I shipped v1 of a zero-cost Mac app. I plan to keep revenue at $0

I moved Bondfire out of private beta today.

Current stats:
Revenue: $0
Infrastructure: Local files
Platform: macOS

I used to think of an friend, realize a months had passed, and do nothing. I kept postponing to reach out, because life happens all the time. And then I seemed like a bad friend who didn't invest in the friendship.

I just spent the weekend building a local desktop app with Glaze called Bondfire to solve this for myself. You add your friends. You log a text or a coffee. You can choose between fire or flower mode. In fire mode you throw in logs to make the fire go strong. In flower mode you add drops of water for it to grow. You get a visual read on who is fading from your life.  You text your friend before you owe them an apology.

I skipped building a subscription model. I want a basic utility. Paying for a server creates pressure to monetize.

Bootstrapping carries a cost. A zero-dollar budget prevents marketing efforts, and I build features at a slower pace than a funded team.

Share your experience with zero-cost tools. Does a $0 price tag change how users view a product?