Nevo David used open source as permission to market Postiz on Reddit
- 4.7M
- Docker downloads
- $14,000
- MRR, Nov 2025
- Not disclosed
- Budget
- Not disclosed
- Duration
With no strong social following, Nevo David built Postiz as open source so he could post it in developer communities like r/selfhosted and DEV, shipping a new version for every small feature to keep having something to post.
01The problem
He had no strong social presence on the usual platforms, and a social media scheduler is not normally welcome in developer communities.
02The hypothesis
If the product is open source, it becomes relevant to developer communities that would otherwise reject a marketing tool.
03The experiment
He built Postiz as open source, which made it on-topic for Reddit's r/selfhosted and DEV even though it isn't a dev tool.
Instead of big releases, every minor feature shipped as its own version, giving him a reason to post about Postiz again and again. When his first Reddit post drew requests for a Docker image, he built that first.
He also listed Postiz on open-source directories and alternative-software sites, and posted mostly on Reddit, DEV and LinkedIn, with a little on X.
04Results
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Docker downloadsas of Nov 2025 | 4,790,000 |
| MRR, Nov 2025from subscriptions | $14,000 |
| MRR, Apr 2026the founder's summary credits open source and “mostly Reddit marketing”, among other things | $80,000 |
| Spend | Not disclosed |
“Not disclosed” means the source doesn't say. We never estimate or fill in missing numbers.
05What worked — and what didn't
What worked
- Open source made a non-dev tool welcome in developer communities
- Releasing every minor feature as a version, so there was always something new to post
- Building what the first Reddit commenters asked for (a Docker image)
“I posted the product mostly on Reddit / DEV / LinkedIn”
06Source & evidence
- View original
Originally shared on Indie Hackers · Nov 25, 2025
I did it! My open-source company now makes $14.2k monthly as a single developer
- View original
Also on X · Apr 8, 2026
Postiz reached $80k MRR
Public source. Extracted from publicly available content by the founder.
Want to try this?
Copy this experiment
A checklist built from what Nevo David actually did. Their numbers are a reference, not a promise.
- 1
Pick the channel and tactic
Reddit — Open source + frequent small releases in r/selfhosted and DEV.
- 2
Set a budget cap
Nevo David didn't say what it cost. Decide your cap before you start.
- 3
Set an end date
Nevo David didn't say how long it ran. Pick a review date before you start.
- 4
Copy what worked
From Nevo David's experience:
- ☐Open source made a non-dev tool welcome in developer communities
- ☐Releasing every minor feature as a version, so there was always something new to post
- ☐Building what the first Reddit commenters asked for (a Docker image)
- 5
Track the same numbers
So you can compare like for like:
- ☐Docker downloads
- ☐MRR, Nov 2025
- ☐MRR, Apr 2026
- 6
Compare, then share what happened
Nevo David's headline result: 4,790,000 docker downloads. Yours will differ — that's the point. Win or flop, the result is worth sharing.
Was this experiment useful?
Want the full playbook behind this?
Nevo David hasn't published a step-by-step playbook. If enough readers ask, we'll ask Nevo David for one.
Related experiments
- 0
- paying users
- 2
- posts auto-removed
- 10
- days
Reddit was his main channel. Ten days in: shadow-removed, then banned — and 0 paying users
Koran Thorne · Helios
Koran Thorne set out to get 50 users in 25 days with Reddit as the main channel. He built karma for two weeks, then his first posts were removed by Reddit's spam filter, his comments became invisible to everyone but him for nearly a week, and the account was banned sitewide. Day 10: 0 paying users.
- $1.1K
- MRR
- 798.1K
- reddit views
- 66
- days
Shipper in 66 days: 798,124 Reddit views, 59 paid users, $1,175 MRR
David Ch · Shipper
David Ch tested every free channel for Shipper in its first 66 days. Reddit posts written as a fellow builder — honest numbers, no links — drove 798,124 views; a #7 Product of the Day added a spike. Directories, Hacker News and an Indie Hackers post did nothing.
- 0
- human visits from launch
- 183
- r/microsaas launch posts analysed
- 7
- days
Four launch posts, zero clicks — so she measured where everyone says to launch
Biyun Hu · Verilabs Audit
Biyun Hu launched a Stripe app with four posts in a week and tracked every visit with her own beacon: zero human visits. She then analysed 600 r/microsaas posts — 42% of launch posts survived moderation, and the median survivor got 1 upvote.