I got tired of dev articles stuck behind paywalls — so I built a free writing platform with a built-in developer portfolio

Hi folks!

Two things always bugged me about writing as a developer:

1. The best articles end up behind a paywall, so readers hit a "members only" wall and bounce.

2. None of these platforms actually let you build a real developer portfolio — your writing lives in one place, your projects in another.

So I built DevsJournal to fix both.

The idea:

- Free to read, free to write — no paywalls, no member limits

- A built-in developer portfolio — connect GitHub and showcase your repos right next to your articles

- Distraction-free editor with proper code blocks, tags and live preview

- Creator analytics (views, engagement, top posts, 30-day trends)

- Reading lists, OAuth login (Google/GitHub), light/dark mode

Stack: React + Next.js + Tailwind, Python (FastAPI), PostgreSQL + Redis, Docker, deployed on Hetzner.

The challenge I'm exploring now: surfacing relevant articles to readers early on without a big user base — cold-start feed ranking with little data.

link: devsjournal.org

Would love feedback on the concept or the UX.