Hermes Agent
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First draft of the product spec covering pricing tiers, billing, auth model, distribution, support, hosting, and compliance posture. 10 questions with proposed defaults per phase 2 of the sellable DashCaddy roadmap. Awaiting Sami's review.
3.9 KiB
DashCaddy — Sellable Subscription Product Spec
Status: DRAFT (awaiting Sami approval) Created: 2026-07-13 Owner: Sami Ahmed
This spec covers what DashCaddy needs to become a sellable subscription product. Decisions below are the proposed defaults — override anything that doesn't match your business instincts.
1. Pricing & Business Model
Q1. Pricing Model
Proposed: Tiered self-hosted + free.
| Tier | Price | Use case |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Single host, unlimited services, community support |
| Pro | $9/mo per host | Multi-host, priority support, cloud config backup |
| Business | $29/mo per host | SAML SSO, audit log export, custom branding |
License keys gate Pro/Business features. Keys validated against the dashcaddy-license-server on DNS2.
Q2. Free Tier Limits
Proposed: Unlimited features in self-hosted mode, just no cloud features (backup, SSO, multi-host). Free users stay on the upgrade path without feeling crippled.
2. Billing & Payments
Q3. Payment Processor
Proposed: Stripe (best DX, supports per-seat metering, easiest tax handling). Fallback: Paddle as Merchant-of-Record if VAT/sales tax delegation is needed.
Q4. Self-Serve or Sales-Led
Proposed: Self-serve. User signs up at dashcaddy.net → buys → gets license key instantly → pastes into their instance.
3. Auth & Users
Q5. Account Model
Proposed: Central accounts at dashcaddy.net (not per-instance TOTP). OAuth via GitHub + Google. License keys issued to accounts, instances validate keys against the license server.
Q6. Multi-User
Proposed: Yes, full RBAC. Owners, Admins, Viewers per instance.
- Free = single user
- Pro = up to 5 users
- Business = unlimited users
4. Distribution & Support
Q7. Distribution
Proposed: Same installer script + GitHub releases + Docker Hub.
- Free tier installs from public GitHub releases
- Pro/Business require license key to enable features post-install
Q8. Support Channel
Proposed:
- Free → GitHub Discussions (best-effort SLA)
- Pro → Private Discord
- Business → Dedicated email + 24h response SLA
5. Hosting & Legal Posture
Q9. Hosted Offering
Proposed: Both. Free + Pro are self-hosted. Add cloud.dashcaddy.net
later (managed Pro tier where you run the VPS).
- Defer cloud for v1.0 — it's a separate ops burden.
Q10. Compliance Minimums
Proposed: GDPR-aware ToS + Privacy Policy for v1.0.
- SOC2 deferred (expensive, blocks adoption)
- HIPAA deferred
- Make this explicit on the pricing page so business customers know what's coming.
Compliance with DashCaddy EULA
Per /root/dashcaddy/LICENSE (proprietary, copyright 2024-2026 Sami Ahmed):
- License key model is fully compatible with the EULA (per-instance keys, 30-day evaluation without key for personal non-commercial use)
- Hosted SaaS requires a separate commercial agreement per EULA section 1(e) — defer to v2
- Source availability (current state) is NOT open-source and doesn't grant redistribution rights
Open Questions / Decisions Deferred
- Pricing currency (USD only? multi-currency via Stripe?)
- Refund policy (Stripe standard 30-day? custom?)
- Annual vs monthly billing (Stripe subscriptions support both)
- Free trial length beyond the existing 30-day EULA evaluation
- Discount codes / launch pricing
- Domain for hosted offering (cloud.dashcaddy.net? dashcaddy.cloud?)
What this spec unlocks (Phase 3 deliverables)
Once approved, I produce:
- Gap list — what's currently built vs what this spec needs
- Prioritized build order — what blocks public release first
- Architecture changes — license server, account system, billing integration, RBAC layer
- Documentation gaps — install guide, admin guide, pricing page
- Compliance gaps — ToS, Privacy Policy, support SLAs