TinySubs- Onchain Micro Subscriptions for Creators

The problem it solves

TinySubs solves one of the biggest missing pieces in the blockchain ecosystem — frictionless, low-cost recurring payments.

Traditionally, setting up small, periodic payments (₹10/₹20/₹50 equivalents) is either expensive due to gas fees, requires complex smart contract setups, or forces creators and developers to rely on centralized platforms that take high cuts.

TinySubs makes micro-subscriptions possible onchain by providing:

• Instant, low-fee payments using smart contracts
• Recurring billing that doesn’t require manual user approval each time
• A simple UI where creators can create subscription tiers in seconds
• Developer-friendly APIs for integrating subscription logic into any app
• Security-by-default, since funds flow directly from user → creator
• No middlemen, meaning creators keep almost everything

Users can subscribe to newsletters, premium content, tools, communities, or even pay small periodic donations — fully onchain, fully automated, and completely transparent.

Challenges we ran into

Building TinySubs came with several technical hurdles. One of the first challenges was figuring out how to model on-chain recurring micro-payments. Traditional subscriptions rely on automated off-chain billing, so translating that into a decentralized, pull-based flow required experimenting with token approvals, transfer permissions, and finding a safe pattern that doesn’t compromise user control.

Another challenge was gas optimization. My earlier contract designs were functional but unnecessarily heavy. After profiling the gas usage, I had to refactor the architecture into a more modular and minimal structure, which reduced cost and made the code easier to maintain.

Integrating the frontend with smart contracts also brought difficulties. Simple actions like approving tokens or checking subscription state required careful handling of asynchronous blockchain calls, transaction confirmations, and error states. Ensuring that the UI always reflected the latest on-chain data took multiple iterations.

I also ran into issues with testnet liquidity. Some networks didn’t have stablecoin faucets available, which made it hard to simulate real micro-transactions. To work around this, I switched networks, used fallback tokens, and created mock flows to keep development moving without blocking the user experience.

Finally, working solo meant managing both the contract layer and the full UI/UX within limited time. Balancing speed with correctness was challenging, especially while ensuring the system behaved reliably across multiple wallet combinations and test networks.