Paidly

The Problem

You finish a project milestone. You need to invoice the client. So you open your invoicing software, re-type the client name, manually enter the same rate you negotiated three months ago, copy-paste the milestone deliverables from the contract, calculate the amount, pick payment terms you think you remember agreeing to, and finally hit send.

Fifteen minutes later, the client replies: "Can I pay via PayPal instead of Stripe?" Now you have to create a whole new invoice.

This is busywork. Your contract already knows everything.

Paidly Changes That

Upload your contract PDF. We read it—rates, payment terms, milestones, deliverables—and build the perfect invoice automatically. No re-typing. No copy-pasting. No forgetting what you agreed to.

From contract to invoice in under 60 seconds.

How It Works

1. Upload Your Contract

Drop in a PDF, DOCX, or even a photo of a signed contract. Paidly uses AI (Gemini 2.0 Flash) to extract:

• Client name and billing details
• Your hourly rate or project fee
• Payment terms (net-30, net-15, or "7 business days")
• Milestones and deliverables
• Late fee clauses
• Any special terms

Cost per parse? About $0.0002. We optimized it so you're not paying Claude API prices every time.

2. Review and Edit

AI is smart but not perfect. You get an editable breakdown of everything Paidly extracted:

• Client info
• All milestones with status tracking (upcoming, in progress, completed, paid)
• Payment terms and dates
• Line items with quantities

Make any tweaks, mark milestones as complete, and you're ready to invoice.

3. Generate Professional Invoices

Click "Get Paidly" and boom—professional invoice with:

• Your business branding (logo, address, contact info)
• Client billing information
• Line items with subtotals
• Auto-calculated due dates from payment terms
• Invoice number (auto-generated: INV-YYYYMMDD-XXX)
• Payment instructions

4. Let Clients Pay Their Way

This is where Paidly gets really smart. One invoice, multiple payment options:

• 💳 Stripe (credit card, ACH)
• 🅿️ PayPal (coming soon)
• 🌍 Wise (international transfers, coming soon)
• 🏦 Direct bank transfer

Client picks their preferred method. You get paid to one account. No recreating invoices for different payment processors.

5. Smart Reminders (Coming Soon)

Generic payment reminders are awkward. "Your invoice is overdue!" feels aggressive on day 8 when you agreed to net-30.

Paidly knows your actual contract terms and sends the right message at the right time:

• Day 7 of net-30: Gentle reminder
• Day 30: Firm but polite
• Day 45: Time to get serious
• Day 60: Nuclear option (late fees kick in per your contract)

What Makes Paidly Different

Contract Intelligence (NO ONE ELSE HAS THIS)

Every other invoicing tool treats contracts and invoices as separate things. You negotiate terms, sign a contract, then manually re-enter everything into your invoicing software.

That's insane. Your contract is the source of truth. Paidly treats it that way.

Competitors (Bonsai, HoneyBook, FreshBooks, Wave) make you do all the work manually. Paidly does the work for you.

Notion Integration (Workspace-Native)

Why should invoicing require leaving your workspace? If you manage projects in Notion, you can create invoices directly from Notion databases (Chrome extension coming soon).

No app switching. No context loss. Just your workflow, now with automatic invoicing.

Unified Payment Rail

Most freelancers juggle multiple payment processors:

• US clients want ACH
• International clients want Wise
• Corporate clients demand invoices with credit card links
• Some clients only have PayPal

Paidly connects them all. One invoice. Client picks method. You get paid.

Built for Freelancers, Not Accountants

FreshBooks is for accountants. QuickBooks is for enterprises. Wave is free but basic.

Paidly is built for freelancers who just want to get paid without the busywork. Clean UI. Fast workflows. No overwhelming features you'll never use.

The Tech Stack

Frontend: Next.js 14 + TypeScript

• App Router for modern React patterns
• Server components for fast page loads
• Tailwind CSS for clean, professional UI
• Deployed on Vercel with edge functions

Backend: Supabase

• PostgreSQL database with row-level security
• User authentication (email + OAuth)
• File storage for contract PDFs
• Real-time subscriptions for invoice status updates
• Edge functions (Deno) for serverless logic

AI Parsing: Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite

• 43x cheaper than Claude API (~$0.0002 per contract vs $0.01)
• 95% parsing accuracy (tested over 2+ months in production)
• Reads PDF, DOCX, and image files
• Extracts 16 key fields with confidence scoring

Payment Integration: Stripe Connect

• Payment links for credit card and ACH
• Webhook handling for real-time payment status
• Multi-currency support (coming soon)
• Client-side payment method selection

Future Integrations:

• Notion API (database CRUD + Chrome extension)
• PayPal Business API
• Wise API (international payments)
• Resend (transactional emails)

Why This Works (The Shimmer Labs Angle)

We built Paidly the same way we build automation for business clients—find the friction, eliminate it.

The friction? Invoicing is manual, repetitive, and boring. Every freelancer has a contract. Every contract has all the info needed for an invoice. Yet everyone manually re-types it.

The elimination? Contract intelligence. Upload once, invoice forever. Milestones auto-populate. Payment terms auto-calculate. Reminders auto-send based on actual contract language.

And here's the kicker: Contract intelligence is a moat. Competitors focus on templates and payment processing. We focus on eliminating the entire invoice creation workflow. That's a 10x improvement, not a 10% one.

Viral Growth Built In

Notion Marketplace:

• Template package for freelancers ("The Ultimate Freelance OS")
• Chrome extension for one-click invoice creation
• Tight integration = distribution advantage

Invoice Branding (Optional):

---
Powered by Paidly
Invoice smarter, get paid faster: paidly.co

Referral Program (Coming Soon):

• Refer a freelancer, get 1 month free
• They sign up, you both get credit
• Built-in word-of-mouth growth

What's Next

Phase 1: Payment Integration (In Progress)

• Stripe Connect onboarding flow
• "Pay Now" buttons on invoices
• Webhook handling for payment status updates
• Multi-currency support

Phase 2: Notion Integration

• Chrome extension (inject invoice button into Notion)
• OAuth integration for database CRUD
• Template package for freelancers
• Chrome Web Store submission

Phase 3: Smart Features

• Contract-aware payment reminders
• Client payment reputation tracking
• Cash flow forecasting
• Invoice analytics dashboard
• Logo upload for branded invoices

Phase 4: Expand Payment Rails

• PayPal integration
• Wise (international transfers)
• Direct ACH (US bank transfers)
• Apple Pay / Google Pay

Perfect For

• Freelancers (designers, developers, consultants, writers, coaches)
• Solopreneurs juggling multiple clients and payment methods
• Small agencies (2-10 people) tired of manual invoicing
• Notion power users who want workspace-native invoicing
• Anyone who's ever re-typed contract terms into an invoice and thought "there has to be a better way"

Technical Highlights

• 95% AI parsing accuracy (tested over 2+ months via n8n prototype)
• 43x cheaper AI costs (Gemini vs Claude API)
• Sub-1-minute invoice creation (from contract upload to ready-to-send)
• Milestone status tracking (7 states: upcoming, in progress, completed, invoiced, paid, overdue, skipped)
• Smart date handling (auto-calculates due dates from "net-30", "7 business days", etc.)
• Row-level security (Supabase multi-tenant architecture)
• Real-time updates (invoice status changes sync instantly)

Why Shimmer Labs Built This

Paidly is a productized automation system. It's the same philosophy we use for client work:

1. Identify repetitive, high-friction task (manual invoice creation)
2. Build intelligent automation (AI contract parsing + payment orchestration)
3. Deliver consistent results (perfect invoices every time)
4. Scale with network effects (Notion marketplace + referrals)

We prototype everything in n8n first. Paidly started as a Telegram bot workflow that ran for 2+ months with 95% accuracy. Once we proved contract intelligence worked, we built the full SaaS product.

That's the Shimmer Labs way: Test cheap, build native, scale smart.

Business Model

Free Tier:

• 3 invoices per month
• 1 contract parse per month
• Basic email reminders

Starter ($29/mo):

• Unlimited invoices
• Unlimited contract parsing
• Stripe payment integration
• Remove Paidly branding
• Invoice analytics

Professional ($49/mo):

• Everything in Starter
• Smart payment reminders (contract-aware)
• Client payment reputation tracking
• Advanced analytics & reporting
• Priority support (24hr response)

Agency ($79/mo):

• Everything in Professional
• Multi-user seats (3 included)
• Team collaboration features
• Advanced automation

Get Started

Ready to stop re-typing contracts into invoices?

Visit paidly.co to start your free trial.

Upload your first contract. Get your first invoice in under 60 seconds. See why freelancers are switching from Bonsai, FreshBooks, and Wave to Paidly.