LaunchReel AI / Use cases / For indie hackers
A launch video for indie hackers, made from your own site
LaunchReel AI makes a launch video for an indie project from its URL. Our Claude Opus 5.5 writing desk reads your pages and writes the brief and storyboard; the film is drawn from your real screens. The first film is free, the 720p copy is yours, and a 5-second ad is ready about 4 minutes after you paste the link.
By the LaunchReel team
No email and no card to start. The brief, the storyboard and the first cut follow by themselves; we ask for an email only when you want the film kept, downloaded or changed.
Why does an indie launch need a video at all?
Because the launch is one day and the post has to work in a feed. A thread on X, a Product Hunt gallery, a Show HN comment or a subreddit gets a few seconds of attention, with the sound off. A short film that says what the product does with its real screens does that job better than a screenshot and a paragraph.
The usual reason indie hackers skip it is cost and time: a motion designer takes weeks, and prompt-based tools return clips that do not look like the product. LaunchReel is built for the solo builder: paste the URL, read the brief, take the film.
What does the walk-through look like?
Say you built a small SaaS and the landing page is live. You paste the address into the box on the home page. No email, no card. The waiting screen starts filling in: what the product is, who it is for, the pain it removes, how it compares, why you built it, and how a founder would pitch it, each with the page it came from. If the site does not say it, the answer says so.
The brief follows: audience, three to six selling points, tone, which screens to show. A "What we decided for you" card lists each choice with its reason, and you change any of them. Then the storyboard, shot by shot. You verify your email once so we can send you the file.
About 4 minutes after you submitted, the 5-second ad is ready: one line, one picture, your name, and you can preview it in 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1. Ask for the full film, about 30 seconds, and it is drawn in about 2 minutes. Take the free 720p copy with its small badge and post it. If you want a clean 1080p file without the badge, that is 10 credits from a $9 pack.
What does it cost a solo builder?
Nothing for the first film. The brief, the storyboard, the 5-second ad, the preview of the full film and a 720p copy with a small badge are free; you verify an email once and that is all.
If you want the clean file, the Starter pack is $9 for 20 credits: a clean 1080p export is 10, a shot change after the 3 included ones is 1, a clean short cut is 6. Credits never expire and nothing renews, so a pack bought for this launch covers the next feature release too. A pack is fully refundable until you download a clean export.
Launching the same product again next month?
Keep the project. Every shot version is kept and the chat stays open, so a feature release is a few edits and a new export, not a new film. Starting a second product on the same email costs 5 credits, and its brief and storyboard are still written first.
What goes in the 30 seconds?
The structure every film starts from, applied to your pages. The product launch video template shows it beat by beat.
- Open on the problem in your own words
- Three to six things the product does, each on a real screen
- Numbers only if your site states them
- End on your name and address
Launch-day checklist with LaunchReel
- 01
Paste your URL, or just the product's name
No email and no card to start. If you only give a name, we look for the site and show you which one we found.
- 02
Fix the brief where the site was vague
The six answers and the brief land on the waiting screen with their sources; change any choice on the decisions card.
- 03
Read the storyboard and take the film
The 5-second ad is ready about 4 minutes in; ask for the full film and it follows in about 2. Verify your email once to keep, download or change it.
- 04
Post the free copy, or export clean
The free 720p copy carries a small badge. A clean 1080p export with captions and an .srt is 10 credits.
Who it is for
- Solo builders launching a web app, a Chrome extension, a CLI, a mobile app or an open-source project
- Anyone posting to Product Hunt, Hacker News, X, Reddit or a newsletter on launch day
- Builders who want the film in writing first and no monthly fee
Who it is not for
- Projects with no public page yet: a sentence gets you the brief, but the film needs real screens
- Live-action, 3D or photoreal scenes
- Anyone who needs a voice-over or music today
Free versus paid for an indie launch
| Step | Free | With credits |
|---|---|---|
| Brief and storyboard | Yes, no email needed | Rewriting the whole storyboard: 5 |
| 5-second ad | Yes, 720p with a small badge | Clean cut: 6; a trio: 12; all twelve: 24 |
| Full film (about 30 seconds) | Yes, a 720p preview with a small badge, on request | Clean 1080p: 10; 4K: 20; the film plus all twelve cuts: 28 |
| Changes by chat | The first 3 small changes | 1 per shot change after that; questions always free |
| Looks | Looking is free; the Stage version is free to try | A look change counts as a small change |
| Second product on the same email | No: the first product is the free one | 5 |
Questions people ask
Do I need a landing page first?
You need something public to show: a landing page, a README on GitHub, or a store listing. If you only have a name, we look for the site; if you only have a sentence, we write the brief from it, but the film needs real screens.
Can I post the free copy on Product Hunt?
Yes. Product Hunt takes video as a YouTube link; upload the MP4 as public or unlisted and paste the full URL. The free copy carries a small badge; a clean 1080p export is 10 credits. Details are on the Product Hunt page.
Does it work for an open-source project?
Yes. Paste the repository link and the README is read like a site. See GitHub to video and README to video.
How many free films can I make?
The first project on an email is free. A network can create 5 projects an hour, an email 20 a day without credits, and an email can take 3 free copies a day. Another product after the free one costs 5 credits.
Is there a vertical version?
Short cuts of 5 to 10 seconds come in 9:16, 1:1 and 16:9: one line, one picture and your name, drawn inside the area Reels, TikTok and Shorts leave clear. The full film itself is 16:9.
Can I use it for a client's product?
Yes. The packs go up to Agency, 1000 credits for $200, and credits are kept on your email across products. You get full commercial usage rights for the delivered video.
Try it on your own site
Paste your URL. The brief and the storyboard come back for you to check, the first film is free, and the 720p copy is yours to keep. See pricing.