Why I'm preselling my Obsidian AI plugin before writing a line of code
Disclosure: I used an AI coding agent to collect research and draft this post. I reviewed the final copy before publishing. I started with an Obsidian plugin idea I thought was obvious. Research killed it. A different one survived, and I'm now preselling it at $19 before writing a single line of code. Here's the evidence that changed my mind, and the line I've drawn for myself. The market has a…
The author, who used an AI coding agent to research and draft this account, originally had an idea for an Obsidian AI plugin that they deemed obvious. After conducting research, they discovered that the idea was not viable. However, a different concept emerged, and this author is now preselling the new plugin at $19 before writing any code.
The motivation behind this approach comes from the lack of a proper monetization method for Obsidian's 1,800+ community plugins. Developers resort to their own licensing, leading to problems such as complicated license key requests and poor support. Obsidian itself does not plan to build an official paid-plugin marketplace, causing developers to build their own licensing and deliver their own support.
The author also noticed that plugins tend to gain momentum at launch but then become abandoned. As a result, the demand is for well-maintained and feature-rich plugins. The author collected real price points from paid Obsidian plugins, which range from $19 to $4,200, with individual developers earning $300-4,500 per month. The plugin they plan to build, named "Vault Doctor," aims to treat the vault like something that requires regular checkups, such as identifying orphan notes, contradictions, and knowledge gaps.
The value lies in the weekly report generated, rather than a chatbot. The research influenced three critical decisions: the license delivery must be part of the product, immediate payment should lead to an immediate key, and maintenance will be a promise rather than a footnote. The author has drawn a line for themselves by planning to presell the plugin before writing any code.
This decision is based on the fact that opinions are cheap, but purchases are not. To validate the idea, the author plans to reach two sales before building the plugin, with a presale price of $19 for the first 20 buyers, with a planned final price of $39. Development will commence after the second presale, with delivery within two weeks.
If the second presale is not met within four weeks of launch, everyone will receive a full refund. The author invites potential buyers to check out the page and provide feedback if the plugin doesn't meet their needs, as this data will also be useful.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
