Start a projectStart
Effortless projects

Describe your business once. Run it everywhere.

A project starts with a rulebook: your tables, fields and calculations in one readable file. The database, API, admin app and docs are generated from it. We keep it online, and you can take all of it with you at any time.

Start a project

Projects are free. No card needed.

effortless-rulebook.json › Leases › LateFeerulebook 69ad…fe49
"formula": "=IF({{DaysLate}} > 5, {{MonthlyRent}} * {{LateFeeRate}}, 0)"
Postgres
CASE WHEN days_late > 5 THEN monthly_rent * late_fee_rate ELSE 0 END
LateFee $92.50
TypeScript
daysLate > 5 ? monthlyRent * lateFeeRate : 0
LateFee $92.50
Excel
=IF([@DaysLate]>5,[@MonthlyRent]*[@LateFeeRate],0)
LateFee $92.50
English
The late fee is the monthly rent times the late-fee rate when rent is more than 5 days late. Otherwise it is zero.
LateFee $92.50
AmountDue $1,942.50✓ All 4 agree

Change the grace period with − and +. The rule changes once, and every generated form follows.

How a project works

One free project. Add what you need.

This is a project, drawn exactly as you will see it in the app. Open the rows.

◆
Core rulebook core
effortless-rulebook/effortless-rulebook.json · 5 tables · version 14 · Imported from Airtable
Seeds
AT
Files in airtable-import/ · added 2 days ago
Tracked · 5 imports per base every 30 days
BE
package
Includes Postgres database, Node + Postgres API · added 2 days ago
Free
Md
Files in docs/ · added yesterday
Free
Tools added on their own
⚙
rulebook-to-xlsx
reads ../effortless-rulebook/effortless-rulebook.json · writes exports/
Tracked · 100 runs per month
Hosting
▲
Shared
Tiny, shared machine · a preview run stops after 30 minutes; start it again any time
$0
  • ◆
    The core rulebook

    Every project has one. It holds your model, and every tool reads it. Each tool's path to it is worked out for you.

  • BE
    Seeds

    Packages you add: an import, a database, an app. A seed can include other seeds and the tools they bring.

  • ⚙
    Tools

    Each one turns the rulebook into something: SQL, an API, a workbook, docs.

  • ▲
    Hosting

    Press Start and the project is built and put online as a live preview. Start it again whenever you need it.

  • Licenses

    Any seed or tool may carry one: declared, tracked or enforced. A license governs future runs only. What you have generated is yours.

Starting points

Start anywhere. Arrive at the same project.

A new project starts with an empty core rulebook. Bring your rules in when you create it, or later. It is the same step either way.

Nothing yet
Write your first table in the editor.
Free
Upload a rulebook
Bring an effortless-rulebook.json you already have.
Free
From Airtable
Turn an Airtable base into a rulebook you own: tables, fields and formulas.
Free
From Excel
Turn a workbook, formulas and all, into a rulebook.
soon
From a written spec
Turn documents and notes into a first-draft rulebook.
soon
The result

A project with a core rulebook

Ready to edit, to add seeds and tools to, and to start. However it began.

coreeffortless-rulebook/effortless-rulebook.json
Pricing

Your project is free. You pay to keep it running.

Three things can cost money, and only one of them is per project.

The project
$0

Files, versions, the rulebook and every export. Always free.

+
Hosting
Per project

Free preview runs stop after 30 minutes and restart on demand. Bigger, always-on machines are coming at a fixed monthly fee.

+
Seeds and tools
One by one

Most are free. Each shows its price and license before you add it.

Plans

Free

$0
  • Every project, its rulebook and every export
  • Live preview runs on shared infrastructure
  • A preview stops after 30 minutes; start it again any time
  • One live run per project
  • Export everything, any time
Start a project

Pro

price loading
  • Everything in Free
  • What Pro adds: not set — see your account for the live plan
Start free, upgrade inside

Bigger hosting

A fixed monthly fee per project, for each size. Chosen inside the project.

SmallSpec not set
$ not set
MediumSpec not set
$ not set
LargeSpec not set
$ not set
Licenses never reach backA license governs the next run of a tool, never the files it already made. If our license service is down, tools keep working and report afterwards.
StorageCovered by fair use in our Terms. The cap is not set.
Never locked in

Download your whole account as a spreadsheet.

Not just your rows: your entire model. Projects, rulebooks, seeds, the licenses you hold and the license models that compute your usage. We run our own business on a rulebook too, so this is the file we would want.

▦EffortlessAccount.xlsxyour whole model
A · LicenseB · ProductC · LevelD · ModelE · Used
2L-0193From AirtableTracked5 imports per base every 30 days2 of 5
3L-0207rulebook-to-xlsxTracked100 runs per month7 of 100
4L-0211Shared hostingEnforced1 live run per project1 of 1
YOU
you · Start this project
allowed · Projects are free
full97c2…466c
⚙
rulebook-to-postgres · Write postgres/
allowed · Free
full514e…6db2
⚙
rulebook-to-xlsx · Write exports/
no answer · License service downRan its default and reported 3 min later.
default9c17…5ffc
▲
hosting · Serve the app
allowed · Shared hosting
full6fd2…bba9
Every run leaves a receipt

Know exactly what happened, after the fact.

Each run carries one hash through every step, along with the hash of the rulebook version that governed it. Each actor, a person, a tool or an AI, reports what it did and adds its result to the chain.

Fixed Bid

Rather have us build it?

Bring us your spec and get one fixed price. We deliver into a project you own, as seeds you keep.

See the packages

A 30-minute conversation. No form to fill in first.

  • One number, not a rangeWe capture your rules first, so we can quote a fixed price for the whole build.
  • Most projects need no depositYou see the rulebook before you commit to the software.
  • It lands in your projectEverything we build arrives as seeds in a project on your account.