Opportunities › Secure temporary credential sharing for teams › Proposed app
Lantern Drop
Share passwords and keys that expire, with a record of who opened them
- Score
- 36
- confidence 39
- Evidence
- 4
- items on the page
- Rivals
- 1
- named in sources
- First version
- 25 d
- estimate
- Type
- Desktop app
- PWA: runs in the browser, installs on Mac and Windows
- Market since
- 2011
- Mature market · AI estimate
ScreensConcept
Desktop app: IT teams create secret links, review access logs, and manage compliance records from their desks. Sample screens on a computer, in the proposed brand. Their numbers are sample data.
New share
Ready to copy- Secret typeAPI key
About this appAI proposal
Lantern Drop lets IT teams and managed service providers send a password, API key or secret as a one-time link. Each link expires after a set number of views or a set time, then the content is deleted. Nothing stays behind in email or chat.
Every link has an audit trail: who opened it, when, and from where. Teams can answer an auditor's question about a shared credential without searching old messages. Separate client workspaces keep each client's work apart.
It runs as an installable web app, so there is nothing to deploy. The material points to a gap for teams that want sharing, expiry and audit logs in one place with team accounts, rather than running an open-source tool themselves.
- Tagline
- Share it once. Then it's gone.
- Voice
- CalmDirectTrustworthy
- Why this name
- A lantern gives light for a while, then goes out. A drop is a handoff. Two plain words for a secret that lights the way once and expires.
In the first version
Members say which features they would use. It tells PWAS what people want; it changes no score.
Expire by views or time
Set a link to die after one view, five views, or a number of hours or days. Whichever limit hits first deletes the secret.
No member yet
Full access log
See who opened each link, when, and from which network. Export the log as CSV for audits.
No member yet
Client workspaces
MSPs keep shares and logs separated per client, so one client's records never mix with another's.
No member yet
Optional passphrase
Add a second secret sent by another channel, so a leaked link alone reveals nothing.
No member yet
Brand identityAI proposal
Check the name against trademark registers before using it.
Palette
#12403FDeep Teal · primary#FAF6EEWarm Paper · surface#1B1F1EInk · text#F2A62BLamp Amber · accent#C2412DSignal Red · revoked / warning#7FA590Sage · data
Typography
Aa
Lantern Drop
PricingAI proposal
The material gives no competitor prices. These tiers are a starting point to test, not a market claim.
Free
Free
- 20 shares a month
- 7-day audit log
- 1 user
Team
$12 a month
- Unlimited shares
- 1-year audit log
- Up to 10 users
- Passphrases and revoke
- CSV export
MSP
$39 a month
- Client workspaces
- Up to 30 users
- Per-client retention
- Secret requests
- Priority support
Would you pay Team · $12 a month?
Your answer tells PWAS which prices people accept. It changes no score.
No answers yet.
What it could be worthEstimate
What a software business making this much sells for today, from real deals. Pick a monthly revenue.
If it makes
Worth about
$194,000
Sale range $132,000 to $263,000
$120,000 a year in revenue
From 87 software businesses listed and sold on Empire Flippers in the last year, revenue vetted by the broker: they sell for about 19× their monthly revenue, most between 13× and 26×.
Measured on profit, the middle deal is 32× monthly net profit: about 2.7 years of profit.
An estimate, not an offer or financial advice. A real price depends on profit, growth, churn, how much of the work is the owner's, and the buyer.
How it would growAI proposal
How the product would reach new customers through its own use, and how the first ones would be found. A plan to test, not a result.
- Built-in loop
- Shared outputs. Each share is a link sent to a colleague or client. The recipient page shows a small 'Sent with Lantern Drop' note and a link to create their own share.
- Do they become customers?
- Recipients are often IT staff or client contacts who could become users, but many open a link once. Test how many recipients click through and start a free account.
- First customers
- Small managed service providers with 5 to 30 staff that support multiple small-business clients and hand out client credentials weekly.
- Where to reach them
- MSP communities: Post in MSP forums and subreddits, and offer a free client-workspace trial in exchange for feedback.
- Open-source user outreach: Reach people discussing self-hosted secret sharing on GitHub and offer a hosted option with audit export.
- First milestone
- Five MSPs paying for the MSP tier within 60 days, each creating at least 20 shares a month.
Why people already pay for this
- VerifiedGitHub repository gained 3217 stars in 5400 days
- Public claimOrganizations need to track who accessed what information and when for security and compliance purposes
- Public claimExisting methods of sharing credentials (like email or chat) lack automatic expiration and access control
- AI inferenceThe market includes MSPs and security-focused organizations dealing with credential management
Tech stack
Every proposal builds on the same PWA base, installable from the browser on any phone or computer. Dashed boxes are what this app adds.
- AppNext.js and TypeScript
- PWAManifest and service worker
- UITailwind CSS
- Data and authSupabase Postgres
- PaymentsStripe
- EmailResend
- HostingVercel
- This app · EncryptionClient-side encryption with Web CryptoSecrets are encrypted in the browser so the server stores only ciphertext and can't read them.
- This app · Scheduled cleanupScheduled jobs for expiry deletionExpired secrets must be hard-deleted on time even if nobody opens the link.
RisksAI inference
- CommercialThe one named competitor is open source, self-hostable and also offered as a service. Buyers may just self-host it, so paid value must come from team accounts, client workspaces and audit exports.
- TechnicalSecrets must be encrypted so the operator cannot read them. A flaw in key handling or link design would break the core promise.
- RegulatoryCustomers may expect SOC 2 or similar attestations before trusting a credential tool. Getting them costs time and money.
- DataAudit logs record network details of recipients, which can count as personal data under GDPR and need clear retention rules.
- CommercialThe evidence for demand is public claims plus GitHub stars. Willingness to pay among MSPs is unverified.
Everything marked AI proposal or AI inference was written by a model from the evidence on the opportunity page. The proposed name must be checked against trademark registers before it is used.