Why do developers sign up for tools but never pay?(zolly.dev)

2 pointsby Parameswarvor 6 Monaten3 comments

Why do developers sign up for tools but never pay?

https://www.zolly.dev/

3 comments

because sign-up is momentary & painless

and subscriptions are ongoing & painful

and yes the code generator space is saturated

JohnFenvor 6 Monaten

Also, speaking generally and not about this offering specifically, people sign up to try a solution out. It's normal and expected that most of those people will find that the cost/benefit of the solution isn't favorable to them and so they don't buy.

Parameswarvor 6 Monaten

Hi HN,

I’m the solo founder of Zolly, a tool that lets you generate a full app from a prompt and then visually edit it (no templates, no boilerplate).

I launched recently and got ~75 signups in the first week. People use it, generate apps, and explore the editor — but no one converts to paid.

I’m trying to understand where the gap usually is:

Is the value not clear enough?

Is “AI app builders” already a saturated / mistrusted space?

Do developers prefer DIY even if tools save time?

Or is this just expected at this early stage?

If you’ve built or used similar tools, I’d really appreciate your honest perspective on:

what would make you pay, or

what would immediately turn you off.

Not here to pitch — genuinely trying to learn before deciding whether to pivot, persist, or shut it down.

Thanks for reading.