For people who run a small business
One sentence opened a cafe's pickup counter and stamp card.
Ember, a cafe app with pickup orders and a stamp card, was built from the sentence below. It is live at ember-cafe.instroc.app.
What it got with nothing to set up: sign-in and accounts · each person sees their own · a database · a live address.
Five more sentences to paste
Each builds a working app with the parts listed beside it. A part that needs a paid plan says which.
The salon
Online booking for my salon: three stylists with their own hours, clients pick a service and a time, and get a reminder the day before.
- Sign-in and accounts · A database · Scheduled jobs · Emails from the app (Starter and up)
- Sign-in and accounts
- A database
- Scheduled jobs
- Emails from the app (Starter and up)
The repair shop
A repair tracker for my phone shop: I log each repair, the customer gets a link to check its status, and I mark it ready for pickup.
- A database · Each person sees their own · A live address
- A database
- Each person sees their own
- A live address
The tutor
A page for my maths tutoring: parents book a weekly slot, pay a month at a time, and read their child's notes after each lesson.
- Sign-in and accounts · Each person sees their own · Payments to your account (Hobby and up)
- Sign-in and accounts
- Each person sees their own
- Payments to your account (Hobby and up)
The market stall
Pre-orders for my Saturday bread stall: this week's loaves, orders close Friday at 18:00, pay ahead and collect at the stall.
- A database · Scheduled jobs · Payments to your account (Hobby and up)
- A database
- Scheduled jobs
- Payments to your account (Hobby and up)
The quiz night
Bookings for the Thursday quiz night at my cafe: tables of six, a deposit to hold one, and a list for me of who is coming.
- A database · Payments to your account (Hobby and up) · An inbox for messages
- A database
- Payments to your account (Hobby and up)
- An inbox for messages
Live now, built on Instroc
Real apps at real addresses. Open one and use it.
Nordic Table
A restaurant site where guests reserve a table.
Start from this template
Vessel
A product site for makers, one unbroken camera move along the maker's bench.
Start from this template
Vibe Tickets
Events with tickets to sell or give away, and a QR check-in at the door.
Start from this template
Asked before starting
- I am not technical. What do I actually do?
- Type what you want in a sentence, the way you would tell a friend. Roc builds it and you publish it. To change the menu or the opening hours later, say so in a sentence, or click the text on your page and type over it.
- Can customers pay me?
- Yes, on every paid plan from Hobby ($6/month). You connect your own payment account by approving it on the provider's site, with no secret key to copy. Money goes straight to you, and each payment is recorded in the app's database against the customer who paid.
- What does it cost a small business?
- You can build and publish for $0. Taking payments starts at Hobby ($6/month), and your own domain at Hobby ($6/month). The plans: Free $0, 30 credits a month, $5 of hosting usage once; Hobby $6/month, 40 credits a month, $5 of hosting usage a month; Starter $15/month, 100 credits a month, $10 of hosting usage a month; Pro $40/month, 250 credits a month, $20 of hosting usage a month; Business $80/month, 500 credits a month, $25 of hosting usage a month. Building spends credits; a running app spends hosting usage, and each plan includes some.
- Can I use my own web address?
- Yes, from Hobby ($6/month). Bring a domain you already own or buy one inside Instroc. Every app also has a free address on instroc.app.
- Can I see who ordered and who came back?
- Yes. Orders and sign-ups are rows in the app's own database, and every published app counts visits, popular pages and where people came from. Messages from the contact form land in your inbox in the dashboard.
- What about my customers' data?
- Each app has its own database. A customer sees only their own records unless you decide otherwise, table by table. You can pick where an app's database lives, keep a workspace's new apps in Europe, and take a backup whenever you want. From Hobby ($6/month), a backup is also taken every day and the last 7 are kept.