Castor
Web and SaaS
business dashboard
SHOW HN2017
133points
74comments
#303of 2,242 in 2017
Top 14%of 2017 by points
How HN took it
RoastedHalf or more of the comments are critical
3 positive, 17 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 23 critical, out of 43 comments about the project. Thread score -0.48.
Idea: 1 for, 12 againstDesign: 2 for, 4 againstDocs: 0 for, 4 againstPricing: 0 for, 3 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Transparent, low pricing
From 2 comments
New year, new SaaS dashboard company... It's nice to see transparent pricing though I wonder how realistic it is. $4/month for unlimited everything, regardless of customer size?…
koolba on HNHey Guys! Congratulations on the launch. I have a question, if you dont mind. I'm someone, who's been trying to build out simple SAAS business myself and wanted to understand the…
shefaliprateek on HN
Clean design and animations
From 2 comments
It creates a smooth visual flow. Straight horizontal lines chop your website into blocks. This, on the other hand, separates your content without breaking it apart. Your link is…
zuzun on HNWow.. that is a much more striking use of the "slanted" layout. Superb.. it has a little bit of "materialize" feel to it but without the cold / harsh aspect of material (imho).…
johndoe4589 on HN
Objections
Pricing may not be sustainable
From 3 comments
New year, new SaaS dashboard company... It's nice to see transparent pricing though I wonder how realistic it is. $4/month for unlimited everything, regardless of customer size?…
koolba on HNIs this pricing sustainable? I just can't see how there is enough demand to keep this afloat at $40/year?
GordonS on HNCongratulations! from a fellow dashboard maker (infocaptor) You need to add more connections and increase the price. I don't know how many will take you seriously at $4/month.
njx on HN
Lacks historical comparison context
From 2 comments
One of the things that really hit home at my last job and that I see missing from a lot of these dashboards is comparative context. So I walk in in the morning and we have a…
weego on HN>It's hard to include that information in a meaningful way on a dashboard. How is it hard to show a comparison of current state vs. average state? That's literally about as…
tw04 on HN
Animations and chat popup are distracting
From 2 comments
Was I the only one who found that website really annoying? Everything animated, chat popping up when I didn't want it.
timlyo on HNNo you're not. Personally I find it really annoying. I hope this is a fad, along with the photos showing through "holes" as you scroll down a page. At least this is a landingpage…
johndoe4589 on HN
Broken links and typos in docs
From 4 comments
The documentation homepage (https://docs.getcastor.com/) has a broken link ("Getting Started with Castor")
agopaul on HNyou should check the readme, I got a 404 error at https://docs.getcastor.com/getting-started.md
wallzz on HN>If you need more than one dashboard or want to send data directly from you're app or server [...] s/you're/your
captn3m0 on HNNoticed a small typo here https://app.getcastor.com/#!/login "Sign up an login using an identity provider:" should be "Sign up and login using an identity provider:" Also, uBlock…
ishwarn on HN
Requests
Historical and comparative context in dashboards
From 2 comments
One of the things that really hit home at my last job and that I see missing from a lot of these dashboards is comparative context. So I walk in in the morning and we have a…
weego on HNyou know.. I have been an user of some of these paid dashboards and you hit on a very good point! historical context is something I always felt was missing. i end up having to…
AznHisoka on HN
Self-hosted alternative
From 1 comment
This looks nice! Can anyone recommend an opensource/self-hosted alternative? Would really like to set something like this up in the office but would prefer to host it on my…
dd112 on HN
Display on wall TV or kiosk
From 1 comment
What is the best way to get a web-based dashboard -- Castor, for example -- displaying on a wall-mounted television? Is it possible to do it through an AppleTV?
nrjames on HN
Questions
How is it different from competitors
From 2 comments
What makes this different/better from the million of similar products or is this some kind of YC company ?
kayoone on HNHow Castor different from any of the other data dashboard alternatives that exist? Is there anything that sets it apart from its competitors?
AgTech_Expert on HN
Is the pricing sustainable
From 2 comments
Is this pricing sustainable? I just can't see how there is enough demand to keep this afloat at $40/year?
GordonS on HNNew year, new SaaS dashboard company... It's nice to see transparent pricing though I wonder how realistic it is. $4/month for unlimited everything, regardless of customer size?…
koolba on HN
Alternatives named
Grafana
From 1 comment
http://grafana.org/
anilgulecha on HN
Dashing
From 1 comment
Well there's Dashing from Shopify which has been around since 2012. We use it at the office and are happy with it. https://github.com/Shopify/dashing
andruby on HN
Klipfolio
From 1 comment
You can do this with Klipfolio. That is the one I am currently using.
jaxn on HN
Looker
From 1 comment
What you are looking for is a BI (business intelligence) tool. Those typically include dashboard but also look at trends - both automatically and programmatically via your own…
dotBen on HN
Panic Status Board
From 1 comment
This looks exactly like Panic's old StatusBoard https://panic.com/blog/the-future-of-status-board/
nanoanderson on HN