I built a lightweight Changelog Widget because I hate heavy scripts

Olli — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 13:18:18 +0000

The Problem: As developers, we spend hours optimizing our Core Web Vitals, tree-shaking our bundles, and shaving off kilobytes.

And then? We add a "Product Update" widget from a third-party SaaS, and suddenly our bundle size explodes, or we get hit with a hefty monthly subscription just to show a list of updates.

The Solution: I wanted something that does one thing well: Show a changelog. No bloat, no heavy tracking, no complex roadmaps.

So I built SvellBell.

It’s a dedicated changelog widget for solo developers and indie hackers.

⚡ The Tech Specs
I know you care about what goes into your app, so here is the lowdown:

Dependencies: Zero.

Framework Agnostic: Works with React, Vue, Svelte, or plain HTML.

Privacy: Hosted in the EU, no creepy tracking.

👨‍💻 How to use it
You literally just drop this into your <head> or <body>:

<script
  src="https://cdn.svellbell.com/widget.js"
  data-project-id="YOUR_PROJECT_ID">
</script>

(Note: You can obviously customize the colors and position to match your brand).

💸 Why I built it
I'm a solo dev myself. Existing tools like Beamer or Headway are great enterprises, but paying $49/mo for a side project didn't make sense to me. SvellBell has a generous free tier that should cover most indie projects forever.

🙏Feedback requested
I launched this today (Sunday!) on Product Hunt. I’m currently battling the "cold start" problem.

I would love to hear your feedback on the integration experience. Is the documentation clear? Is the widget fast enough?

You can test it here: https://svellbell.com
Support on Product Hunt: https://www.producthunt.com/products/svellbell?utm_source=other&utm_medium=social

Thanks for checking it out! Happy coding.

Forem: Olli

I built a lightweight Changelog Widget because I hate heavy scripts