I Didn’t Launch With Payments – And That Was the Best Thing I Could’ve Done

I had everything ready. The app — MoveOnFromYourEx — was live, working, and doing what it was supposed to do. Except for one thing: the payment system.

I’d been struggling for days with Razorpay’s subscription integration. Legal documents, webhook nightmares, debugging sessions at 1 AM… it felt like a final boss I just couldn’t beat. Then it hit me — maybe I didn’t need to fight this boss right now. Maybe I could just... skip it.

So, instead of holding everything back while trying to build the "perfect" subscription flow, I launched the free version first. Just added a little button: "Notify me when premium is available."

I sent the link to a few friends. No marketing, no launch party. Just a DM here and there.

Within 24 hours, 40 users. And here’s the kicker — 3 of them signed up for premium, even though payments weren’t live. They just wanted it. That gave me chills. People were ready to pay for something I hadn’t even fully launched yet.

Two weeks later, we hit 150 users, with 80-100 coming back daily. People loved it. They were actually using it — tracking their no-contact streaks, journaling, reflecting. Some even messaged to say it was helping. That alone made it worth it.

There were some feature requests, a few bugs, the usual. But the core was solid.

Then, just as I was gearing up to finally roll out payments... Razorpay rejected the integration request. Turns out, since the app deals with emotional healing, I needed proper legal certification to offer “therapy” or “healing services” professionally. Totally fair — but also a curveball I wasn’t expecting.

Around that time, I was getting ready for a trek, juggling some family stuff, and honestly — I just paused everything. Payment’s still pending.

But here’s what I did gain:

• I learned how to manage hosting for both server and client.

• Got my hands dirty with DNS verification, security protocols, and database management.

• Discovered some amazing open-source tools to keep costs down.

• And most importantly, I learned that launching doesn’t have to be perfect.

People don’t need bells and whistles — they just need something that works and solves their problem.

And now, I know there's demand. I’ve seen it. Felt it. There’s a community forming around this thing. So yeah, payment integration is still on the to-do list. But I’m not in a rush. I’ve already crossed the biggest hurdle — proving that this idea matters to people.

And that’s a huge win in itself.