$25 /user/month
DocuSign
vs.
An e-signature spec costs ~$4 to run. Once.
Our Manifesto
SaaS companies got
very comfortable.
They have your credit card on file. They raise prices every 18 months. They call it a "seat." They bundle features you'll never use and remove features you rely on. They don't own the infrastructure — your cloud bill does. Neither do you.
We think that's a scam. And we think you can do better.
What we're building
SpecMarket is an open marketplace of battle-tested specs — precise, repeatable blueprints for building software that replaces SaaS subscriptions.
A spec isn't a tutorial. It's not a starter template. It's a contract: given these inputs, a Ralph Loop session will produce a working, production-ready system — with a documented success rate, a real cost, and community ratings from people who actually ran it.
You run a spec once. You own the result forever.
1×
Pay to build
∞
Own forever
$0
Subscription cost
The problem with SaaS
$16 /user/month
Notion (team)
vs.
A self-hosted knowledge base spec costs ~$8. Once.
$599 /month
Zapier Professional
vs.
A workflow automation spec costs ~$22 to run. Once.
$74 /seat/month
Intercom
vs.
A customer chat widget + inbox spec costs ~$18. Once.
We eat our own cooking
SpecMarket was built with specs
Every major component of this platform — the CLI, the Convex backend, the marketplace site, the managed run coordinator — was built by running Ralph Loop sessions with specs from the marketplace itself.
The CLI was built in 3 sessions. The Convex backend with 12 tables, 40+ functions, and 292 passing tests was built in 4 sessions. This page was built in one.
We're not asking you to trust that specs work. We're showing you.
Learn how Ralph Loop works $ ralph run @specmarket/convex-backend
Fetching spec... done
Validating environment... done
Loop 1/∞ — Scaffolding schema
✓ 12 tables defined
Loop 2/∞ — Implementing mutations
✓ 40 functions written
Loop 3/∞ — Writing tests
✓ 292 tests passing
Loop 4/∞ — Verifying success criteria
✓ All criteria met
Total cost: $14.82
Time: 47 min
Loops: 4
What we believe
Open beats proprietary
Specs are open by default. Fork them, improve them, compete with them. The best spec wins — not the one with the biggest marketing budget.
Real metrics, always
Every success rate, every cost figure, every build time shown on this site comes from actual runs. We don't estimate. We don't round up.
Community is the quality gate
We don't curate specs manually. Ratings, runs, and forks determine what rises. If 500 people ran it and it worked 94% of the time, that's the signal.
You own your output
Run a spec, get working code. That code is yours. Host it where you want. Modify it. We have no claim on what you build with a spec.
Good specs reward their creators
Spec authors earn from managed runs on their specs and from bounty rewards. If 10,000 people run your spec, you get a cut. Make good things.
Vendor lock-in is the enemy
Every SaaS dependency is a risk. Every spec we publish is a step toward a world where switching costs don't hold anyone hostage.
A small team with a big gripe
SpecMarket was started by a group of engineers who were tired of justifying five-figure SaaS bills to finance teams. We're software people who believe that most software products — the boring plumbing kind — can and should be built, not rented.
We're a distributed team. Most of us work remotely. We build in public where we can, and we dogfood everything we ship.
If you want to contribute specs, build tooling, or help grow the community, we want to hear from you.
Ready to cancel a subscription?
Find a spec that replaces a tool you're currently paying for. Run it. Keep the output.