Frill

Publish feedback, roadmap, and announcements for one product

YES · focused build
price $25/mosubscription / year $300estimated build time multi-dayreplaced by 0 people

The core loop is small enough for a capable coding agent to produce a useful local version in one sitting. For Frill, publish feedback, roadmap, and announcements for one product. The hard boundary is hosted polish, custom domain, integrations, widgets, and simple pricing, plus participant network, synthesis workflow, and collaboration.

Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability

What you give up

  • hosted polish, custom domain, integrations, widgets, and simple pricing
  • large participant panel
  • recording and transcription infrastructure
  • advanced research repository
  • enterprise governance

Why people still pay

People still pay for Frill because people pay either for access to participants or for a research repository that keeps evidence usable across an organization. The recurring cost buys recruitment, consent, scheduling, media storage, transcription, tagging consistency, notifications, search, and retention, not just the visible interface.

Your build guide

The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.

Before you start

  • A supported Node release, PostgreSQL, HTTPS for a shared deployment, and a backup destination. Begin with one workspace and explicit owner/member permissions.
  • Implementation components: Next.js App Router and TypeScript for server-rendered pages and validated mutations. PostgreSQL with Drizzle migrations; Better Auth sessions for a small private workspace.
  • Scope boundary: hosted polish, custom domain, integrations, widgets, and simple pricing; large participant panel
01
Next.js App Router and TypeScript for server-rendered pages and validated mutations.
02
PostgreSQL with Drizzle migrations; Better Auth sessions for a small private workspace.
03
Domain model: product feedback, vote identities, status transitions, announcements and notification subscriptions
engineering roadmap

Implementation plan

1

Phase 1

Scope and fixtures. Implement this bounded workflow: Collect suggestions on a product board, review similar posts before submission and publish a compact roadmap with announcements. Offer an embedded read-only board before adding authenticated voting. Record prerequisites, select representative user-owned fixtures and document the unsupported features: hosted polish, custom domain, integrations, widgets, and simple pricing; large participant panel

2

Phase 2

Durable model. Model product feedback, vote identities, status transitions, announcements and notification subscriptions Add migrations or a versioned document format, explicit validation, stable IDs and a visible import-error report. Preserve this rule: Public status changes and notification content come from the approved revision; one subscriber receives one notification per transition.

3

Phase 3

Complete the first useful path. Implement the workflow's input, review and output interface, with clear controls and explicit empty/error states. Commit related database changes in one transaction. Use version checks for competing edits and an outbox for external notifications; retry delivery independently of saving the record.

4

Phase 4

Permissions and integration failure. Authorize every record read and mutation on the server using its workspace membership; validate payloads, protect mutations against CSRF, and escape user-authored HTML. Request integration credentials and permissions only for the enabled feature; show a disconnected state instead of mock results.

5

Phase 5

Portable handoff. Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching. Include setup, operating limits, fixture walkthrough and shutdown/restart instructions in the README.

6

Phase 6

Acceptance scenarios. Retry a status-change job without sending duplicate mail; merging a suggestion preserves its old link and discussion attribution. Repeat the workflow after restart and with a denied permission or unavailable dependency; show recoverable failure rather than a success placeholder.

the pro prompt
download AGENTS.md
WORKING SLICE
Collect suggestions on a product board, review similar posts before submission and publish a compact roadmap with announcements. Offer an embedded read-only board before adding authenticated voting.

Build this scoped Frill-inspired workflow with a documented data model and visible failure states.

Architecture
- Next.js App Router and TypeScript for server-rendered pages and validated mutations.
- PostgreSQL with Drizzle migrations; Better Auth sessions for a small private workspace.

Prerequisites and limits
A supported Node release, PostgreSQL, HTTPS for a shared deployment, and a backup destination. Begin with one workspace and explicit owner/member permissions.
Outside this release: hosted polish, custom domain, integrations, widgets, and simple pricing; large participant panel

Data model and correctness
product feedback, vote identities, status transitions, announcements and notification subscriptions
Invariant: Public status changes and notification content come from the approved revision; one subscriber receives one notification per transition.
Commit related database changes in one transaction. Use version checks for competing edits and an outbox for external notifications; retry delivery independently of saving the record.

Security and privacy
Authorize every record read and mutation on the server using its workspace membership; validate payloads, protect mutations against CSRF, and escape user-authored HTML.

Recovery and export
Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching.

Implementation order
1. Phase 1 — Scope and fixtures. Implement this bounded workflow: Collect suggestions on a product board, review similar posts before submission and publish a compact roadmap with announcements. Offer an embedded read-only board before adding authenticated voting. Record prerequisites, select representative user-owned fixtures and document the unsupported features: hosted polish, custom domain, integrations, widgets, and simple pricing; large participant panel
2. Phase 2 — Durable model. Model product feedback, vote identities, status transitions, announcements and notification subscriptions Add migrations or a versioned document format, explicit validation, stable IDs and a visible import-error report. Preserve this rule: Public status changes and notification content come from the approved revision; one subscriber receives one notification per transition.
3. Phase 3 — Complete the first useful path. Implement the workflow's input, review and output interface, with clear controls and explicit empty/error states. Commit related database changes in one transaction. Use version checks for competing edits and an outbox for external notifications; retry delivery independently of saving the record.
4. Phase 4 — Permissions and integration failure. Authorize every record read and mutation on the server using its workspace membership; validate payloads, protect mutations against CSRF, and escape user-authored HTML. Request integration credentials and permissions only for the enabled feature; show a disconnected state instead of mock results.
5. Phase 5 — Portable handoff. Export versioned JSON plus attachments and a readable CSV summary. Restore into a separate database and compare record IDs and attachment checksums before switching. Include setup, operating limits, fixture walkthrough and shutdown/restart instructions in the README.
6. Phase 6 — Acceptance scenarios. Retry a status-change job without sending duplicate mail; merging a suggestion preserves its old link and discussion attribution. Repeat the workflow after restart and with a denied permission or unavailable dependency; show recoverable failure rather than a success placeholder.

Acceptance
Retry a status-change job without sending duplicate mail; merging a suggestion preserves its old link and discussion attribution.
Use real source data or clearly labeled fixtures. Explain unsupported input and provider failures; do not fabricate analytics, delivery receipts, accuracy claims or security guarantees.

Optional agent guidance
Optional external skill: [vercel-react-best-practices](https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/react-best-practices/SKILL.md) — Improve React and Next.js data fetching, rendering, bundle size and server performance. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Optional external skill: [supabase-postgres-best-practices](https://github.com/supabase/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/supabase-postgres-best-practices/SKILL.md) — Review PostgreSQL schemas, queries, indexes, pooling, concurrency and row-level security. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Optional external skill: [web-design-guidelines](https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills/blob/main/skills/web-design-guidelines/SKILL.md) — Review web interfaces for accessibility, keyboard focus, forms, navigation and interaction quality. Review its instructions and compatibility before use; it does not grant deployment, data-access or publication permission.
Project rule — data model: product feedback, vote identities, status transitions, announcements and notification subscriptions
Project rule — preserve this invariant: Public status changes and notification content come from the approved revision; one subscriber receives one notification per transition.
Project rule — acceptance evidence: Retry a status-change job without sending duplicate mail; merging a suggestion preserves its old link and discussion attribution.

$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy or download AGENTS.md

share on X ↗

Alternatives to building your own

ClearFlaskA mature open-source feedback loop; the AWS-shaped deployment is the punchline.446jul 2026open source↗QuackbackFeedback, roadmap and changelog in one self-hosted stack, with no per-user invoice.216aug 2026open source↗Sleekplan IndieThe whole feedback-roadmap-changelog loop for one admin, permanently free and visibly branded.$0free↗

all 4 free alternatives to Frill →· no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real

Frill pricing

planmonthlyannual (per mo)what you get
startup$25/workspace—50 active ideas; 1 survey of each supported type; unlimited admins, widgets and tracked users.
business$49/workspace—Unlimited ideas; 3 surveys of each supported type; unlimited admins, widgets and tracked users.
growth$149/workspace—Unlimited ideas and surveys; Privacy, Surveys and White Labeling included.
enterprise$349/workspace—Unlimited ideas and surveys; SOC 2 controls, audit log, IP allowlisting and dedicated support.

free tierno free tier

billingMonthly + annual; exact annual-equivalent rates were not exposed on the checked page. A 14-day trial is offered without a card.

hidden costsPrivacy, Surveys and White Labeling are paid add-ons on lower tiers; their individual prices were not publicly stated.

pricing sources checked 2026-08-12 · pricing source ↗

Questions about Frill

Can you build your own Frill with AI?

The verdict is yes for the scoped workflow. The core loop is small enough for a capable coding agent to produce a useful local version in one sitting. For Frill, publish feedback, roadmap, and announcements for one product. The hard boundary is hosted polish, custom domain, integrations, widgets, and simple pricing, plus participant network, synthesis workflow, and collaboration.

What does the Frill build prompt cover?

The prompt starts with this scope: Collect suggestions on a product board, review similar posts before submission and publish a compact roadmap with announcements. Offer an embedded read-only board before adding authenticated voting. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: hosted polish, custom domain, integrations, widgets, and simple pricing; large participant panel; recording and transcription infrastructure. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.

How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?

Start with the Frill prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.

How long will this Frill project take?

The catalogue estimate is multi-day for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.

What would I give up by replacing Frill?

hosted polish, custom domain, integrations, widgets, and simple pricing; large participant panel; recording and transcription infrastructure; advanced research repository; enterprise governance. People still pay for Frill because people pay either for access to participants or for a research repository that keeps evidence usable across an organization. The recurring cost buys recruitment, consent, scheduling, media storage, transcription, tagging consistency, notifications, search, and retention, not just the visible interface.

What price is this guide comparing against?

The recorded Startup plan is $25/mo (monthly), checked 2026-07-31. Check the linked pricing source before buying. Building your own also has hosting, API and maintenance costs; the recorded amount is not a guaranteed saving.

What can I use instead of building Frill?

ClearFlask: A mature open-source feedback loop; the AWS-shaped deployment is the punchline. Quackback: Feedback, roadmap and changelog in one self-hosted stack, with no per-user invoice. Sleekplan Indie: The whole feedback-roadmap-changelog loop for one admin, permanently free and visibly branded. Compare all listed options at https://howtovibecodeit.dev/frill/alternatives. Check each option's license, hosting needs and feature limits.

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