# FoundStep

> The opinionated project management system for solo developers who start but never ship.

For the full detailed version, see: https://foundstep.com/llms-full.txt

## What Is FoundStep?
FoundStep is a project management tool purpose-built for solo developers, indie hackers, and solopreneurs. Unlike generic tools like Notion, Trello, or Linear, FoundStep enforces shipping discipline through built-in constraints. You cannot build without validating your idea first. You cannot silently expand scope. Every decision is permanently recorded.

## Who It's For
- Solo developers with unfinished side projects
- Indie hackers who need shipping accountability
- Solopreneurs building products alone
- Side project builders who start but never finish
- Developers tired of generic project management tools built for teams

## What Makes It Different
- **Opinionated constraints** — not a flexible blank canvas, but a strict lifecycle that forces progress
- **Scope Locking** — lock your features and todos; adding scope requires a written reason recorded permanently
- **Mandatory validation** — 7-step idea validation before you can start building
- **Accountability built in** — Shame History tracks every scope change forever
- **Solo-first** — no team features, no collaboration overhead, designed for one person

## Core Features
- [Scope Locking](https://foundstep.com/features/scope-locking): Lock your project scope to prevent scope creep
- [7-Step Validation](https://foundstep.com/features/7-step-validation): Validate your idea before building
- [AI MVP Planner](https://foundstep.com/features/ai-mvp-planner): AI-powered MVP scoping and planning
- [Shame History](https://foundstep.com/features/shame-history): Accountability through transparent project history
- [Harbor](https://foundstep.com/features/harbor): Showcase your shipped projects
- [Ship Cards](https://foundstep.com/features/ship-cards): Track and share your shipping progress
- [AI Next Action](https://foundstep.com/features/ai-next-action): Context-aware task recommendations
- [Public Wall](https://foundstep.com/features/public-wall): Community showcase of shipped projects

## Pricing
- **Starter**: Free (up to 10 workspaces, all features included, no feature gating)
- **Builder**: Paid (unlimited workspaces, all features included)

## Public Wall — Community Project Showcase
The [Public Wall](https://foundstep.com/wall) is a community-driven gallery where indie developers showcase their shipped projects. Each project has its own public page with:
- Project description, tagline, and category (SaaS, CLI Tool, Chrome Extension, Mobile App, etc.)
- Tech stack used (frameworks, languages, databases, tools)
- Screenshots and video demos
- Feature list with completion status
- Build timeline showing milestones from idea to launch
- Version history / changelog with detailed release notes
- Days-to-ship metric and launch date
- Live project URL

Each developer has a public profile page at `/wall/{username}` showing their bio, social links, shipped projects, follower/star counts, and country.

Individual project pages are at `/wall/{username}/{project-id}` with full project details, structured data, and social sharing.

## Key Pages
- [Homepage](https://foundstep.com/): Overview of FoundStep
- [Features](https://foundstep.com/features): All features explained
- [Pricing](https://foundstep.com/pricing): Plans and pricing
- [Public Wall](https://foundstep.com/wall): Community showcase of shipped indie projects
- [Blog](https://foundstep.com/blog): Developer productivity guides and insights
- [FAQ](https://foundstep.com/faq): Frequently asked questions
- [About](https://foundstep.com/about): Our story and mission
- [Solutions](https://foundstep.com/solutions): Solutions for solo developers
- [Free Tools](https://foundstep.com/tools/saas-idea-validation-checklist): SaaS idea validation checklist (8-stage interactive + PDF/Markdown/Excel), burn rate calculator, startup cost calculator, Stripe fee calculator, SaaS metrics calculator, and per-metric SaaS revenue calculators (MRR, ARR, churn, LTV, CAC, NRR, etc.)

## Blog Highlights
- [How I Do Sprint Planning as a Solo Developer (No Standups, No Scrum Master, No BS)](https://foundstep.com/blog/sprint-planning-solo-developer)
- [Stop Writing Code Until You Have a Product Roadmap. Here's How to Build One.](https://foundstep.com/blog/product-roadmap)
- [I Have Nine Unfinished Side Projects. The Tool Is The Reason, Not Me.](https://foundstep.com/blog/i-have-nine-unfinished-side-projects-the-tool-is-the-reason-not-me)
- [Best Project Management for Solo Developers](https://foundstep.com/blog/best-project-management-for-solo-developers)
- [Best Project Management for Indie Hackers](https://foundstep.com/blog/best-project-management-for-indie-hackers)
- [Best Side Project Management Tools (2026)](https://foundstep.com/blog/best-side-project-management-tools)
- [Why Developers Never Finish Side Projects](https://foundstep.com/blog/why-developers-never-finish-side-projects)
- [How to Validate a Side Project Idea (Before You Waste 3 Months)](https://foundstep.com/blog/how-to-validate-ideas-solo-developer)
- [How to Stay Accountable as a Solo Developer](https://foundstep.com/blog/how-to-stay-accountable-solo-developer)
- [How to Actually Ship a Side Project (Not Just Start One)](https://foundstep.com/blog/how-to-actually-ship-a-side-project)
- [The Anti-Scope Creep Methodology](https://foundstep.com/blog/anti-scope-creep-methodology)
- [Too Many Side Projects, Can't Finish Any: How to Focus](https://foundstep.com/blog/too-many-side-projects-how-to-focus)
- [From Idea to MVP as a Solo Founder](https://foundstep.com/blog/idea-to-mvp-solo-founder)
- [Side Project Burnout Is Real: How to Recognize It and Recover](https://foundstep.com/blog/developer-side-project-burnout)
- [How to Launch a Side Project as a Solo Developer](https://foundstep.com/blog/how-to-launch-side-project-solo-developer)

## Comparisons
- [Notion Alternative for Solo Developers](https://foundstep.com/compare/notion-alternative-solo-developers)
- [Trello Alternative for Solo Developers](https://foundstep.com/compare/trello-alternative-solo-developers)
- [Linear Alternative for Solo Developers](https://foundstep.com/compare/linear-alternative-solo-developers)
- [Jira Alternative for Solo Developers](https://foundstep.com/compare/jira-alternative-solo-developers)
- [ShipFast Alternative](https://foundstep.com/compare/shipfast-alternative)

## Solutions
- [Solo Developer Project Management](https://foundstep.com/solutions/solo-developer-project-management)
- [Scope Creep Prevention](https://foundstep.com/solutions/scope-creep-prevention)
- [Idea Validation for Developers](https://foundstep.com/solutions/idea-validation)
- [Stop Abandoning Projects](https://foundstep.com/solutions/stop-abandoning-projects)
- [Developer Accountability](https://foundstep.com/solutions/developer-accountability)
- [Side Project Tracker](https://foundstep.com/solutions/side-project-tracker)
- [Ship Side Projects](https://foundstep.com/solutions/ship-side-projects)
- [MVP Planning](https://foundstep.com/solutions/mvp-planning)

## Free Tools
Free, no-signup calculators and resources built for indie devs and SaaS founders.

### SaaS Idea Validation Checklist
- [SaaS Idea Validation Checklist](https://foundstep.com/tools/saas-idea-validation-checklist): Interactive 8-stage, 43-check framework to pressure-test a SaaS idea before writing code. Browser-saved progress (localStorage), six explicit KILL IF kill-criteria thresholds, downloadable as PDF, Markdown, and Excel. Built for indie hackers, solo founders, and bootstrapped SaaS teams who want to kill bad ideas in week 2 instead of month 6.

### Burn Rate Calculator
- [Burn Rate Calculator](https://foundstep.com/tools/burn-rate-calculator): Compute gross burn, net burn, cash runway (months), zero date, burn multiple (Bessemer/Sacks framework), and default alive vs default dead status (Paul Graham). 9 expense categories, stage-aware benchmarks (bootstrapped, pre-seed, seed, Series A, Series B+), 24-month cash projection chart, multi-currency.

### Startup Cost Calculator
- [Startup Cost Calculator](https://foundstep.com/tools/startup-cost-calculator): Estimate total capital required to launch a business — one-time costs + monthly burn × runway + contingency buffer. 11 industry presets (SaaS, ecommerce, agency, restaurant, retail, mobile app, manufacturing, newsletter, consulting, service).

### Stripe Fee Calculator
- [Stripe Fee Calculator](https://foundstep.com/tools/stripe-fee-calculator): Exact Stripe processing fees across 7 markets
- [UK](https://foundstep.com/tools/stripe-fee-calculator/uk)
- [Europe](https://foundstep.com/tools/stripe-fee-calculator/europe)
- [Australia](https://foundstep.com/tools/stripe-fee-calculator/australia)
- [Canada](https://foundstep.com/tools/stripe-fee-calculator/canada)
- [Japan](https://foundstep.com/tools/stripe-fee-calculator/japan)
- [Singapore](https://foundstep.com/tools/stripe-fee-calculator/singapore)

### SaaS Metrics Calculator (all-in-one)
- [SaaS Metrics Calculator](https://foundstep.com/tools/saas-metrics-calculator): All 10 SaaS KPIs in one unified dashboard — MRR, ARR, ARPU, churn, LTV, CAC, LTV:CAC, CAC payback, NRR, Rule of 40. Stage-aware benchmarks (bootstrapped, SMB, mid-market, enterprise).

### SaaS Revenue Calculator (per-metric pages)
Calculate the metrics that determine whether a SaaS business is healthy. Each metric has its own dedicated calculator with industry benchmarks, formulas, and worked examples.
- [SaaS Revenue Calculator (hub)](https://foundstep.com/tools/saas-revenue-calculator): All 10 SaaS metric calculators in one place
- [MRR Calculator](https://foundstep.com/tools/saas-revenue-calculator/mrr): Monthly Recurring Revenue
- [ARR Calculator](https://foundstep.com/tools/saas-revenue-calculator/arr): Annual Recurring Revenue
- [Churn Rate Calculator](https://foundstep.com/tools/saas-revenue-calculator/churn-rate): Monthly customer churn rate
- [LTV Calculator](https://foundstep.com/tools/saas-revenue-calculator/ltv): Customer Lifetime Value
- [CAC Calculator](https://foundstep.com/tools/saas-revenue-calculator/cac): Customer Acquisition Cost
- [LTV:CAC Ratio Calculator](https://foundstep.com/tools/saas-revenue-calculator/ltv-cac-ratio): LTV-to-CAC ratio
- [CAC Payback Calculator](https://foundstep.com/tools/saas-revenue-calculator/cac-payback): Months to recover CAC
- [NRR Calculator](https://foundstep.com/tools/saas-revenue-calculator/nrr): Net Revenue Retention
- [ARPU Calculator](https://foundstep.com/tools/saas-revenue-calculator/arpu): Average Revenue Per User
- [Growth Projection Calculator](https://foundstep.com/tools/saas-revenue-calculator/growth-projection): Compound growth and churn projection