Onlineornot

Project Overview

OnlineOrNot is a uptime monitoring service for websites, APIs, and JavaScript applications, developed as a side project by the creator who dedicates two hours per workday to its development. The platform includes features like cron job monitoring and built-in status pages, demonstrating a comprehensive approach to service reliability tracking.

Market Strategy and Approach

The creator adopts an “outlast” strategy in a competitive SaaS segment, focusing on consistently shipping high-quality code and maintaining long-term commitment. Despite operating in a “red ocean” market with numerous competitors, the business has shown consistent growth, with the creator deliberately avoiding price-based competition.

Marketing and Community Engagement

Marketing efforts center on active participation in technical forums like Hacker News and Reddit, providing valuable advice and creating informative content. The approach, while sometimes perceived as borderline spam, follows the principle of marketing “until it feels like it’s too much, and then some.” This strategy involves consistent visibility, community contribution, and persistent promotion.

Business Insights

The project highlights the challenges of sustaining a SaaS product in a crowded market. The creator’s approach emphasizes persistent effort, continuous improvement, and strategic marketing over quick wins or aggressive pricing. The business appears to be growing incrementally, validating the long-term, patient approach to product development and market penetration.