# Jetwriter AI

Aiolum story: https://aiolum.com/story/jetwriter-ai/ · added 2026-10-26 · updated 2026-10-26

**In short.** Jetwriter AI (AI writing assistant browser extension, India): US$20K a month, November 2024. Evidence grade C: the founder's own figures, not verified by anyone else. Team: 1 founder who built it alone, then a small remote team of hired developers from 2024 (size not stated). Launched December 2022; still running.

AI writing assistant browser extension · India · AI-native · solo founder · still running · group: Tools for using AI models

- Outcome: US$20K a month, November 2024 (evidence grade of the headline number: C; headline in US dollars: 240000)
- Launch: December 2022; months from launch to the outcome: 23
- Team: 1 founder who built it alone, then a small remote team of hired developers from 2024 (size not stated)
- Outside funding: None (bootstrapped, by the founder's statements)
- Main factor: Timing
- Meters, 1 to 4: evidence strength 1, copyable pattern 2, capital needed 1
- Tags: AI-native, Solo founder, Bootstrapped, Running, B2C, Writing assistant

**The product.** A browser extension, called ChatGPT Writer until September 2025, that writes and rewrites text on any website: email replies in Gmail and Outlook, messages in LinkedIn, WhatsApp Web and Slack, grammar fixes, translation and page summaries. It also has a web app. It sends the request to a model from OpenAI, Anthropic or Google, and users can bring their own API key.

**Why it worked.** It appeared in December 2022 as a free Chrome extension that put ChatGPT inside the Gmail reply box, and the company says it was the first to do so. The founder says they shared it on Reddit and it grew from there. A free version that used the visitor's own ChatGPT account built a large base of installs, and a paid version on the company's own servers followed in 2023.

Evidence grades: A = disclosed by a public company, a filing or a payment processor, or verified by one; B = two or more independent reports agree, or a journalist confirmed it; C = a founder claim that no one else verified; D = reported, not verified: one founder claim or a third-party estimate with no second source; calc = computed on this page from graded facts.

## Summary

Jetwriter AI is a browser extension, a small program that adds buttons and windows to Chrome, Edge and other browsers, plus a web app. You select text or click its button in Gmail, LinkedIn or WhatsApp Web, type a short instruction, and it writes a reply, fixes grammar, changes the tone, translates or summarizes. The text comes from a large language model, a program trained on a very large amount of text that predicts the next words; Jetwriter calls models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google through their paid interfaces. Until 2 September 2025 the product was called ChatGPT Writer and lived at chatgptwriter.ai.

Gourav Goyal, a software developer in India who has also built a Notion extension and a VS Code extension, released it in December 2022 as a free extension "Made by Gourav". In April 2023 they called it a project they "solely built". On Hacker News they wrote on 30 November 2023 that the freemium extension had "reached $7k MRR recently", and on 23 November 2024 that it had "700K downloads with $20K MRR". MRR means monthly recurring revenue: the money that subscriptions bring in each month. Between those two posts they hired React developers and described the business as "bootstrapped, profitable" and remote-first.

Both revenue figures are short comments by the founder in public forum threads, grade C: they agree with each other and with the growth in installs, but no payment processor, buyer or journalist has confirmed them, and no figure after November 2024 was found. The page also shows earlier companies that built a better window onto someone else's email or browser platform, and why that bet failed for them.

## Pricing

Jetwriter AI prices for individuals in October 2026, read from the company's pricing page (grade C)

| Plan | Per month, billed yearly (US$) | Per month, billed monthly (US$) | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 | 0 | 15 regular-model responses a month |
| Elite | 14 | 18 | about 1,000 advanced-model responses a month, unlimited regular models, 50 Gmail auto-drafts a day |
| Ultra | 29 | 39 | about 2,500 advanced-model responses a month, unlimited regular models, 70 Gmail auto-drafts a day |
| Team |  |  | mentioned on the page, no price shown |

The free plan gives 15 responses a month from the cheaper models and none from the advanced models. Paid plans meter advanced-model use by its compute cost, so the response counts are the company's estimates for a typical request. The yearly Ultra plan costs US$349 a year, which the page rounds to US$29 a month. The page mentions Team plans but shows no Team price. Users of the browser extension can add their own API key instead.

## How much revenue does Jetwriter AI make? The numbers, graded

A free Gmail extension that its founder said reached US$7,000 a month in November 2023 and US$20,000 a month in November 2024, both self-reported

| Fact | Value | Grade | Note | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly recurring revenue, November 2024 | US$20,000 | C | Founder's comment on Hacker News, 23 November 2024, in a thread about growing browser extensions: "700K downloads with $20K MRR". | [1] |
| Run rate from the November 2024 figure | US$240,000 a year | calc | Calculated: US$20,000 times 12. This is the headline value on this page. | [1] |
| Monthly recurring revenue, November 2023 | US$7,000 | C | Founder's comment on Hacker News, 30 November 2023, in a thread for side projects that make US$500 a month: "I built freemium chatgpt extension.. reached $7k MRR recently." | [2] |
| Growth from November 2023 to November 2024 | about 2.9 times | calc | Calculated: US$20,000 divided by US$7,000. | [1, 2] |
| Downloads, August and November 2024 | more than 700,000 | C | Founder's hiring posts on Hacker News, 2 August and 2 November 2024, and the founder's comment of 23 November 2024. | [1, 3, 4] |
| Users on the Chrome Web Store, 5 January 2023 | more than 4,000, rating 4.8 from 9 ratings | C | Archived copy of the store page; the listing was last updated on 4 January 2023. | [10] |
| Users, March and April 2023 | 300,000 (25 March) and more than 200,000 (4 April) | C | Founder's comments on Hacker News. The two figures do not agree; the second appears in the founder's own freelance profile. | [5, 6] |
| Users shown on the home page, December 2023 | more than 400,000 | C | Archived copy of chatgptwriter.ai, 3 December 2023. | [11] |
| Users on the Chrome Web Store, October 2026 | 500,000, rating 4.1 from about 1,400 ratings | C | The store's own count, read on 25 October 2026. The founder wrote "over 600,000 downloads" in March 2026, below the founder's 700,000 of 2024; downloads and current users are different measures. | [8, 16] |
| First price | free | C | The December 2022 site said "100% free": the extension used the visitor's own free ChatGPT account, so the founder paid nothing for the model. | [9] |
| First paid plan | a Pro version on the company's servers, by December 2023 | C | The December 2023 site: the free version uses your ChatGPT account, and Pro "uses our dedicated servers instead". The archived pages do not show the old prices, which loaded by script. | [11, 12] |
| Outside funding | none stated | C | The founder's hiring posts call it "a bootstrapped, profitable, remote-first AI startup"; the pricing page in 2026 calls it "a lean, bootstrapped company with a remote team". | [3, 4, 15] |
| Team | the founder alone in April 2023; hired React developers from August 2024; size not stated | C | In April 2023 they listed it among "Few projects I solely built". In August and November 2024 they posted jobs for a React developer, including a full-time freelancer. No source gives a headcount. | [3, 4, 5] |
| Earlier product by the same founder | Notion Boost: 80,000 downloads and US$10,000 in total revenue | C | Founder's comment of 23 November 2024. Not part of this business. | [1] |
| Time from launch to the November 2024 figure | 23 months | calc | Calculated: December 2022 to November 2024. | [1, 9] |

How to read this table: a grade C value is a statement by the founder or the company (forum comments, the company's own pages) or a count shown by the Chrome Web Store. A "calc" value was computed on this page from the rows above it. No value is grade A or B.

## When did Jetwriter AI launch, and how did it grow? Timeline

From a free Gmail button that used the visitor's own ChatGPT account to a multi-model subscription product, in 23 months to the headline figure. Each entry carries its grade.

- **December 2021** (grade C [7]): Goyal, based in India, offers freelance work on Hacker News: a full-stack developer and former founder of two startups, in SaaS and health care.
- **December 2022** (grade C [9, 13]): ChatGPT Writer appears as a free Chrome extension that writes Gmail replies with the visitor's own ChatGPT account. The site says "100% free" and "Made by Gourav". The company later says it was the first extension to bring ChatGPT into Gmail.
- **5 January 2023** (grade C [10]): The Chrome Web Store page shows more than 4,000 users.
- **25 March 2023** (grade C [6]): The founder writes on Hacker News that the free extension has 300,000 users.
- **4 April 2023** (grade C [5]): The founder still looks for freelance work and lists ChatGPT Writer, with more than 200,000 users, among projects they built alone.
- **30 November 2023** (grade C [2]): The founder writes that the freemium extension reached US$7,000 in monthly recurring revenue.
- **December 2023** (grade C [11]): The site offers a paid Pro version that runs on the company's servers, works on all websites, and shows more than 400,000 users.
- **2 August 2024** (grade C [4]): The founder hires a React developer, calls the business bootstrapped and profitable, and lists more than 700,000 downloads and the full technology stack.
- **23 November 2024** (grade C [1]): The founder writes that the extension has 700,000 downloads and US$20,000 in monthly recurring revenue, and that it grew from a post on Reddit.
- **December 2024** (grade C [12]): The plans are Free, Pro, Elite and Team, with models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.
- **2 September 2025** (grade C [13]): ChatGPT Writer becomes Jetwriter AI on jetwriter.ai. The company says the old name no longer fit a product that uses several model makers and works beyond email.
- **October 2026** (grade C [15, 16]): 500,000 users on the Chrome Web Store; paid plans at US$14 to US$39 a month.

## Why did Jetwriter AI work?

### First into the Gmail reply box

In December 2022 this extension put a button in the Gmail reply box that sent the email and a short instruction to ChatGPT and inserted the answer. The company says it was the first extension to do this, and that media, influencers and users took notice. The Chrome Web Store showed more than 4,000 users in early January 2023; the founder counted 300,000 by late March.

### Free first, on the user's own account

The first version used each visitor's own free ChatGPT login, so the founder paid nothing for the model while the extension grew. By December 2023 a paid Pro version ran the requests on the company's own servers, which the site called the best writing experience, and the free version stayed as the way in.

### One post, then the store

The founder said they shared it on Reddit and it grew from there. No source describes paid advertising. Users install it from the Chrome Web Store, where it had 4.1 stars from about 1,400 ratings in October 2026, and the free plan lets them try it before they pay.

### Less dependence on one model maker

By December 2024 the paid plans offered models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, and the 2025 rename removed OpenAI's brand from the product name. A price rise or rule change by one model maker no longer stops the product.

## How it was built

These details come from the founder's hiring posts on Hacker News in 2024 and the company's own pages. They are grade C.

- The browser extension was built with React, TypeScript and Tailwind CSS, first on the Plasmo extension framework and by November 2024 on WXT. The current extension is under 1 MB.
- The web app uses Next.js, TypeScript and Tailwind CSS, hosted on Vercel, with a PostgreSQL database through Supabase.
- Logins use Firebase Auth, payments use Stripe, and files are stored on Cloudflare R2. Mixpanel, Axiom and Cloudflare Web Analytics measure use.
- The first version called no paid model at all: it used the visitor's own ChatGPT session. The paid version calls the OpenAI interfaces, and later Anthropic and Google models as well.
- Users of the extension can paste their own API key, so they pay the model maker directly.
- The team works remotely in the India time zone and uses GitHub, Figma, Notion, Slack and Google Meet.

Sources: [3, 4, 9, 11, 14, 15]

## Who tried this before Jetwriter AI, and why did they fail?

Five companies in the Loot Drop database built a better layer on top of an email client, a browser or a document tool that they did not control. The values below are from that database and are not independently verified.

The failed startups come from Loot Drop (https://www.loot-drop.io/), a free database of dead startups, retold here in our own words; Loot Drop describes its entries as AI-assisted summaries of public sources, so they carry no evidence grade.

### Xobni (2006 to 2013; funding US$42M; cause: Competition)

- Promise: A smarter inbox and contact search inside Microsoft Outlook.
- Why it died: Tied to Outlook, which Microsoft improved itself, while users moved to phones. Yahoo bought the remains.
- Record: https://www.loot-drop.io/startup/763-xobni

### Mailbox (2012 to 2015; funding US$5M; cause: Competition)

- Promise: Swipe gestures and snooze to clear your email faster.
- Why it died: After Dropbox bought it, larger providers with free and smarter email apps passed it.
- Record: https://www.loot-drop.io/startup/314-mailbox

### Threadable (2014 to 2017; funding US$500K; cause: Competition)

- Promise: Turn team email threads into an organized discussion.
- Why it died: Slack moved team discussion out of email, and Threadable ran out of money.
- Record: https://www.loot-drop.io/startup/1144-threadable

### Socialbrowse (2008 to 2011; funding US$20K; cause: Competition)

- Promise: A browser extension that shares the pages you read with friends in real time.
- Why it died: Users did not install it while Facebook was where their friends already were.
- Record: https://www.loot-drop.io/startup/1229-socialbrowse

### WriteWith (2007 to 2010; funding US$20K; cause: Competition)

- Promise: Several people writing one document at the same time.
- Why it died: Google Docs built the same thing, for free.
- Record: https://www.loot-drop.io/startup/1237-writewith

## What changed

Each of the five added a better layer to a tool that belonged to someone else, and the owner of that tool, or a larger platform, built the same feature for free. Jetwriter faces the same risk: Google puts its Gemini model into Gmail and Chrome, and the company's own blog compares Jetwriter with Gemini in Gmail and with "Ask Gemini" in Chrome. In 2026 the founder offered it on Hacker News to people "who don't want to switch to AI browsers".

Three things differ. The model makers sell their models to anyone through paid interfaces and want them used, so a writing extension is a paying customer of theirs. Jetwriter is not tied to one model maker or one website: it works on any page and switches between OpenAI, Anthropic and Google models. And a one-person company with remote hired developers needs far less revenue to survive than the venture-funded predecessors: the founder called the business profitable in the 2024 hiring posts, the same year they reported US$20,000 a month in recurring revenue.

## Can one person copy Jetwriter AI now?

**Verdict: The launch, no. The method, partly.**

Being the first ChatGPT button in Gmail was an opening of a few weeks in December 2022, and today the browser and email makers ship their own AI writing features. What can still be copied is the structure: a free tool that costs almost nothing to serve, a paid plan when usage grows, and a product that works across several model makers.

1. Find a place where people write every day and a new model is not yet available there, and add a button for it.
2. Make the first version free and cheap to serve, for example by letting users bring their own account or API key.
3. Post it once where your users already talk, then let the extension store bring the rest.
4. Add a paid plan that runs on your own servers with better models, and keep a free tier as the entry point.

**What is still open.** Writing help inside tools that the large AI companies do not cover well: support desks such as Zendesk and Freshdesk, regional messaging apps, and replies in languages other than English.

## What could go wrong for Jetwriter AI?

- **Two forum comments, no outside check.** The two revenue figures, US$7,000 a month in November 2023 and US$20,000 a month in November 2024, are short comments by the founder on Hacker News. No payment processor, buyer or journalist has confirmed them, and no later figure was found. A reader could look for a verified revenue profile or a longer interview with the founder.
- **The platforms can close the window.** Google adds Gemini to Gmail and Chrome, and AI browsers offer the same help without an extension. Every predecessor on this page died when the platform owner built the same feature.
- **The old name used OpenAI's brand.** OpenAI's brand guidelines say it does not permit its GPT brand in product or company names. The company's rename post of September 2025 gives other reasons: more models, more websites and a web app. It does not mention OpenAI's rules, so the role of the rules in the rename is not known.
- **Marketing to students.** A company blog post for students, 6 May 2026, says: "Need help with school work? It writes strong essays, long reports, and clear cover letters." The same post answers the question "Is it cheating to use AI for my college essays?" with: "if you copy and paste whole paragraphs of AI text, that is cheating and your teacher will find out." Aiolum publishes writing tools marketed to students only when the student marketing also says that handing in AI text as one's own is cheating, as this post does. The home page and pricing page sell the tool for emails and messages, and no page offers to hide AI text from AI detectors.
- **Numbers that do not line up.** The founder gave 300,000 users in March 2023 and more than 200,000 in April 2023, and 700,000 downloads in 2024 but "over 600,000" in March 2026. Downloads, installs and current users are different counts, and the sources do not say which is which.
- **Team size unknown.** The product was built by the founder alone, and from 2024 they hired developers as freelancers or employees. No source states how many people worked on it when the US$20,000 figure was reached.

## Sources

1. Hacker News comment by jerrygoyal (Gourav Goyal), 23 November 2024, in "Ask HN: To those with successful browser extension(s), how did you grow it?" — https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/42219767 (grade C). Read in full through the Hacker News search API. Source for the US$20,000 monthly figure, the 700,000 downloads, the Reddit launch and the Notion Boost figures.
2. Hacker News comment by jerrygoyal, 30 November 2023, in "Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2023 – Show and tell" — https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/38471679 (grade C). Read in full through the Hacker News search API. Source for the US$7,000 monthly figure.
3. Hacker News job post by jerrygoyal, 2 November 2024, in "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (November 2024)" — https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/42024271 (grade C). Read in full. Source for the bootstrapped and profitable statement, the downloads and the WXT framework.
4. Hacker News job post by jerrygoyal, 2 August 2024: ChatGPT Writer, React Dev — https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/41136727 (grade C). Read in full. Source for the full technology stack and the team tools.
5. Hacker News freelance profile by jerrygoyal, 4 April 2023, in "Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer? (April 2023)" — https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/35436161 (grade C). Read in full. Source for "projects I solely built" and the 200,000 users; links gourav.io and hey@gourav.io, which ties the account to Gourav Goyal.
6. Hacker News comment by jerrygoyal, 25 March 2023 — https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/35300078 (grade C). Read in full. Source for the 300,000 users of the free extension.
7. Hacker News freelance profile by jerrygoyal, 1 December 2021 — https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/29408064 (grade C). Read in full. Source for the founder's location in India and earlier startups.
8. Hacker News comment by jerrygoyal, 9 March 2026 — https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/47304205 (grade C). Read in full. Source for "over 600,000 downloads" in 2026.
9. chatgptwriter.ai home page, archived 27 December 2022 — http://web.archive.org/web/20221227150325/https://chatgptwriter.ai/ (grade C). Read in full on the Wayback Machine. Source for the free first version, the use of the visitor's ChatGPT account and "Made by Gourav".
10. Chrome Web Store page of ChatGPT Writer, archived 5 January 2023 — http://web.archive.org/web/20230105154208/https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chatgpt-writer-email-writ/pdnenlnelpdomajfejgapbdpmjkfpjkp (grade C). Read the user count, rating and update date on the Wayback Machine.
11. chatgptwriter.ai home page, archived 3 December 2023 — http://web.archive.org/web/20231203111919/https://chatgptwriter.ai/ (grade C). Read in full on the Wayback Machine. Source for the Pro version, the 400,000 users and "Founder: Gourav.io".
12. chatgptwriter.ai pricing page, archived 4 December 2024 — http://web.archive.org/web/20241204065515/https://chatgptwriter.ai/pricing (grade C). Read the plan names and models on the Wayback Machine. The prices loaded by script and are not in the archived copy.
13. Jetwriter AI blog, 2 September 2025: ChatGPT Writer is now Jetwriter AI — https://chatgptwriter.ai/blog/chatgpt-writer-is-now-jetwriter-ai (grade C). Read in full. Source for the rename, its stated reasons and the December 2022 start.
14. Jetwriter AI home page, read 25 October 2026 — https://jetwriter.ai/ (grade C). Read in full. Source for the features, the supported sites, the models and the extension size.
15. Jetwriter AI pricing page, read 25 October 2026 — https://chatgptwriter.ai/pricing (grade C). Read in full. Source for the current plans and the bootstrapped, remote-team statement. The old domain serves the same page as jetwriter.ai.
16. Chrome Web Store page of Jetwriter AI, read 25 October 2026 — https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/jetwriter-ai-reply-emails/pdnenlnelpdomajfejgapbdpmjkfpjkp (grade C). Read the overview, the user count and the rating.
17. Gourav Goyal's personal site, gourav.io, read 25 October 2026 — https://gourav.io/ (grade C). Read in full. Confirms that Gourav Goyal is building Jetwriter AI and lists other projects by the same person.
18. OpenAI brand guidelines, read 25 October 2026 — https://openai.com/brand/ (grade C). Read the section on names. Source for the rule against the GPT brand in product names.
19. Jetwriter AI blog, 6 May 2026: Best AI Tools for Students to Improve Writing, Research & Productivity — https://chatgptwriter.ai/blog/ai-tools-for-students (grade C). Read in full for the purpose check. Quoted in the watch list.
20. Jetwriter AI blog index, read 25 October 2026 — https://chatgptwriter.ai/blog (grade C). Read the list of posts. Source for the comparisons with Gemini in Gmail and Ask Gemini in Chrome.
21. Hacker News comments by jerrygoyal, all dates, through the search API — https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/search_by_date?tags=comment,author_jerrygoyal&hitsPerPage=1000 (grade C). Read the comments that mention the product. Source for the 2026 comment about AI browsers.
22. Loot Drop database export, 1,749 failed startups — https://www.loot-drop.io/ (grade C). Local export. AI-written summaries, not independently verified. Source for the failed predecessors.