1. Find the users who already depend on you
Pull a list of users active on at least 3 separate days in the last 30, or who hit a usage limit, or who invited a teammate. Check signup emails for company domains, not gmail. Those are the people whose employer can pay. Ignore everyone else for now.
2. Pick one paid feature that a team needs
Developers pay for what their company needs: SSO, more seats, audit logs, private repos, longer history, higher rate limits, priority support. Put the paywall there, not on the core feature a solo developer uses. Solo users stay free and keep spreading the tool.
3. Set a simple price you can say in one line
Start with something like $20 per user per month, or a flat $99 per month per team. That fits on a company card with no procurement process. Offer annual billing at two months free. You can raise prices later. Starting too low is worse than starting too high.
4. Email active users directly, founder to user
Send a plain text email from your own address, not a marketing tool. Example: "Hi Sam, I'm the founder of [tool]. I see your team at Acme has used it most days this month. We're launching a Team plan at $99/month with SSO and shared configs. Want me to set it up for you? I'll give you the first 3 months at half price." Send 20 of these a day.
5. Get on a 15 minute call with anyone who replies
Ask what they use it for, what breaks, and who approves tools at their company. Then ask directly: "Would you pay $99 a month for this today?" If they hesitate, ask what would make it a yes. Usually the answer is a missing feature, or they need to ask their engineering manager. Offer to write that note for them.
6. Make it easy for the engineer to sell it internally
The user is often a senior engineer. The buyer is a staff engineer, engineering manager or CTO. Send a short paragraph they can forward: what the tool does, time saved, security details, price. Add a self-serve checkout link with Stripe so a small team can pay without a meeting.
7. Find more users where developers ask for help
Search GitHub issues, Stack Overflow, Hacker News, r/devops, r/programming and relevant Discord servers for the exact problem your tool solves. For example, search GitHub for "flaky tests" in issues from the last month. Reply with a real fix first, then mention your tool. Respect opt-in: never auto-enable AI features or data collection, because developers notice and leave.
8. Repeat every day and track replies
Keep a sheet: name, company, usage, date contacted, reply, price offered, outcome. Aim for 20 outreach messages and 2 calls a day. After 2 weeks you will know your price and your best feature. Hulby, an AI cofounder, runs this list and drafts these messages daily for founders.
People asking this right now
Real, public posts from the last few weeks. Each one is somebody you could help today.
Mistakes to skip
- Paywalling the core feature solo developers love instead of team features.
- Sending automated marketing emails instead of a short note from the founder.
- Waiting for users to find the pricing page instead of asking them to pay.
- Turning on telemetry or AI features by default without clear consent.
Want this done for your developer tool, every day?
Hulby finds the people asking for what you built, writes every reply and email, and keeps you on it until they pay. Free to start.
Find my first customersQuestions
How many free users do I need before charging?
None. If 5 people use your tool weekly at work, start asking them to pay now.
Should I charge per seat or flat?
Flat team pricing is simpler early on. Move to per seat once teams grow past 10 users.
Will charging make free users leave?
Not if the free tier still covers solo use. Only charge for team and company needs.
What if they say they need approval?
Ask who approves it and offer a forwardable paragraph plus a 30 day paid trial at a discount.