# Builders.to

> From idea to investor-ready MVP — with the support to keep momentum.

Builders.to takes founders from idea to investor-ready MVP and helps them keep momentum afterward. Members post updates, create project pages, track milestones, and get more eyes on their work in a community of active builders. When founders need more, they choose their level of support: get Verified for a badge and a recorded MVP review, or go Pro to get verified and triple their reach. It serves aspiring and early-stage founders (and indie hackers and solopreneurs) building Web 2 or 3 projects.

## Core Features

### Project Sharing
- **Projects**: Post your work at any stage (Idea → Building → Beta → Launched → Paused → Acquired). Free accounts can share 1 project; Verified gets up to 2 projects; Pro gets up to 5 projects.
- **Co-Builders**: Credit multiple builders on a single project
- **Milestones**: Track and celebrate project milestones (v1 shipped, first user, first customer, $1k MRR, $10k MRR, profitable, first hire, funding, pivot)
- **Project Images**: Upload screenshots and media to showcase your work
- **Upvotes & Comments**: Community feedback and support system

### Community Feed
- **Daily Updates**: Share what you're building with text, images, GIFs, and videos
- **Activity Feed**: Real-time feed combining daily updates, milestones, new projects, job postings, and new member announcements
- **Likes & Comments**: Engage with other builders' updates
- **@Mentions**: Tag other builders in your updates

### Builder Profiles
- **Public Profiles**: Showcase your work, bio, headline, and social links
- **Profile intent flags**: Signal if you're open to work, looking for a co-founder, or available for contract work
- **Streaks**: Track consecutive days of posting updates
- **Follows**: Follow builders you're interested in
- **Karma & Levels**: Earn karma points through contributions; level up from Newcomer to Legend

### Companies
- **Company Pages**: Create and manage company profiles with logo, about, tech stack, and tools
- **Traction Badges**: Display customer count, user count, revenue range, funding stage
- **Company Updates**: Post internal build logs and announcements
- **Team Members**: Add team members with roles (Owner, Admin, Member)
- **Job Board**: Post open roles (Full-time, Part-time, Contract, Freelance, Co-founder, Advisor, Intern)

### Reviews / Testers Marketplace
- **Peer App Reviews**: Request feedback on your project, launch, or landing page
- **Token-Powered**: Spend 10 tokens per review slot; reviewers earn tokens and karma
- **Star Ratings**: Optional 1-5 star ratings roll up into project averages

### Builder Map & Nearby Discovery
- **Interactive World Map**: See where builders are located globally
- **Location Markers**: Visual pins for builders with approximate locations (privacy-offset ~10 miles)
- **Nearby Builders**: Find builders near your area within a customizable radius

### Leaderboard
- **Top Builders**: Community leaderboard ranked by karma points and contributions
- **Karma Levels**: Newcomer, Contributor, Builder, Mentor, Legend
- **Karma Events**: Points earned for posting updates (+5), receiving likes (+2), commenting (+3), helpful comments (+10), launching projects (+25), project upvotes (+5), streak milestones, and mentorship
- **Karma History**: Full history of karma point changes and events

### Message Requests
- **Connect Intentionally**: Send an intro message as a request rather than open DMs
- **Accept / Decline**: Recipients accept or decline; after acceptance the sender can send one follow-up message
- **Encrypted at Rest**: Message content is encrypted in the database

### Cross-Platform Posting
- **Twitter/X**: Post directly to a connected Twitter/X account with media support (only connected posting platform today)
- **Scheduled Posts**: Schedule content for optimal timing
- **AI-Assisted Drafting**: Optional OpenAI-powered drafts and rewrites

### Streamers Section
- **Live Streamers**: Discover builders who stream their work on Twitch
- **Featured Videos**: Showcase YouTube or Twitch videos on your profile

### Affiliate Program
- **25% Commission**: Earn cash on a referred builder's first qualifying purchase (Verified, Pro; legacy Founder's Circle, Deskmate, and lifetime still pay out for existing referrals)
- **Stripe Connect Payouts**: 30-day hold, $25 minimum payout

### API Access
- **Scoped API Keys**: Available on every plan (`updates:read`, `updates:write`, `ar:read`)
- **Daily Limits**: API posts count toward your tier's daily limit (5 Free / 10 Verified / 15 Pro)

### Membership Tiers (Founders Edition)
- **Free ($0/month)**: 5 posts/day, 1 project, karma system, public community content, and builder Discord access. Tokens are earned through referrals, streak milestones, helpful engagement, and reviews — posting itself does not award tokens.
- **Verified ($25 one-time, Verified forever)**: 10 posts/day, up to 2 projects, a verified badge on your profile, a recorded MVP review from the team (booked after checkout), and builder Discord access. Everything in Free. Pay once via Stripe — no renewal.
- **Pro ($50 one-time, Pro forever)**: 15 posts/day, up to 5 projects, verified Pro badge, API access (15/day), and weekly sprint check-ins via Discord. Everything in Verified. Pay once via Stripe — no renewal. Requires a recorded video verification interview with the CEO within 7 days of signup.

Verified and Pro are one-time Stripe purchases. Founder's Circle, Deskmate, and the lifetime deal are no longer sold to new members; existing subscribers keep their plans.


### Token System
- **Builder Tokens**: In-app currency earned through engagement
- **Welcome Bonus**: New users receive tokens on signup
- **Referral Rewards**: Earn tokens when you refer new builders
- **Streak Bonuses**: Earn tokens for maintaining daily update streaks
- **Profile Completion**: Earn tokens for completing your profile
- **Token Gifting**: Send tokens to other builders as appreciation
- **Token Redemption**: Use tokens for boosts, reviews, streak freezes, and other in-app actions

### Advertising
- **Sidebar Ads**: Purchase ad placements visible on the feed (card checkout via Stripe)
- **View & Click Tracking**: Analytics for ad performance

### Notifications & Communication
- **In-App Notifications**: Real-time notifications for likes, comments, mentions, and more
- **Push Notifications**: PWA push notifications (opt-in)
- **Email Digests**: Daily and weekly digest emails
- **Content Reporting**: Report inappropriate content

### Security
- **OAuth Authentication**: Sign in with Google, GitHub, or X/Twitter
- **Magic Links**: Passwordless email sign-in via Resend
- **Two-Factor Authentication**: Optional TOTP-based 2FA with backup codes
- **Encrypted at Rest**: OAuth tokens, 2FA backup codes, and message content encrypted with AES-256-GCM

## Public Pages

- `/feed` - Main community feed with recent projects, updates, milestones, and jobs
- `/pricing` - Membership tiers and pricing (Free, Verified, Pro)
- `/projects` - Browse all projects shared by the community
- `/projects/[slug]` - Individual project pages
- `/companies` - Discover companies built by community members
- `/companies/[slug]` - Individual company pages
- `/roles` - Opportunity hub / job board
- `/testers` - Reviews / testers marketplace
- `/affiliates` - Affiliate program
- `/startup-journey` - Gamified quest map
- `/first-1000` - First 1,000 founder rewards (auto-granted by signup rank)
- `/member-recognition` - Community recognition
- `/feedback` - Product feedback
- `/pricing/tokens` - Token top-up packs
- `/streamers` - Builders who live-stream their work
- `/leaderboard` - Top builders ranked by karma and contributions
- `/map` - Interactive world map of builder locations
- `/[slug]` - Public builder profiles
- `/[slug]/updates` - Builder's update history
- `/[slug]/[companySlug]` - Company pages under builder profiles
- `/articles` - Guides, tutorials, and resources for builders
- `/how-to` - Step-by-step how-to guides
- `/how-to/complete-your-profile` - Guide to setting up your profile
- `/how-to/become-a-pro-member` - Pro membership benefits and setup
- `/how-to/membership-tiers` - Compare all membership tiers: Free, Verified, and Pro
- `/how-to/idea-to-first-customer` - Roadmap from idea to paying customer
- `/how-to/find-technical-cofounder` - Finding the right technical co-founder
- `/how-to/advertise-on-builders` - How to run ads on Builders.to
- `/how-to/share-your-first-project` - How to create, showcase, and launch your first project
- `/growth-hacks` - Growth tactics for indie hackers
- `/growth-hacks/builder-badge-method` - Build authority with the Builder-Badge Method
- `/growth-hacks/build-in-public` - Complete guide to building in public
- `/growth-hacks/micro-saas-ideas` - 50 micro-SaaS ideas to build and launch
- `/growth-hacks/indie-hacker-revenue-streams` - Revenue streams beyond SaaS
- `/privacy` - Privacy policy
- `/terms` - Terms of service

## Tech Stack

- **Framework**: Next.js 16 (App Router)
- **Language**: TypeScript
- **Database**: PostgreSQL with Prisma ORM 7
- **Authentication**: NextAuth.js v5 (OAuth: Google, GitHub, X/Twitter; magic links)
- **Payments**: Stripe (Checkout, Connect)
- **Styling**: Tailwind CSS
- **Icons**: Lucide React
- **Animations**: Motion (Framer Motion)
- **Email**: Resend
- **GIFs**: Giphy API
- **AI**: OpenAI (content drafting)
- **Analytics**: Umami (client + server events)
- **Shared State**: Upstash Redis (rate limiting)
- **Push Notifications**: Web Push API + native APNs / FCM
- **Mobile**: Capacitor (iOS + Android shells)

## Community

Join the Builders.to community:
- X/Twitter Community: https://x.com/i/communities/1943895831322439993

## Contact

For questions about Builders.to, reach out through our community channels or create an account to connect with the team directly.

## Optional

- Logo: https://builders.to/logo.svg
- Full Logo: https://builders.to/logo-full.svg
- Favicon: https://builders.to/favicon.svg