Unlocking Success: Launching CNAP.tech with 95 Developers and Reaching 800K Views

A few years ago, I found myself knee‑deep in YAML, endlessly wrestling with cloud credentials and surprise bills. I realized that if developers could click once and get a fully isolated, production‑grade environment—just like spinning up a sandbox—they’d spend far more time building and less time configuring. That spark led to my latest venture: CNAP, the Cloud‑Native Application Platform.

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Finding Our Tribe with Data‑Driven Insights

Before writing a single line of CNAP code, I set out to meet the people who’d actually use it. Enter the Hetzner Value Auctions Browser—a simple UI that scrapes Hetzner’s Serverbörse, layers on real CPU benchmarks, and ranks machines by true cost‑performance. When I shared it on r/selfhosted and related subs, it blew up:

• 800 000+ views across Reddit posts

• Hundreds of comments on Reddit and our Discord with in‑depth feedback

• 95 developers joining our Discord and waitlist

That tool did more than prove demand. It gave us an audience already primed for self‑service infrastructure—and it taught me how to listen.

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Today: CNAP in Private Pilot

With our early community rallied, CNAP has entered a closed pilot. We’re inviting 20 developers—platform owners, indie SaaS builders, and DevOps‑stretched startups—to experience:

• Instant, per‑customer Kubernetes clusters (powered by k3s) with zero YAML or infra setup

• Built‑in usage tracking & billing hooks, so you can meter your own software consumption

• One‑click app installs via Helm packages—choose from 50 000+ charts or bring your own

• Real‑time feedback loops in Discord and short in‑flow surveys

Even at MVP stage, pilots can see CNAP’s vision in action—and shape it directly.

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What’s Coming Next

We’re moving fast on features driven by our early adopters’ wish lists:

1. CNAP‑CLI

2. Managed Clusters, but BYOC

You’ll catch previews of each feature in our living roadmap on docs.cnap.tech—and pilots get first access.

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Partnership Spotlight: Hetzner Cloud Credits

Building CNAP alongside Hetzner means you don’t just get theory—you get cloud credits, too. Every pilot provisioning clusters on Hetzner via CNAP receives free credits that apply automatically. It’s our way of ensuring you can experiment at no cost, and a big vote of confidence from Hetzner’s team.

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Why You Should Join Our Pilot

CNAP isn’t another managed K8s host. It’s a developer‑first, self‑hosted platform that:

• Automates per‑customer isolation—perfect for SaaS, regulated industries, or simply keeping noisy neighbors at bay

• Bundles billing, metrics, and deployments into one interface

• Scales with you, from indie side project to full production SaaS

As a pilot, you’ll receive:

• Direct influence on our features and UX

• Bi‑weekly office‑hour calls with our engineering team

• Preferential pilot pricing and partnership perks

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Roadmap at a Glance

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Building CNAP has been a journey from “What if we could…” to “Here’s your platform, now let us know what you need.” If you’re a developer, platform operator, or technical founder ready to offload infrastructure complexity and focus on your product, I’d love to have you aboard.

➡️ Apply for our private pilot
💬 Join the conversation on Discord

Let’s make creating hosted digital products delightful—together.