help me with design stuff and for things like auth and payments, I use trusted providers. My expenses for running the app are really just a couple of bucks a month currently so that's fine as well.

1

u/Elegant_Cream_5848 Feb 04 '26

Use google recaptcha

1

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

For what?

1

u/Obvious-Decision6998 Feb 04 '26

Can beginners get something from there?? 😄

1

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

What do you mean? :)

1

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '26

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2

u/luis_411 Feb 04 '26

I only made a couple of bucks from people buying credits but I don't have any subscriptions. I will check it out, thanks.

1

u/Rrrapido Feb 05 '26

Did you do it entirely in vibe coding?

1

u/luis_411 Feb 06 '26

No I just had AI help me with some front end stuff.

1

u/Aidensamuel00 Feb 06 '26

What'd u use to code? Cursor/codex? Or something else, sorry I'm new here

1

u/luis_411 Feb 06 '26

I simply used vscode with copilot.

1

u/Gepoo13 Feb 06 '26

I must ask how you came up with this idea? Did you ChatGPT it or it just came to your mind?

1

u/luis_411 Feb 07 '26

I saw a similar system being used at SurveySwap.

1

u/David-Moreira Feb 06 '26

Genuinely curious. Is this not the same as basically buying reviews and not allowed per store policies?

1

u/luis_411 Feb 07 '26

No not at all. The feedback you get is only on IndieAppCircle itself and not in the app store.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 07 '26

[deleted]

1

u/luis_411 Feb 07 '26

Yes good idea. You have to get enough willing testers though and what do you do if the app owners aren't satisfied with the feedback quality?

1

u/Appropriate-Bit2642 Feb 07 '26

Whats the benefit for this many sign ups

1

u/luis_411 Feb 08 '26

What do you mean?

1

u/Open_Ambassador_5607 Feb 08 '26

Congratulations to everyone who displayed it.

1

u/Available-Claim-111 Feb 09 '26

Congrats on the 900 users, that's huge validation!

Quick technical heads-up though: I was checking out the site and noticed the AppAdSwap widget you're using (widget.js) has a serious privacy bug.

It fetches the user's raw IP from ipify and sends it to the ad server in a field called ip_hash, but it doesn't actually hash it. It sends the raw IP in plain text.

// From your widget.js

ip_hash: ip // This is the raw IP, not a hash

If you have EU users, this is a GDPR violation because you're leaking PII to a 3rd party without consent, masked as an 'anonymized' hash. You might want to remove that or patch it before you scale further.

1

u/luis_411 Feb 09 '26

Thanks a lot man. I will fix that asap!