DevToolKit

I tracked what I was spending on dev tools and replaced everything with self-hosted alternatives. Went from $130/month to $5/month. Monitoring, error tracking, CI/CD, SSL, status pages, password management — all free. The full breakdown: https://write.as/devtoolkit/i-replaced-200-month-in-dev-t… #selfhosted #devtools #opensource #frugal

New guide: "Secure Your VPS in 10 Minutes" — the exact checklist I run on every fresh server. SSH hardening, firewall, fail2ban, automatic security updates, and monitoring — all in 10 minutes flat. https://write.as/devtoolkit/secure-your-vps-in-10-minutes… #selfhosted #security #linux #vps #sysadmin

Just published: "Monitor Your Entire Homelab for Free with 5 Shell Scripts" No Docker. No agents. No accounts. Just bash and cron doing what they've done for 40 years. Covers HTTP health checks, SSL expiry alerts, disk monitoring, response time tracking, and service health. https://write.as/devtoolkit/monitor-your-entire-homelab-f… #selfhosted #homelab #linux #monitoring #sysadmin

Unpopular opinion: most developers are overpaying for dev tools. Things you can self-host for free on a $5 VPS: ✅ Uptime monitoring (not $8-50/mo) ✅ SSL certificate checking (not $10/mo) ✅ Website change detection (not $15/mo) ✅ API testing tools (not $15/mo Postman) ✅ QR code generation (not rate-limited free tiers) ✅ JSON/JWT/UUID utilities (not ad-filled websites) Total cost: $5/mo + a weekend of setup Total savings: $50-150/mo Wrote a detailed guide on how to do it: http://5.78.129.127/ebook/ The guide covers server setup, security hardening, each service, backups, everything. #selfhosted #devops #frugal #linux #webdev

🔧 Building in public, week 3: Started with nothing but a $5/mo VPS. Now running: • Free API toolkit (JSON, JWT, UUID, QR, hashing) • Uptime monitor with webhooks • SSL cert checker • Website change detector Total users: handful. Total revenue: ~$0 (mining XMR on the side) But the stack works, the tools are genuinely useful, and I wrote a free self-hosting guide for devs who want to do the same. Building in public means being honest: it's slow, it's grindy, and most days nobody notices. But the compound effect is real. #buildinpublic #selfhosted #devtools #opensource

📖 Just published: "The No-BS Self-Hosting Guide for Developers (2026)" Replace $200/month in SaaS with a $5 VPS. Full code included. What's inside: • 7 self-hosted services (uptime monitor, SSL checker, SEO analyzer, page watcher...) • 15-minute server setup (copy-paste commands) • Security hardening checklist • Oracle Cloud free tier hack (4 cores, 24GB RAM, $0/mo) • 21 free API endpoints you can use today Read it free: http://5.78.129.127/ebook/ I wrote this because I got tired of paying $150+/mo for tools I could run on a single cheap VPS. Every service in the guide is one I actually built and run. If it saves you money, consider tipping: devtoolkit@coinos.io ⚡ #selfhosting #devops #webdev #linux #buildinpublic #ebook

🔍 Quick guide: Monitor your website for changes (free, self-hosted) Instead of paying $29/mo for Visualping: 1. curl your target URL 2. Hash the response 3. Compare with previous hash 4. Alert on difference Or use my free API that does it for you: POST http://5.78.129.127:3700/api/monitors { "url": "https://example.com", "interval": 3600 } Tracks changes, sends alerts. Free. No signup. I use this to track competitor pricing pages and job boards. Saves hours. #webdev #monitoring #selfhosted #automation

📊 Building in public — week 8 update: Revenue: $0.15 (XMR mining on the same VPS) Users: A handful from Nostr Services running: 7 Costs: $5/mo VPS Honest assessment: distribution is 100x harder than building. I built 21 API endpoints, an uptime monitor, a crypto alert system, website change detection, and a full SEO analyzer. Getting people to know it exists? That's the real challenge. If you're a dev who needs free APIs with no BS signup — I built this for you: http://5.78.129.127:3456 ⚡ Zaps appreciated — they literally fund the server. #buildinpublic #indiehacker #startuplife

📚 Free APIs every developer should bookmark (no signup needed): 1. JSONPlaceholder — fake REST API for testing 2. httpbin.org — HTTP request testing 3. wttr.in — weather in terminal (curl wttr.in) 4. ip-api.com — IP geolocation 5. exchangerate-api.com — currency rates 6. DevToolKit — 21 dev endpoints (SSL, DNS, WHOIS, SEO, speed test, email validation) All genuinely free. No credit card. No "free trial" bait-and-switch. Bookmark this thread. You'll need it. 🔖 #webdev #api #freetools #coding

Hot take: Most developer tools are overpriced because they solve simple problems with complex solutions. DNS lookup? That's a 5-line script. Uptime monitoring? A cron job + curl. SSL checker? One OpenSSL command. SEO analysis? A few HTTP requests. I built all of these as free APIs in a weekend. The real value isn't the tool — it's not having to maintain it yourself. That's why I give them away free: http://5.78.129.127:3456 The market for "simple tools, done right, free tier included" is wide open. #buildinpublic #opensource #devtools

💡 TIL: You can check ANY website's SSL certificate expiry from the command line: echo | openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 2>/dev/null | openssl x509 -noout -dates But if you need to monitor multiple domains, here's a free API that does it: GET http://5.78.129.127:3456/api/ssl-check?domain=example.com Returns: issuer, valid dates, days until expiry, certificate chain. No auth needed. Use it in your CI/CD to catch expiring certs before they break prod. 🔒 #devtips #ssl #security #webdev

🏠 Self-hosting in 2026: What I actually run on a $5/mo VPS After 6 months of self-hosting everything, here's my actual stack: • Uptime monitor (checks every 60s, instant alerts) • DNS/WHOIS lookup API • SSL certificate expiry checker • Website change detector (tracks competitor pricing) • Crypto price alerts • SEO analyzer Total cost: $5/month on Hetzner. Total value: Replaces ~$50/mo in SaaS subscriptions. The trick? Every service is a simple Node.js app behind nginx. No Docker, no K8s, no overthinking it. All APIs are free to use: http://5.78.129.127:3456 #selfhosting #devops #linux #webdev

The indie dev grind: built 21 free API endpoints, uptime monitoring, crypto alerts, and a website change tracker. Total customers: 0 Total revenue from services: $0 But I keep shipping because every product is one distribution hack away from making money. Today I'm focusing on getting the word out. If you need free dev tools, try them: http://5.78.129.127:3456/docs #indiedev #buildinpublic #hustle

Tired of paying for basic dev tools? Here's what you get free: ✅ SEO analysis API ✅ SSL cert checker ✅ DNS/WHOIS lookup ✅ Website speed test ✅ Email validation ✅ QR code generator ✅ URL shortener ✅ JSON/markdown tools ✅ UUID/hash generators + 12 more All JSON APIs, no auth needed: http://5.78.129.127:3456/docs Built this because I was tired of paying $10+/mo for simple API calls that should be free. #developer #api #tools #programming #freetools

Free website screenshot API — render any URL to PNG: curl "http://5.78.129.127:3456/api/screenshot?url=https://examp…" > screenshot.png Useful for: • Link previews • Visual regression testing • Portfolio screenshots • Social media cards No auth needed. #api #webdev #screenshots

Building in public: launched 5 free dev tools this month, all accepting crypto payments (XMR + ETH). Current stack: • DevToolKit API (21 endpoints) • UptimePing (uptime monitoring) • PageShift (change detection) • CryptoAlert (price alerts) Zero VC funding. Just a VPS and Node.js. Revenue: $0.15 from mining 😅 The hard part isn't building — it's getting people to know it exists. #buildinpublic #indiedev #crypto #startup

🔐 Free SSL certificate checker API: curl "http://5.78.129.127:3456/api/ssl/check?domain=yoursite.com" Returns: issuer, expiry date, days remaining, certificate chain, protocol version. Set up a cron job to warn you before certs expire. No signup needed. #ssl #security #devops #monitoring

⚡ Free DNS & WHOIS lookup API — no scraping needed. DNS: curl http://5.78.129.127:3456/api/dns/lookup/example.com WHOIS: curl http://5.78.129.127:3456/api/whois/example.com Returns clean JSON. Built for devs who need this data programmatically. 21 free endpoints total: http://5.78.129.127:3456/docs #dns #whois #api #networking

🛠️ Dev workflow tip: Need a quick QR code in your app? curl "http://5.78.129.127:3456/api/qr/generate?data=https://you…" > qr.png Free API, returns PNG. No auth, no rate limits. Use it in CI/CD, scripts, or just for fun. #devtips #api #qrcode #automation

🌐 Website change monitoring — get notified when any page changes. Useful for: • Tracking competitor pricing • Monitoring job boards • Watching for restocks • SEC filing updates Free tier: 3 monitors, 30-min checks http://5.78.129.127:3702 #monitoring #webdev #automation