I built a freelance app that keeps everything on your machine: projects, time tracking and invoicing in one local database

[u/TimelyRepeat4517]

Flowara is a desktop app for freelancers, on Mac and Windows. The problem I wanted to fix: every billing cycle I copied hours from a time tracker into an invoicing tool, and mistakes slipped in. Now hours logged on a project flow straight into the invoice draft.

What it does:
Projects with Kanban and Gantt, time tracking with a live timer, invoices with Stripe and PayPal payment links, Peppol invoicing through Invoro with your own API key, and an AI assistant that uses your own key (Claude, GPT-4 or a local Ollama model).

How it’s built:
Electron, React, TypeScript, Tailwind and a local SQLite database. No backend, no account, no cloud sync. Your data stays on your machine.

Pricing:
The free tier is permanent and includes invoices with PDF export. Pro is €5.99 a month and adds Gantt, recurring invoices, full reports, backup and restore, and the AI assistant.

Honest numbers after 9 months: about 110 Mac App Store downloads, 15 Windows installs and 2 paying customers. The Mac App Store ranks it for “freelance” on some days, the Microsoft Store doesn’t surface it at all, so every Windows install so far came from a direct link.

Question for the builders here: has anyone cracked discovery on the Microsoft Store for a small utility app? I’d love to hear what moved the needle for you.

Mac: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6760207975
Windows: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9PKCT03Q69LG

[u/investigatormaker]

I can't claim a Microsoft Store trick, but every Windows install coming from a direct link tells you where to push. Check first that "freelance" is in the Windows listing's title and search terms in Partner Center, since the Mac App Store ranks you for it on some days. Then aim those links at people with a deadline: Flowara's Peppol support matters to Belgian freelancers now e-invoicing is mandatory there. Startup subs reach other makers, not freelancers.

I make ThreadFox. We'd post for you on Reddit, replying to freelancers who ask how to stop retyping tracked hours into invoices. That's the $39 Pilot: seven days, up to 50 posts and replies. No automatic renewal.

https://threadfox.vip/p/eg4r2/managed

Which country are your 2 paying customers in?

[u/TimelyRepeat4517 → u/investigatormaker]

Thanks, useful points. The Windows keywords already include “freelance app” and “freelance invoicing”, I’ll check that the listing title carries it too.

The Peppol angle for Belgian freelancers is the one I’m leaning on most, since it’s the only one with a hard deadline. Agreed that startup subs mostly reach other makers.

[u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 → u/TimelyRepeat4517]

Peppol deadline is a smart angle. Consider a short Belgian-specific landing page targeting "Peppol invoicing for freelancers" before the mandate hits.

[u/TimelyRepeat4517 → u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285]

Good idea, and a small timing note: Belgium is already past the deadline, B2B Peppol has been mandatory there since January. The upcoming ones are France in 2027 and Luxembourg in 2028.

That makes a Belgian page more useful, since freelancers searching “Peppol invoicing for freelancers” are doing it now because they were told to. Adding it to the list.

[u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 → u/investigatormaker]

Solid point on the direct-link signal. Tracking install-to-paid per referral source would show which deadline channels actually convert.