🚀 AppSutra – Open SaaS Directory

An India-first, GitHub-powered directory of SaaS products where vendors add listings via Pull Requests and users share experiences via Issues.

📋 What is AppSutra?

AppSutra is a community-driven directory of SaaS products optimized for Indian businesses. Unlike traditional directories, we leverage GitHub's collaborative features to create a transparent, auditable, and community-moderated platform.

Key Features:

• 🇮🇳 India-first focus - Pricing in ₹, local integrations, compliance considerations
• 🔍 Transparent reviews - All reviews are public GitHub Issues with full history
• 🤖 Automated validation - Schema validation, link checking, and quality assurance
• 📊 Community-driven - Vendors submit via PRs, users review via Issues
• 🎯 Category-organized - CRM, HR, Marketing, Finance, and more

🚀 Quick Start

Adding Your Product

1. Fork this repository
2. Create your listing file at listings/<category-folder>/<your-product>.md
3. Fill in the details using our template (see example below)
4. Open a Pull Request - our validation will run automatically
5. Get reviewed by maintainers and go live!

Note: Slugs are auto-generated from your name and category fields in YAML. The filename must match slugify(name) and the folder must match slugify(category). Validation runs automatically on PR submission.

Example Listing Structure

---
icon: "https://example.com/logo.png"
name: "Razorpay"
company: "Razorpay Software Private Limited"
trialPlan: true
trialPlanPricing: "Free"
category: "Finance"
# IMPORTANT: Do NOT add 'slug' or 'categorySlug' fields
# They are auto-generated during validation and build from 'name' and 'category'
# - Filename must be: slugify("Razorpay") = "razorpay.md"
# - Folder must be: slugify("Finance") = "finance/"
#  - Location: listings/finance/razorpay.md
useCases:
  - "Online Payments"
  - "E-commerce"
  - "Subscription Billing"
keywords:
  - "payment gateway"
  - "online payments"
  - "e-commerce"
integration:
  - title: "Shopify"
  - title: "WooCommerce"
  - title: "Zapier"
description: |
  Razorpay is a comprehensive payment gateway platform designed to empower businesses...

  **Key Highlights**
  - Comprehensive payment processing platform
  - Accept payments globally through multiple channels
  - Simple API integrations for developers
locations:
  - "India"
  - "Global"
website: "https://razorpay.com/"
updated_at: "2025-01-18"
keyFeatures:
  description: "Razorpay offers a full range of payment tools..."
  features:
    - title: "Payment Gateway"
      desc: "Accept payments via credit cards, debit cards, UPI, wallets."
    - title: "Subscription Management"
      desc: "Create and manage recurring billing for subscription-based businesses."
    # Maximum 8 features
buyingGuide:
  - question: "1. What's your business model?"
    why: "Helps determine the payment features you need"
    answer: "E-commerce, subscription-based, service-based, or other?"
  # Maximum 8 questions
pricing:
  desc: "Razorpay offers flexible pricing plans..."
  plans:
    - name: "Basic Plan"
      pricing:
        amount: 0
        currency: "INR"
        currencySymbol: "₹"
        period: "month"
        perUnit: null
      description: "Free plan with all essential features."
    # Maximum 4 plans
---

📂 Categories

• CRM - Customer relationship management
• Human Resource - HR software and recruitment
• Payment Gateway - Payment processing and merchant services
• Marketing - Digital marketing and automation
• Finance - Financial management tools
• Support - Customer support and helpdesk
• Analytics - Business intelligence and analytics
• Security - Cybersecurity and compliance
• DevTools - Development and technical tools

🔍 Writing Reviews

Share your experience by creating a review issue!

What makes a great review:

• Specific use case and context
• Honest pros and cons
• Team size and industry
• Duration of usage
• Specific features used

🛠️ Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• npm

Setup

git clone https://github.com/salesuplabs/appsutra.git
cd appsutra
npm install

Validation

# Validate all listings against schema
npm run validate

# Check all links in listings
npm run linkcheck

# Run all validation
npm test

Building Data Package

# Build the data package (compiles MD → JSON)
npm run build:data

# Output: dist/listings.json
# This file contains all validated listings in JSON format

# Run full pre-publish validation
npm run prepublishOnly

File Structure

appsutra/
├── listings/              # Product listings (organized by category)
│   ├── hr/               # HR category folder
│   │   └── keka-services.md
│   ├── finance/          # Finance category folder
│   │   └── razorpay.md
│   └── payment-gateway/  # Payment Gateway category folder
│       └── ...
├── schema/              # JSON Schema validation
│   ├── product.schema.json  # Product validation schema
│   └── categories.json      # Category definitions
├── scripts/             # Validation and build scripts
│   ├── validate.mjs     # Schema validation
│   ├── linkcheck.mjs    # URL verification
│   └── build-data.ts    # MD → JSON compiler
├── dist/                # Build output
│   └── listings.json    # Compiled data package
├── .github/            # GitHub templates and workflows
│   └── workflows/
│       ├── validate-listings.yml
│       └── release.yml  # Auto-publish to GitHub Packages
└── package.json        # @appsutra/data package config

Architecture: Data Package Pipeline

How listings become consumable data:

1. Organize by Category: Place product in category folder

   • Example: listings/finance/razorpay.md

2. Define in YAML: Add YAML front-matter with product details

   • name: "Razorpay"
   • category: "Finance" (display name, can differ from folder)

3. Auto-Generate Slugs: Build process generates slugs from YAML fields

   • name: "Razorpay" → slug: "razorpay" (validated against filename)
   • category: "Finance" → categorySlug: "finance" (validated against folder)
   • Validation ensures: filename = slugify(name), folder = slugify(category)

4. Compile to JSON: build-data.ts parses all MD files with gray-matter

   • Validates against product.schema.json
   • Generates slug and categorySlug fields
   • Outputs to dist/listings.json

5. Publish Package: GitHub Actions publishes @appsutra/data to GitHub Packages

6. Consume: Applications install the package and import the data

Key Points:

• ✅ Data-only package - No frontend code, just structured data
• ✅ Automated publishing - Tag version, GitHub Actions handles the rest
• ✅ Type-safe compilation - TypeScript build with schema validation
• ✅ Consumable via npm - Install via GitHub Packages

📦 Data Package Distribution

AppSutra publishes listings as a consumable npm package via GitHub Packages, enabling other applications to use our curated dataset.

Package: @appsutra/data

Published to: GitHub Packages (npm.pkg.github.com) Main Export: dist/listings.json - Compiled array of all product listings

Publishing Workflow

1. Make changes to listings in listings/ directory
2. Commit and push to the main branch
3. Tag a version: git tag v0.1.x && git push --tags
4. GitHub Actions automatically:
   • Validates all listings against schema
   • Builds data package (npm run build:data)
   • Publishes to GitHub Packages

Build Process

# Install dependencies (includes TypeScript)
npm install

# Validate listings
npm run validate

# Check all URLs
npm run linkcheck

# Build data package (compiles MD → JSON)
npm run build:data

# Output: dist/listings.json with all listings

The build-data.ts script:

• Parses all .md files with gray-matter
• Validates against schema/product.schema.json
• Auto-generates slug and categorySlug fields
• Compiles into a single JSON array

Consuming the Package

Other applications can install and use the data:

# Configure .npmrc for GitHub Packages
echo "@appsutra:registry=https://npm.pkg.github.com" >> .npmrc

# Set auth token (requires read:packages scope)
export NODE_AUTH_TOKEN=ghp_your_token

# Install package
npm install @appsutra/data

// Import in your application
import listings from '@appsutra/data/dist/listings.json';

// Use the data
const allProducts = listings;
const financeProducts = listings.filter(l => l.categorySlug === 'finance');

Any web application, mobile app, or backend service can consume this data package to display SaaS product information.

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions from the community! Please read our Contributing Guide for details on:

• Adding new listings
• Improving existing listings
• Contributing to the platform itself
• Code of conduct and community guidelines

📜 Guidelines

For Vendors

• Keep descriptions factual and neutral - No promotional language
• Include India-specific context - ₹ pricing, local integrations
• Follow field limits:
  • Maximum 8 key features
  • Maximum 4 pricing plans
  • Maximum 8 buying guide questions
  • Maximum 30 keywords
• Use proper structure - Follow the Product type interface exactly
• No manual slugs - Slugs are auto-generated from name and category
• File naming: Filename must match slugify(name).md, folder must match slugify(category)
• Required fields: All fields in Product schema are required, including updated_at (YYYY-MM-DD format)
• Maintain up-to-date information - Update updated_at when making changes

For Users

• Write constructive, helpful reviews
• Include your context (team size, use case)
• Focus on specific experiences
• Follow our Code of Conduct

🔐 Moderation

All submissions go through:

• Automated schema validation
• Link verification
• Manual review by maintainers
• Community feedback

See our Moderation Guidelines for details.

📊 Stats

• Total Listings: Check the listings directory
• Active Categories: 9 major SaaS categories
• Community Reviews: Browse review issues

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Built with ❤️ for the Indian SaaS community
• Powered by GitHub's collaborative features
• Inspired by awesome-lists and other community-driven projects

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Ready to contribute? Add your product or write a review!