After months of building solo, I just got my first paying subscriber for my SSH client.
Wanted to share a small win. Just got my first annual subscriber ($40/year) for Termique, a cross-platform SSH client I've been building solo.
Quick background: I'm a solo dev, been building this on and off while also running a dev agency on the side. Termique is basically an SSH manager with end-to-end encrypted sync across Mac/Windows/Linux/iOS. Built it because I got tired of juggling different SSH tools across my devices, none of which synced properly without trusting a third party with my keys.
Honest part of the marketing journey: most of what I did was just posting on Reddit without really thinking about how it'd land. Result, I got roasted way more than I got actual users. But I learned a few things along the way:
- Don't make new threads if you can avoid it. Just comment on existing related threads where people are already asking for what you have. Way less friction, way less "why is this guy promoting himself" energy.
- Finding relevant threads is easier than people think. Just Google something like
site:reddit.com "ssh client alternative" after:2026-01-01and adjust the keywords to your niche. Then comment naturally where it fits. - If you do want to make your own thread (like this one), be ready to get roasted. It happens, and honestly some of the harshest feedback ended up being the most useful.
This first subscriber isn't huge revenue-wise, but it's proof someone besides me thinks it's worth paying for, which honestly feels like a bigger milestone than it sounds.
If anyone's curious, it's at termique.app. Happy to answer questions about the stack, sync architecture, or the whole solo-founder-slash-agency-owner juggling act (and yes, roast away if you want).