A directory should earn by tonight

A directory looks simple until you try to own one.

You need listings, filters, a decent page for each row, a way for people to submit, a way to get paid, a domain that does not embarrass you, and SEO that is not an afterthought. The internet’s answer used to be a pile: WordPress, a theme, a form plugin, a checkout that takes a cut, a spreadsheet on the side, hope.

I did that work. It ate a quarter. It earned nothing. The directory was “almost ready” in the way software is almost ready — forever.

The cut

Row.so is one feature: type a niche, get a directory you can charge for.

A prompt like “AI writing tools” becomes a live site — categories, descriptions, a brand you can actually look at. Or you paste a Google Sheet and keep two-way sync. Stripe, Lemon Squeezy, Polar, Creem: people pay to be listed, and the money is yours. No platform tax on the listings.

Grid, upvote list, map locator. Custom fields that turn into filters. The parts that used to be a roadmap are the product.

Why teams kept it

Founders do not want a directory hobby. They want a storefront for a niche they understand. Agencies do not want to assemble four tools for a client who will ask for “just a directory.” They want to ship, put a price on a listing, and keep the revenue.

I built Row.so because I was done pretending a directory is a weekend. It is a business if the plumbing disappears. It is a graveyard if the plumbing is the work.

Simple feature

If the sentence is “I know a niche and I want to charge for being in the list,” the software should end at that sentence. Prompt. Publish. Price. Keep 100%.

The rest is noise I refused to ship as your night job.