I built SubRadar to stop forgetting subscriptions I'm paying for — first week learnings
Three months ago I noticed a €14.99 charge on my bank statement for a service I hadn't used in a year. I canceled it. Two weeks later I found another one. Then another.
I built SubRadar to solve this for myself — and apparently for a lot of other people too.
What it does:
SubRadar connects to your Gmail (OAuth, read-only), scans the last 6 months of invoice and receipt emails, and automatically identifies your active subscriptions. Netflix, Spotify, Adobe, telecom operators, SaaS tools — 80+ services detected automatically. Then it sends an email reminder 7 days before each renewal.
No manual input. No CSV imports. You connect once, it does the rest.
The business model:
- Free: up to 5 subscriptions
- Pro: €4/month, unlimited subscriptions
Why €4? Because the average person has 8-12 active subscriptions. The tool typically surfaces 1-3 they'd forgotten about. Even one forgotten €10/month sub means the tool pays for itself 2.5x over.
What I learned in week 1:
The Gmail metadata scope is a game-changer. I initially planned to use gmail.readonly which requires Google's full security assessment (CASA Tier 2 + demo video). Switched to gmail.metadata — same headers/snippets access, but classified SENSITIVE not RESTRICTED. No assessment required at all. This removed a 2-3 month blocker entirely.
The 5-subscription free tier converts better than a time-limited trial because users don't feel pressure. They connect, see their subscriptions, decide. No countdown.
Where I'm at:
- Launched 1 week ago
- Posted on r/SideProject
- A few dozen signups, watching to see who hits the 5-sub limit and upgrades
What I'd love feedback on:
- Is €4/month the right price, or should I go higher?
- How do you think about freemium limits — feature-gated vs. usage-gated?
- Any other distribution channels for a first-time SaaS founder besides IH and Reddit?
The Gmail metadata insight was the most interesting part for me. Those kinds of implementation decisions rarely get talked about, but removing a 2–3 month blocker can matter more than shipping another feature. That's the kind of learning worth sharing.
Really smart freemium strategy here. The 5-subscription limit without countdown is brilliant - you're showing value before asking for money, not forcing a decision under time pressure. That Gmail metadata insight is gold too - the difference between CASA Tier assessment and read-only scope is exactly the kind of technical discovery that separates shipping from being blocked. With the 2.5x payback math on forgotten subscriptions, you've got a solid unit economics story. Are you thinking about doing team/family plans, or staying focused on individuals first?