# Launch where your audience talks, then keep the conversation going.

> Spread the Word is a community marketing assistant for founders and small teams launching products: it finds your audience and drafts posts you approve.

Spread the Word works with your own Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode on your computer, with whichever model you choose (including one you host yourself), which researches communities and writes drafts in each persona’s voice. Nothing is posted until you approve it. Approved items are scheduled within each community’s pace and rules, then published through the platform’s API or posted by you with a guided checklist. Spread the Word tracks the replies and suggests follow-ups. It is especially suited to product launches: it prepares listings for launch directories, drafts launch posts for places such as Product Hunt and Show HN, schedules launch-day items for the time you choose, and keeps up with the replies that follow.

## Who it is for

Founders, indie hackers and small product teams who market their own products in online communities, especially when they are launching something new. Not for: agencies running many client accounts, anyone buying votes or engagement, and high-volume posting.

## Key features

- Finds subreddits, forums, launch directories and Q&A sites where your audience talks, scores each for fit and summarises its rules on self-promotion.
- Drafts replies, questions, articles and launch listings in each persona’s voice, from the facts in your project brief.
- Launch kits for 12 launch directories, including Uneed, Microlaunch and DevHunt: listing copy, tagline, FAQ answers, gallery captions, a launch-day maker comment and a checklist of each directory’s current requirements.
- Launch offers: your agent researches early-adopter and launch-feedback offers within the commercial limits you set, and you approve and set up each one.
- Every draft waits for you: edit it inline, approve it, decline it with a reason, or snooze it.
- Schedules approved items with pacing per account: a minimum gap, daily and weekly caps, quiet hours and a limit on promotional posts.
- Publishes through official APIs where a platform allows it (Reddit, DEV, LinkedIn, Bluesky, Mastodon, Discourse forum, GitHub and Lemmy today) and guides you through posting by hand everywhere else.
- Tracks replies, points and removals on what you publish, flags negative or urgent replies, and drafts follow-ups.
- Discloses your affiliation by default on every persona.
- Redirect links with UTM tags show which places and personas bring visitors.
- Optional autopilot for low-risk items such as thank-you replies, off by default.
- Sandbox mode by default: try the whole flow without anything reaching a platform.

## Built for product launches

A launch is when your audience is most likely to notice you, and when it is easiest to break a community’s rules by accident. Spread the Word prepares the work beforehand, keeps launch day on schedule and stays with the conversation afterwards.

- **Before the launch**: Your agent finds the communities where your audience talks and summarises each one’s rules on self-promotion. Pick launch directories from the catalogue to get a launch kit for each, and ask for early-adopter offers within limits you set.
- **On launch day**: Approved posts are scheduled for the time you choose. Platforms with an API publish on time; for Product Hunt, Show HN and directories you get the text, a checklist and the page to open. Redirect links show which places send visitors.
- **After the launch**: Replies are tracked, negative or urgent ones are flagged straight away, and your agent drafts the follow-ups. Once the launch is over, keep turning up in the threads where people ask about your category.

## Why Spread the Word

- Your own agent does the thinking. Drafts are written by Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode on your machine, with your own subscription or model; Spread the Word’s servers run no AI models.
- Built around community rules: disclosure on by default, pacing per account, and checks against each place’s rules before anything is posted.
- No voting, boosting or sock-puppet features, and only one of your personas per thread.
- You approve every post, apart from autopilot rules you choose to switch on for low-risk items.

## Questions

### Does Spread the Word post without my approval?

No. Every draft waits for your approval. The only exception is autopilot, which is off by default and, when you switch it on for a project, covers only low-risk kinds such as thank-you replies, with an undo window.

### Can Spread the Word help me launch a product?

Yes. Choose from a catalogue of 12 launch directories, such as Uneed, DevHunt, BetaList and Peerlist Launchpad, and your agent drafts a launch kit for each: listing copy, tagline, FAQ answers, gallery captions, a launch-day maker comment and a checklist of the directory’s current requirements. Launch posts for Product Hunt, Show HN and the communities you have approved are drafted like any other post. You submit directory listings and Product Hunt and Hacker News posts yourself, approved items can be scheduled for the time you choose, and replies are tracked so you can follow up while the launch is live.

### Which AI does Spread the Word use?

Your own Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode command-line tool, run on your team’s computers by Steady Circuit’s scx, with any model it supports. OpenCode also runs models you host yourself (Ollama, LM Studio, vLLM or llama.cpp). Spread the Word’s servers do not call any AI models; your own subscription or hardware pays for the reasoning.

### Do I have to connect my social accounts?

No. Without credentials, Spread the Word shows you the text and a checklist, you post it yourself, and you paste the link so replies can be tracked. Connecting an account lets it publish through the platform’s official API where one exists.

### How are my platform credentials stored?

Encrypted with AES-256-GCM using a key for your account, which is itself encrypted with a master key held in a separate secrets store. Credentials are decrypted only at the moment of publishing and are never shown again in the app or returned by the API.

### Is it allowed on Reddit and Hacker News?

Spread the Word is designed to follow community rules: it discloses your affiliation, paces posting, and warns when a place restricts self-promotion. It cannot guarantee a community will welcome a post, so read each place’s rules. Reddit publishing uses your own Reddit app, and Hacker News is always posted by you.

### What does Spread the Word cost?

Every account gets 1,000 free credits a month with no card. Publishing through an API costs 10 credits, a post you make yourself costs 5, and tracking costs 1 credit for each day an item is checked for replies (7 or 8 days over its first month). Agent work and sandbox mode are free. Top-ups start at £5 for 10,000 credits.

More: [How it works](https://spread-the-word.steadycircuit.com/how-it-works.md), [Pricing](https://spread-the-word.steadycircuit.com/pricing.md), [Platforms](https://spread-the-word.steadycircuit.com/platforms.md).

Updated 2026-10-15. Canonical page: https://spread-the-word.steadycircuit.com/