Writing and content decision
PromptDC
A single competent developer can build a useful replacement (Chrome extension + small backend) in a short project; PromptDC's value is product polish, integrations, and convenience rather than hard-to-replicate moats.
Visit website↗$9/mo
$108/yr
Read off the official pricing page.
$20one-off12 h to build
$3/mo4 h/mo upkeep
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 1 seat.
Open-source builds that already do this
Every project below is open source and already does this job today. Fork one, self-host it, or take the parts you need - the build prompt further down assumes an empty file, and this is the shortcut past that. Licences differ; check the one on each card before you ship. All PromptDC alternatives, with the arithmetic →
What a replacement has to do
- User selects text on a web page or in an editor → extension sends text and chosen profile to an LLM → receives rewritten text → replaces selection or copies result to clipboard.
What it still won’t have
- Per-site tuned defaults and curated rewrite profiles maintained by PromptDC
- Cross-surface IDE integrations (prebuilt Cursor/VS Code tuned shortcuts)
- Polished UX, priority support, and prebuilt prompt libraries (OpenClaw Library)
What remains hard
- Product polish and ongoing maintenance
First-year cost
Keep paying
Paying is—cheaper in year one.
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 1 seat.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build a minimal Chrome extension and small backend in Node.js+Express. Scope: detect selected text on pages, show a floating toolbar, let user pick one of a few rewrite profiles, send selection to a backend endpoint which calls OpenAI-compatible APIs (accepts a user-provided API key), return rewritten text, show a preview, and replace the selection or copy to clipboard. Stack: Chrome Manifest v3 extension (TypeScript or JS, React optional), backend Node.js+Express, Postgres or SQLite for storing per-site profiles (optional), deploy backend to a small VPS or serverless (Vercel/Render). Include: keyboard shortcut, basic settings page, chrome.storage persistence, request retry/backoff, rate-limit handling, tests for API contract and UI flows, and error reporting. Out of scope: polished multi-IDE plugins, paid billing flows, or a marketplace. Provide unit tests for backend and E2E test for extension install+rewrite flow.
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Build verdict base78
- An open-source build was found+5
- 4 cited sources+3
- Price verified on pricing page+3
- 3/3 assessment runs agreed+4
- Evidence score93
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time - so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 4
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official productPromptDC - AI Prompt & Writing Assistant
- official pricingPromptDC Pricing: Pro, Enterprise & Lifetime Plans
- official docsPromptDC Features — AI Prompt & Writing Assistant
- open sourcetheJayTea/WritingTools
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.
