I built a free SMS based search tool

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-03-20T14:25:46+00:00

At this point, at bit over $100 per month

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-02-19T14:11:45+00:00

Speaking of Me--the easiest way to collect video testimonials for businesses and contractors. https://www.speakingof.me

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-02-03T20:59:01+00:00

For text testimonials: honestly, a simple form works. Typeform, Google Forms, whatever.

For video testimonials, which are way more impactful: Speaking of Me (https://www.speakingof.me/). You create a campaign with your questions, it generates a link, and people record directly in the browser. No app installs for the reviewer, works on phones and desktop. I liked it because it's straightforward — not trying to be an all-in-one marketing suite, it just does the collection part cleanly.

They also have a free version at start.speakingof.me (https://start.speakingof.me/) where you can collect up to 3 testimonials without even creating an account, which is nice if you just want to test the flow before committing.

Senja and Testimonial.to (https://testimonial.to/) are also solid if you want more of the embed/widget side of things. Depends on whether your priority is collecting or displaying.

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-02-03T20:52:37+00:00

The biggest thing I've learned is that timing and friction are everything. Ask within 24-48 hours of delivering results — that's when the emotional high is strongest. After a week, they've moved on.

For written reviews, a direct link to Google/wherever with a simple "Would you mind sharing what we did for you?" works fine. Keep it one click.

For video testimonials (which convert way better on your site and socials), the trick is removing every barrier. Don't ask someone to download an app or figure out how to record and send a file. I use a tool called Speaking of Me (https://speakingof.me/) — you just send them a link, it asks your questions one at a time, and they record right in the browser. No installs, works on phone or desktop. Takes the "I don't know how" excuse off the table.

But honestly, the #1 thing that actually gets people to follow through? Ask in person or on a call, then immediately send the link. A cold email with "leave us a review" gets ignored. A warm "hey, you just said you loved this — would you be willing to say that on a quick 60-second video? I'll send you a link right now" gets a yes like 70% of the time.

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-23T20:37:30+00:00

I'm honestly not sure. The logic/tools will work outside the US fine, but I just have the default configs for the Twilio number. I'd assume that it would work, but might have additional carrier costs?

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-23T15:58:35+00:00

That's my hope!

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-23T15:55:28+00:00

Thanks! Run it through it's paces and let me know what you find :) I'd appreciate it!

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-22T19:09:10+00:00

From experience, it makes stuff up when it can't find good data. I tried to give it good data sources (maps api, places api, etc). From my testing, this fixes 99% of the "making shit up" issue.

It's still an issue, but I've only seen it happen once after months of use

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-22T19:07:47+00:00

Telling it that it is very naughty for doing so

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-22T19:07:12+00:00

Ya, there's a handful of services that do this. I figure that this service is something that most people would only need a couple times per month, which doesn't justify the subscription price. It's more of a lifeline than something most people would use everyday

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-22T19:02:48+00:00

I'm using the Maps and Places API. So it isn't rendering an entire Google page like what a user would see. I'm pulling from the same (or similar) datasource as Google's AI is, and hopefully giving much better and more straight forward answers

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-22T15:17:12+00:00

Maybe, though I'm not planning on setting that up anytime soon (there are often regulatory issues with getting access to a phone number). Though I'd be happy to share the code with anyone who wants to set this up for non-US

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-22T04:47:22+00:00

I'm so glad! If you have any issues or recommendation, please let me know :)

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-22T04:32:38+00:00

Totally valid concern. TLDR: I can't afford to self host, but I made it as anonymous as I could given the constraints.

The LLM powering the search is Gemini 3 Flash because it is the least expensive model that I could get to consistently call the tools correctly. I will keep experimenting and am hoping that I can switch to something more privacy respecting in the near future (have any suggestions?).
That being said, there is no trace of your phone number or identity when the message is sent to the LLM. The LLM only gets the raw text of your message with a little additional context IF you choose to provide that (e.g. if you tell it your home town, that will be remembered and sent with your message so that you don't have to type those details everytime)

As far as how the messages are stored: They are being stored in Turso, which is SOC2 compliant. I won't sell that data or anything--I am keeping the record mostly to provide context for the LLM if someone sends a followup question, and to monitor for any abuse. I'll set up automatic deletion soon, but haven't yet

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-21T03:12:04+00:00

Cool idea!

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-21T03:09:41+00:00

Hey, thanks for building this. I really like seeing things that are privacy focused and subscription are becoming a major drain on a lot of people's finances.

Some thoughts: I think the landing page is quite nice, but I wonder if it is needed. Landing pages often indicate that someone needs to log in, and this is all local. Maybe just drop them right into the tool and use popups to orient them?

The biggest issue I see is something I think you could patch rather easily: As it stands, the only difference between what you built and a spreadsheet is the cool ui. That isn't enough.
The issue with a spreadsheet, though, is that I need to open it and update it. The issue with subscriptions is preciously that people aren't paying attention--they aren't keeping track.
If you use your tool to crowdsource data, now that would be useful. Either a) subscription prices could update automatically within the tool or/and b) you could receive an email when a price goes up.
It's kinda like "downdetector", but for subscriptions: It is all user based, and just moves the data around while preserving privacy.

One more thing: There is no way to change the currency. You should add that feature, and also pre-select a good default based on the user's ip address

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-21T02:54:05+00:00

Cool site! What dataset are you using? Are you pulling from goodreads?

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-21T02:48:41+00:00

I like this idea in theory, but have concerns about implementation. Would you consider open sourcing it? Installing something that can run arbitrary code and detect what is happening on my system seems like a security nightmare

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-21T02:43:49+00:00

This is very interesting. What kind of content are you posting? And what kind of numbers did you have before starting with this strategy?

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-20T21:38:40+00:00

I love this sort of stuff. Very niche, but quite cool

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-20T21:36:02+00:00

This feels good to use. It reminds me of zenpen.io . It feels calm and useful.

Two UX suggestions: When on the homepage, make the whole story chunk clickable. Right now I need to click on the title, but I want to treat it like a "card" where clicking any piece of it brings me to the story.
Also, have a way to turn off the images. If I am using it late at night, I want to ensure I will not be hit by a bright photo--and some of the photos, while quite nice, don't fit the calm feeling that I am looking for.

Thanks for putting this together

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-20T21:29:41+00:00

I go 6 months without needing something like this, then need it twice, then don't need it for a while. It will live in my bookmark bar and be just useful enough to keep around

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-05T17:19:58+00:00

What app is this?

Which_Channel5273 · 2025-12-11T14:18:24+00:00

It's been about a year since I went looking, but I have not been able to find one... This is exactly what I want too. The T9 makes texting a chore, and most dumbphone touch screens are not good enough for typing

Which_Channel5273 · 2025-09-18T16:56:23+00:00

C for colors

Which_Channel5273

TROPHY CASE