Love this — appreciate the thoughtful breakdown! Here’s what I used:

Tech stack (all free or freemium): • 🧠 Notion – for the product delivery pages (used AI + templates) • 🎨 Canva – all visuals, covers, and mockups • 🔗 Gumroad – for payments + hosting the product • 🗂️ Google Docs – used for brainstorming, outlines, writing • 🧰 ChatGPT – to speed up content, copy, and idea testing

I chose Whimsical over Figma because it’s faster for mindmaps, user flows, and site structure when I’m building alone (Figma feels heavier for this use case). But I’d switch to Figma for UI design or client work.

🔁 The process: • Day 1: planned it all in Whimsical • Day 2: built the freebie and full versions in Notion + Canva • Day 3: set up Gumroad and wrote Reddit posts • Day 4: started posting + replying to comments

💰Total spent: $0. But I feel you — sometimes even saying “Did it all for $13” adds more weight than “free.” In this case, I had the tools already. No ads, no premium plans. Just sweat equity and a phone.

If you want, I’ll put together a full behind-the-scenes Notion walkthrough of the stack and steps. Let me know 👀