Appreciate the thoughtful take 🙏 Totally agree - writing copy first sharpens messaging (My approach: Copy → Wireframe (UX) → Design (UI)).
That said: I usually build first and never get to showcasing, so this is my first Landing Page in a while - learning to get comfortable putting my work out there :)
Yeah, the space is crowded, and I’ve dismissed similar ideas before. Timing wasn’t right, and differentiation felt weak. But now, I feel like there is a gap:
- No well-maintained open-source link-in-bio tool
- Nothing truly in between a link-in-bio and a website builder (Carrd is close but lacks a developer ecosystem)
- Koji & Bento had traction - Bento’s still pulling 7M+ monthly visits despite being EOL for 1.5 years (Saku will be Bento’s & Koji’s vision combined, idk why LinkTree did not execute on that)
- Not chasing a unicorn - just trying to build something valuable, bootstrapped, and sustainable
- Bigger vision: Bring widgets to the web - home automation, dashboards, etc.
Monetization? Fair-use model like Tally.so, with main revenue from interactive widgets (buy me a coffee, digital sales, etc.). Maybe premium widgets down the line. Goal: Win-win-win.
Really appreciate your insights - thanks for sharing your experience 🙌
With this clarification, does it feel like something worth exploring to you? Or do you think Widgets just don’t belong on the web? 🤔
Your vision makes sense, although I can't say I'm super familiar with the market these days. I'd encourage you to go for it if you have conviction - you're right, you don't need to capture the whole market if you're just looking for something lifestyle!
That said, you've just gotta get creative with distribution; your LTV isn't high enough to justify spending much to acquire a user.
FYI, just came across this :) type.link/
Thanks for sharing :) Looks amazing 🚀
Definitely helps validate the core idea a bit. Seems like there are now around 5-10 "Bento/Widget"-style link-in-bios, and this one is the latest addition.
Yeah, the plan is to grow organically and through word of mouth by building something genuinely useful with a wow factor.
True, true, and true đź’Ż That said, competition also validates demand. Most link-in-bio tools copy each other without real innovation.
The goal of Saku is not to be just another link-in-bio - it’s goal is to be something in between a website builder and a link-in-bio, with interactive Widgets at the core and fully open-source.
Think Minecraft for the web - build your page with interactive Widget Blocks, like on your iPhone home screen, but outward-facing. The bigger vision? Bringing Widgets to the web - letting creators embed them anywhere or even power home automation dashboards.
For monetization, I won’t charge for the “link-in-bio” itself. Instead, have a fair-use policy like Tally.so in place, with the main revenue from interactive widgets (buy me a coffee, digital sales, etc.) and potentially premium widgets. Goal: Win-win-win.
Appreciate the honest take and the push to test pricing early - definitely something I’ll explore. With this clarification, does it feel like something worth exploring to you? Or do you think Widgets just don’t belong on the web? 🤔
Got it. The widgets thing: bio.link lets you embed Buy Me A Coffee and some other things. Still not seeing that there's much value add over existing solutions.
I think the reason IndiePage was successful was because it targeted a specific niche - makers who wanted to share their revenue. And bio.link - well, that's an excellent, memorable domain name that gets tons of organic traffic.
You might want to focus on a particular segment of the market vs. trying to solve for everyone at the beginning.
Yeah, definitely not trying to solve for everyone at the start. The idea is to build the foundation first and then add widgets based on what people actually need - since everything can be a widget, it keeps things flexible. The core value is making it feel familiar, like customizing your iPhone home screen, but outward-facing.
100% agree on niching down. That’s why I’m starting with Bluesky creators, designers, and developers, leaning into the open-source and open-sky theme to resonate with that audience.
As for the domain, yeah, I have sub.me, but it doesn’t quite fit for a link-in-bio. Later, though, if people use Saku to build Patreon-like setups with widgets, it might make more sense.
Appreciate the insight - it’s clear that focusing on a niche first is the way to go before expanding 🚀
And yeah, I definitely need to validate the idea, which is exactly why I started with the landing page 🙂
Curious about your take on Bento.me - they managed to break through despite not having a premium domain or more features. Do you think their success came from the Bento grid layout (which is quite similar to the widget approach), or was it something else that made them stand out?
Note: Koji & Bento are a huge inspiration - honestly, I wouldn’t have even considered building Saku if Linktree hadn’t shut both of them down. Waited one year but it seems like LinkTree acquired them to get rid of competition.
No idea, haven't heard of them. Main point is you should try to differentiate somehow.
I don't know if a grid is the best way to do that (genuinely don't know, maybe people give a shit about that - I don't but N=1)
Thanks for the insight! Definitely still a lot to figure out.
I just noticed you're an actual user of a Link In Bio tool - you went with bio.link. Curious, what made you choose it over the other options? Was it the domain, simplicity, or something else?
Also, just for fun, I threw together a quick concept of how your bio.link page could look in Saku using Widgets - would love to hear your thoughts! 🚀
Figma: www.figma.com/proto/cUFXkaH7a…
Wow, thanks for the extra effort there. That does look quite a bit better than what I have now.
I mainly went with biolink because it was free and I just wanted to quickly add some links I wanted people to visit.
I think I'm starting to see the value prop of what you're offering now. Much better design with custom components + CTAs that will lead to better conversion etc