What we learned building a paid inbox you can self-host (Go + Next.js + Postgres)

说明与用途

Hotly 是一个自托管的付费收件箱，每个安装只服务一个创作者。支付直接进入创作者的 Stripe 账户，消息按长度计费，媒体保存在私有的 Garage 存储中。

问题

Managing personal messages and payments for a creator’s inbox became unmanageable, requiring a self‑hosted solution that handles payments, messaging, and media securely.

结果

Hotly successfully handled 217 paid messages from 921 conversations for a single creator, proving the one‑person‑per‑install model and length‑based pricing work in practice.

工作流

• 1. Install Hotly via Docker Compose; 2. Configure Stripe, Firebase, and SendGrid (or skip for local dev); 3. Creator signs in with Google; 4. Fans pay via Stripe Checkout; 5. Server verifies payment and creates a session cookie; 6. Fans compose a note (priced by length); 7. Creator receives the note and replies; 8. Replies can include locked media stored in Garage; 9. Creator manages pricing and subscription tiers via the web UI.

证据

We built Hotly, an inbox where people pay to send someone a note, and that person replies when they have time.

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The obvious design is multi-tenant: one database, many creators, a creator_id on every row. We went the other way.

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Guests never sign up. They pay through Stripe Checkout, and once the webhook confirms the payment, the success page swaps the Checkout session for an HTTP-only session cookie.

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Notes are priced by length: $5 for 250 characters, $10 for 500 and $15 for 1,000 by default, all editable by the owner.

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We ran it with one creator, 536K followers on Instagram, who told the fans she already had. 217 people paid to write to her, across 921 conversations.

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