How do I get people to try my side project?

Show it before asking for anything. Most side-project launches are a link and a paragraph, which asks a stranger to imagine the software and then create an account to check. A short walkthrough they can click through removes both steps.

How long should a side project demo be?

Four or five steps covering the one flow that makes the project interesting. At this stage completion is the only signal you get, and a short demo people finish is worth more than a thorough one they abandon.

Is a video better than an interactive demo for a side project?

A video needs a decision to press play and a minute the reader has not committed. A click-through demo can be skimmed at the reader's own pace and abandoned without guilt, which suits an audience that has not decided to care yet.

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How to Showcase a Side Project So People Actually Try It

August 27, 2026

The usual side-project launch is a link, a paragraph, and silence. The paragraph is the problem: people are being asked to imagine software from a description and then create an account to check whether they imagined it right.

Almost nobody does that for a stranger's weekend project.

Why the link gets ignored

A signup stands between the reader and the point. For an unknown project, that is too big an ask.
Screenshots prove a screen exists, not that the thing works.
A video needs a decision to press play, and a minute they have not committed.
Your description sounds like every other description, because the good words are all taken.

Show the thing in thirty seconds

Record the single flow that makes your project interesting — the moment where it does something no one else does — and nothing else. Four or five steps.

Then put that in front of the link rather than behind it. "Here is what it does" before "here is where to sign up" reverses the ask, and it is the entire difference.

Where it goes

In the post itself, not on a page the post links to.
In the first comment, which is where people who scrolled past the post end up.
In your bio, permanently, so anyone curious later finds it.
In the reply to "what does it do?", every single time it is asked.

Keep it honest and keep it short

Side-project audiences are unusually good at spotting a mockup and unusually generous to something real and unfinished. Show the working part, warts included.

And keep it short enough to finish. A four-step demo that people complete beats a twelve-step one they abandon, and completion is the only signal you will get at this stage.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get people to try my side project?: Show it before asking for anything. Most side-project launches are a link and a paragraph, which asks a stranger to imagine the software and then create an account to check. A short walkthrough they can click through removes both steps.
How long should a side project demo be?: Four or five steps covering the one flow that makes the project interesting. At this stage completion is the only signal you get, and a short demo people finish is worth more than a thorough one they abandon.
Is a video better than an interactive demo for a side project?: A video needs a decision to press play and a minute the reader has not committed. A click-through demo can be skimmed at the reader's own pace and abandoned without guilt, which suits an audience that has not decided to care yet.

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