From subscribe to using it, in seconds.
Lab is a catalog of independent SaaS products. Each one runs on its own domain, has its own database, and is built on the same foundation. Here is exactly what happens when you subscribe to one.
1. You pick a product
Browse the catalog, read the description, see what's in the box. Each product has a single price tier — no decoy “Pro” vs “Enterprise” tables, no contact-sales walls. The product's detail page shows you the features and the price. That's the offer.
2. You subscribe via Stripe
Click subscribe and you're sent to Stripe Checkout — the same checkout you've used a hundred times. I never see your card. Lab receives a webhook from Stripe when payment succeeds; that's the only signal it needs.
3. The product provisions you
On a successful subscription, Lab forwards your email to the product you bought via a signed, shared-secret webhook. The product creates your account, generates a one-time password, and sends it back. Lab shows you the email + password on the next screen and stores nothing beyond the existence of the subscription.
It's simple by design: each product owns its own user table. That's why your Reads login is different from your Stack login. It's slightly more inconvenient than single-sign-on, and that's the point — your data in each product is isolated from the others. If one ever has a security incident, the blast radius is one product.
4. You use the product
You sign in at the product's URL with the email + password Lab gave you. Your account page on Lab keeps a running list of every product you've subscribed to, with the launch URL and the credentials visible whenever you need them again.
5. Billing + cancellation
Stripe handles all billing. The Account page has a Manage billing button that opens the Stripe Customer Portal — update card, change email, see invoices, cancel. Cancelling is one click; the change is immediate (your access continues until the current period ends, then closes).
6. Your data
It stays yours. Every product is built around manual entry — what you type is what's stored. Nothing is shared between products. Nothing is sold. Nothing is used to train anything. If you cancel and want to export, email me and we'll make it happen — most products have export built-in already, the rest I can do manually.
7. After cancellation
Your account stays in the product's database for 30 days after the period ends, so if you change your mind you can resubscribe without losing the log. After 30 days, the product's scheduled job deletes the account and everything in it. Lab itself only keeps the minimum subscription record needed for Stripe reconciliation; legal retention details are in Privacy.
Why it's built this way
I wanted Lab to be a real catalog, not a façade. Each product is its own deployable that I can ship, update, or retire independently. The provisioning handshake is the same as the one I'd use if Lab were ten times the size. Building it small first means it can grow without rewriting.