Idlen
Product Hunt Paul
Idlen launched on Product Hunt to show ads while AI code tools are thinking. It takes a cut of that wait time and says developers keep 70%.
Based on reporting by Product Hunt, Paul — read the original for the full story.
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Idlen is trying to turn one of software’s weirdest little pauses into inventory: the moment after a developer asks an AI model for help and before the answer comes back. The company launched today on Product Hunt with a simple pitch: if people are already waiting on a model, that waiting time can carry an ad.
The setup is built around “one network, three doors.” Developers can install a VS Code, Cursor, or Chrome extension and see a native ad while the model thinks. Idlen says it does not read prompts, and developers keep 70%.
The company is also aiming at vendors selling to developers. Those ads can show up inside the IDE and the browser, targeted by the stack a developer actually uses, with examples like React, Python, and AWS. Idlen is even dangling a launch offer: pay €200 and get €400 this week.
There is also a third path for teams building chat apps. They can add Idlen with `npm i @idlen/chat-sdk`, keep it to three lines, and make ads optional. In that setup, there is no key and no ads, and the publisher still keeps 70%.
The pitch is blunt in a way most AI startups avoid. It treats developer attention like a market, not a sacred object. That will offend some people, which is usually a sign the business model is at least honest.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
This is the sort of ad-tech idea that only works if it stays practical and a little boring. Developers already spend enough time waiting on tools that another monetisation layer feels less like a betrayal and more like a toll booth. The bigger tell is that the pitch leans on control: no prompt reading, stack targeting, and a revenue split. That’s the right instinct in a market that usually tries to be sneaky first and apologetic later.
Read more about this at: Product Hunt
