I launched CountdownShare around 8 months ago, and now 100+ countdowns are being created every day, mostly from organic traffic.
The product is already monetized with a monthly Pro plan, and a lifetime plan.
The problem is… almost nobody pays.
I’ve spent a lot of time trying to improve the funnel.
I started asking free users for their email to get their edit link, improved the upgrade flow, added more Pro features, built API access for developers, and added features aimed at marketing teams.
But none of it has really changed the situation.
And I think I’m starting to understand why.
For most people, a countdown is simply a one-time need.
They have an event, birthday, product launch, wedding, deadline, etc. They create a countdown, share it, and leave. They might love the product, but that doesn't mean they have a reason to pay every month.
What's also interesting is that some of the biggest competitors in this space have been around for 15–16 years and still get most of the search traffic.
So clearly there is long-term demand for countdown tools. But I'm starting to wonder whether this is simply a good SEO/traffic business rather than a good subscription SaaS business.
Now I'm stuck.
I could stop actively working on it, keep it online as a portfolio/side project, and move on to another product.
But most of my growth comes from SEO. If I stop monitoring and improving it, rankings could eventually drop, competitors could keep taking the traffic, and the work I've put in over the last 8 months could slowly disappear.
At the same time, if I keep adding features and chasing SEO growth, I’m worried I’m just giving myself false hope that eventually people will start paying.
100+ countdowns being created every day tells me I built something people want to use. But maybe not something they want to pay for.
If you were in my position, what would you do?
Keep it alive with minimal maintenance and move on?
Keep pushing SEO and treat it more like a traffic/ad business?
Or keep working on the paid product and give it more time?
Would really like to hear from people who have been in a similar situation.