PrettyPost.io

I created PrettyPost because I was frustrated with how plain and messy social media posts looked when I wanted to share them elsewhere. Whether it was an X post, an Instagram comment, or even just a quick screenshot, they never looked polished enough to drop into a presentation, a newsletter, or another post. I found myself manually editing screenshots, cropping out clutter, or spending too long in Figma or Canva just to make something look clean. I knew I wasn’t the only one wasting time doing this. PrettyPost is for creators, founders, and anyone who shares content online and wants their posts to look professional without the hassle. I personally hit this pain point while building in public and sharing updates. I wanted to showcase my posts in a way that looked good, but I didn’t want to spend ages editing them in design tools. That is when it clicked: why not build a tool that does it instantly? PrettyPost was born out of that need to give people a fast, simple way to turn their posts or screenshots into visuals that actually stand out.

Before building PrettyPost, I wanted to make sure it was something people actually needed. I started by talking to other creators, indie hackers, and friends who were active on social media. I asked them how they currently shared posts outside of the platforms themselves and almost everyone admitted to taking screenshots and then editing them to look cleaner. Some used tools like Figma or Canva, others just cropped and hoped for the best. Hearing the same frustrations I had was the first signal that I was on to something. In total, I spoke to around 15–20 people, and the consistency of their answers was really validating. What surprised me most was how broad the use cases were. Some people wanted polished posts for presentations, others wanted them for newsletters, and some simply wanted their content to look better when shared across different platforms. That feedback gave me confidence that PrettyPost could solve a real problem for a wide range of users, not just me

For PrettyPost, I decided to build it myself using a lightweight tech stack that would let me move quickly. The frontend is built with React and Vercel for fast deployment, and I’m using Supabase for authentication and storing user data. I went with this setup because it’s developer-friendly, scalable, and perfect for shipping an MVP without overcomplicating things. I built everything with custom code rather than relying on a no-code platform. I wanted full control over the experience and the flexibility to add new features later without being limited by someone else’s framework. The biggest technical challenge was handling the rendering of posts and screenshots in a way that was consistent and high quality across devices. It took a lot of iteration to get the balance right between speed and design, but it was worth it to make the output look clean and professional every time.

I got my first 10 customers by building in public on X and sharing the journey as I went. My launch video was just a simple demo of PrettyPost in action, but it immediately clicked with people and led to my very first sale. From there, I kept posting updates, new features, and small behind-the-scenes moments. That consistency paid off—those posts ended up generating over 100K impressions and brought more than 4,400 people to my site. Not every channel worked as well. Some marketing ideas fell flat, and I realized that certain strategies felt too forced. What really worked was staying authentic and showing the product in action. I’ve also started experimenting with Reddit, trying to reach specific niches where PrettyPost can solve a real problem. The biggest growth hack I discovered is that social proof compounds: once people see others using your product and sharing results, it creates momentum that no ad campaign can match.

My biggest advice for someone just starting out is to launch as early as possible, even if your product only does one or two things. When I launched PrettyPost, it only supported X posts and simple code screenshots. From there, I collected user feedback and focused on building the features people were asking for most. That approach not only saved me time but also ensured I was always working on what actually mattered to users. The biggest challenge I faced was balancing speed with quality. I had to remind myself that an MVP isn’t supposed to be perfect, it’s supposed to prove that people care. A common mistake founders make is waiting too long to launch or building too much in isolation without involving users early. What keeps me motivated is seeing people use PrettyPost and hearing how it makes their content look better with almost no effort. Knowing that something I built solves a real problem for others is the push I need to keep improving it and growing the product step by step.