Launching today
DocBeacon
Secure document sharing with real-time engagement insights
8 followers
Secure document sharing with real-time engagement insights
8 followers
Share proposals, pitch decks, and sensitive documents as secure links. See who opened them, how long they engaged, and where attention dropped.
Hi Product Hunt! 👋 I'm Howard, the maker of DocBeacon.
Let’s be honest: the market for document sharing and tracking isn’t new. But as a developer and founder, I was consistently frustrated by the existing solutions. Too often, they feel either bloated and overpriced, or stuck with workflows and interfaces that haven’t meaningfully improved in years.
Sharing a pitch deck, a proposal, or a legal contract shouldn’t feel like navigating a maze. I wanted to hit send and know whether the recipient actually read it, without having to fight the tool itself.
That’s why I built DocBeacon.
Instead of piling on endless features most people will never use, I stripped away the noise. DocBeacon is built around a clean, minimalist workflow that stays out of your way, while giving you clear visibility into how your document is actually being consumed.
Here’s what DocBeacon does especially well:
Frictionless Sharing: Upload your document, generate a secure link, and send it in seconds. No clunky setup, no unnecessary friction.
Hyper-Granular Analytics: Go far beyond basic "time spent per page." Track the full reading path to see how stakeholders move through a document and jump between sections. Spot where attention drops off, and use page-level heatmaps to see which paragraphs, charts, or clauses actually held their attention.
Strong, Practical Security: Stay in control with passcodes, email verification, expiration dates, and dynamic watermark. If a deal goes cold, you can revoke access instantly.
The Reality Check:
I know DocBeacon is entering a category with established players, and getting teams to change their workflow is never easy. It’s not trying to be an all-in-one suite. It’s built for founders, sales teams, and legal professionals who value speed, privacy, and a more focused experience.
I’ll be here all day answering questions, and I’d genuinely love your honest feedback. What do you like about your current tool? And what would make you hesitate to switch to DocBeacon?
As a thank you to the PH community, use the code PH2026 before April 30 to get 20% off your subscription, for life.
Thank you for your support!
I tried some similar products, just want to ask what will happen if I delete a document link?
@nelson_ethan If the document is deleted, the shared link becomes invalid and the reader will see that the document is no longer available. If they already have it open, access is revoked within a few seconds and the document closes on their side as well.
@howard_shaw Thanks for the clear explanation. That’s a powerful feature.
Just to double confirm my understanding:
So if I, as the owner, delete a shared link, even if a reader currently has that document open in their browser, it will close on their end within seconds? Meaning I have real-time remote control to revoke access.
@nelson_ethan Yes, that’s correct. Once the document/link is deleted, access is revoked and the shared view is no longer available. If the reader already has it open, it will close on their side within a few seconds as well. So in practice, yes, you have real-time control over access revocation.
Can you please introduce the engagement heatmaps? I cannot access it due to free tier.
@sunny333 Sure. Engagement heatmaps are more granular than page-level analytics. Instead of only showing time spent on a page, they help you see which parts of the page actually got attention. That makes it easier to understand what readers focused on inside the document, not just which page they visited. It is also a relatively uncommon feature in this category.
@howard_shaw Are there plans to offer a limited view of heatmaps (like: on a few key pages) in the free tier in the future, or through trial credits?
@sunny333 Yes, we’re considering that. Heatmaps are one of the most distinctive parts of DocBeacon, so a limited preview in the free tier, or some kind of trial-based access, would make a lot of sense. Nothing finalized yet, but it’s something we’d like to explore.