We just hit our first 35 users in week one of our beta
Hey hackers,
Last week we launched the beta of Codenhack - a gamified coding platform where learning flows like:
read → code → reflect → test → move forward.
Super excited to share that we reached our first 35 users in the first week!
It's a small number, but seeing real people use something we've been grinding on feels huge.
You can also join us here: https://codenhack.com/register
Now we're listening closely:
- What's working?
- What feels clunky?
- What features would you want in a coding/learning flow like this?
Would love your thoughts
Trending on Indie Hackers
update i love this i am thanking u from the bottom of my heart
Thank you so much @codemaster12!
We'd love to see your perspective as a student, what stands out to you or what could be better.
Feel free to share your thoughts with us at [email protected]
as a student who is always trying differnt ways to learn coding and gets bored easily this is huge will update more thank u
Just checked out the site, looks like you've already grown to 50+ users!
That's such a solid start in just over a week.
Great job pushing this forward and getting real traction so early
Suggestions:
Little nudges like 'come back tomorrow to unlock X'
Community milestones (e.g., 'x people do this')
Community Goals -> for example, 'as a group, solve x problems this week' and everyone gets a small reward when it's hit.
Boss Levels - every few lessons, have a tougher 'boss challenge' that combines concepts and feels like an achievement to beat.
Collaborative Coding -> pair or group modes where learners can solve a problem together and compare approaches.
Surprise Rewards -> hidden Easter eggs or random bonus things that appear after completing certain tasks, keeping the experience playful.
Appreciate the encouragement and the thoughtful ideas.
Nudges, milestones, and boss challenges all sound like great ways to deepen engagement.
Definitely gives me a lot to think about.
The design is just Amazing 😍, I love it.
Thanks @Pocket_coder! 😄
Love that you re enjoying it and would be awesome to have you join us!
Congrats on the launch! 35 users in week one is great! The read -> code -> reflect -> test loop sounds like a thoughtful process. Curious which metrics you’re watching for retention and what channels brought those early testers.
Thanks @RafalManka!
Most of our early traction came from Indie Hackers posts, with a bit of Reddit and a small launch on Product Hunt, but Indie Hackers has definitely been the main driver.
I’m putting together a free SaaS Founder’s 7-Day Growth Blueprint — a step-by-step playbook to fix your landing page leaks, get traffic in 7 days, and turn trials into paying users.
Would you want early access?
Melanie Jumaga
Congrats on hitting 35 users already, that first traction is huge 🚀
I’m curious, now that a few people are inside, what’s the biggest surprise from the first week of feedback?
Anything you didn’t expect about how they use the read→code→reflect flow?
Thanks!
Everyone's been giving us thumbs up for our flow, it seems the read→code→reflect. Of course, we'll see how it holds up as more users join.
Nice launch; the read → code → reflect → test loop feels tight, and the “try it before sign-up” vibe lowers friction a ton.
Two ideas to test fast: (1) quick stuck hints after a failed test (one-liners that nudge, not solve), and (2) a “2-minute challenge” track that rewards a tiny daily win to build streaks. For onboarding, consider “save progress via magic link” first, account later.
Curious: what early signal best predicts a retained user; first passed test, a 3-day streak, or finishing the first module? And which channel actually brought those first 35 users — community posts, direct invites, or search?
P.S. I’m with Buzz, we ship conversion-focused Webflow sites and pragmatic SEO for product launches. If helpful, I can share a 10-point launch-page checklist.
Appreciate the feedback, @Irsa.
For early traction, it's mainly come from indie posts, Reddit and a small beta launch on Product Hunt. Still exploring which signals best predict retention, so your input is very helpful.
Congratulations! I just visited your website—it looks like an interesting product.
Thanks, @Nio
Hope we meet on the platform :D
The flow sounds smooth—maybe adding quick challenges or mini badges for each step could boost engagement even more.
Thanks @Sonu_Gos
We actually already have badges for each step, XP points to reach levels and also streaks.
Quick challenges are a great idea, though. We're planning to tinker with even more gamification in the future, so that could fit in really well.
If you have other suggestions, we'd be happy to hear them! Every idea helps us make the experience even more fun.
after the reflect step, let users share a quick snippet of their solution in a mini gallery for peer feedback, add tiny adaptive micro quests if they struggle on a step, and include a dynamic milestone story that evolves with their streaks to make progress feel like a fun, personal journey.
micro code retrospectives—after solving a challenge, prompt the user to annotate one line of their own code with why they wrote it that way. Reward this with a tiny XP bonus or a “clarity badge.” It encourages reflection, deepens understanding, and creates a mini habit of documenting thinking, which is rare in coding platforms.
Love the idea of micro code retrospectives, that could really deepen learning!
We've also added referrals, smoothed lesson navigation, and opened full access for everyone in beta. @Sonu_Gos What do you think about this changes?
Congrats on the launch! 🚀 Love the structured flow — read → code → reflect → test → move forward feels super intuitive. Just signed up to try it out. First impression: smooth onboarding, but I’d love to see quick feedback hints when I get stuck. Keep going, 35 early users is a great start!
Thanks so much @gracemiller84
Glad the flow felt smooth.
Just curious, when you got stuck, was it more during registration or while writing code? Knowing that helps us a lot.
Congratulations ❤️
We are launching our all in one AI platform to structure the chaos in software development. A platform which takes the idea to production ready code helping with requirements, stories, UI, test cases, AI chat feature and many more.
We have 30+ early users already. It would be great if top developers like you all can use it and give us feedback.
Thank you @Vinoj
Love the idea of an all-in-one platform to streamline development. I'd be happy to check it out and share feedback
That would be awesome. Please send me your email address and I will share the information.
@Vinoj You can reach me at [email protected].
Happy to continue the conversation there.
Thank you buddy. Emailing you now.
great work!
Thanks, @bindusharma
Hope we meet on the platform.
Congratulations! It has a really nice UI and it's great that you can actually try the courses without the need to sign up.
Thanks! I wanted to make it easy to try without extra steps
That's a great validation sign! Try to get payment/sales from them to see how far they're comitted
Yeah, that's the real test, thanks for the tip
Congratulations! I also launched my app two weeks ago and it has 17 users already.
Thanks! Congrats on your launch too. What did you build?
I've built a subtitle translation tool that supports major languages, automatically syncs timelines, and boosts efficiency.
Auto-syncing timelines is a huge time saver.
Do you have a demo or link where we can try it out?
Impressive work! That tool sounds super practical
Hello, nice job! I'm developer ;)
Thanks! Coming from someone who codes, that means a lot
I know marketing can feel overwhelming sometimes, when you’re also building a product. That’s why I created a simple Marketing Templates Kit — to save time and make things easier. Here’s my little project: www.marketingpack.store
Appreciate your time!!
Looks useful, thanks!
A really nice UI, I like the light/dark mode options. I would suggest a 3 tier pricing strategy, free > paid > premium, in order to not offer all features under one price. The gamifying feature is great, earning badges, climbing ranks will really help drive user experience. Best of luck with it.
Appreciate the feedback @Kevin_QA! Tiered pricing is a great suggestion, and we're glad you enjoyed the UI + gamified flow.
Saw this and honestly got a little jolt. 35 users in week one is a nice signal. What really resonates though is how you framed growth as a conversation not a sprint. From where I sit, having built orchestration workflows with Claude and led dev teams in building tools people use, traction is about the quality of interaction more than just numbers.
Strong opinion: when you get those first users, your top focus shouldn’t be scaling fast. It should be making them feel heard, capturing every friction point, and automating yourself out of those edges one by one. As you build, tighten up your feedback loops so you can evolve from beta quirks to stable expectations. You’ll know you’ve crossed the line when a bug report itself becomes your content and your credibility. Congrats on the early momentum, keep chasing understanding, not just scale.
Thanks!
We're keeping our ears open and taking every bit of feedback to make the platform better
now a day its become so easy to launch AI platform using APIs.
True, AI makes building platforms easier!
But we're only using AI to give hints while learning, everything else is still all about coding practice and gamified flow.
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Congrats on the launch 🚀 Getting 35 users in the first week is awesome. I really like the learning flow idea — it reminds me of how in project management we also try to keep things simple and forward-moving.
I’m working with the team on LiteTracker (a PM app inspired by PivotalTracker), and your approach resonates a lot with how we think about flow.
Wishing you fast growth!