# TubeCMS — Full Context

> Free website builder for YouTube creators. Sign up, connect your channel, site goes live in minutes.

TubeCMS is a hosted website platform (SaaS) that creates a website from a YouTube channel. Creators sign up at launch.tubecms.app, connect their channel via Google OAuth, and get a working site at {name}.tubecms.app. Built and operated by a solo developer (Jonathan Howell) in the UK.

## Overview

TubeCMS was originally built for the developer's wife's YouTube channel after frustration with WordPress. It was rebuilt from a self-hosted CMS into a fully managed cloud platform. It's a one-person project with no investors.

The platform is designed so YouTube creators can have a professional website without any technical knowledge. The entire setup takes minutes: sign up, connect your YouTube channel, and the site builds itself from your channel's videos, banner, and branding.

## Features

### Core (all plans)
- YouTube video sync via WebSub push notifications — new videos appear within moments of publishing
- Video page with embedded player, description, tags, and view counts
- About page populated from YouTube channel description
- Contact form with Cloudflare Turnstile spam protection
- FAQ page builder with multiple display styles
- Merch store integration via Fourthwall, Shopify, and Etsy
- Instagram feed integration with auto-sync (Business/Creator accounts)
- TikTok feed integration with auto-sync
- Social links page
- Basic analytics (page view counts)
- 8 site templates with 15 colour presets
- Passwordless authentication via email magic links
- Mobile-responsive design
- RSS feed for blog posts

### Starter plan additions
- Blog with up to 50 posts and updates
- AI blog post generation from video transcripts (5/month) — uses video captions to create full articles with headings, formatting, and key takeaways
- Link-in-bio page with click tracking
- Live stream page with automatic detection
- Manual YouTube refresh
- Custom theme colours and fonts
- Email newsletters with double opt-in (up to 200 subscribers)
- 100 MB image storage

### Pro plan additions
- Custom domain with free SSL
- Full visitor analytics dashboard (referrers, countries, devices, landing pages, bot detection)
- Advanced SEO toolkit (custom meta tags, Google and Bing verification, per-page noindex/nofollow, robots directives, JSON-LD customisation)
- Media Kit — auto-generated sponsor page with YouTube Analytics (demographics, geography, watch time, engagement, subscriber growth), TikTok and Instagram stats, collaboration types, testimonials, downloadable PDF, 5 themes, scroll animations
- Unlimited blog posts and updates
- AI blog post generation (20/month)
- Scheduled post publishing
- Team members with role-based access (Editor, Viewer)
- Discord notifications
- Email newsletters (up to 1,000 subscribers)
- 1 GB image storage
- No "Powered by TubeCMS" branding

## Pricing

All prices in British pounds (GBP). No contracts, cancel anytime.

| Plan | Price | Key features |
|------|-------|-------------|
| Free | £0/month | Videos, about, contact, FAQ, merch, Instagram, TikTok, 3 blog posts, 1 AI post/month, basic analytics, 10 MB storage |
| Starter | £2.99/month (~$4 USD) | + 50 blog posts, 5 AI posts/month, Link in Bio, live stream, newsletters (200 subs), custom themes, 100 MB storage |
| Pro Monthly | £6.99/month (~$9 USD) | + Custom domain, full analytics, SEO toolkit, media kit, unlimited posts, 20 AI posts/month, team members, newsletters (1,000 subs), 1 GB storage |
| Pro Annual | £69.99/year (~$90 USD) | Same as Pro Monthly, save 17% |

## Technical Stack

- ASP.NET Core 8 MVC with Razor views
- Azure SQL with Row-Level Security for tenant isolation
- Azure Blob Storage for file uploads
- Entity Framework Core
- Cloudflare for CDN, DDoS protection, and DNS
- Stripe for payments
- Resend for transactional and newsletter emails
- YouTube Data API v3 + YouTube Analytics API with OAuth 2.0
- Instagram API with Instagram Login
- TikTok Login Kit and API
- Fourthwall OAuth for merch
- Shopify OAuth for merch (read-only product catalogue)
- Anthropic Claude API for AI blog generation
- MaxMind GeoIP2 for analytics geo data
- Bootstrap 5 with custom admin theme (light/dark mode)

## Privacy and Security

- No third-party tracking scripts, advertising pixels, or cross-site trackers
- Built-in first-party analytics — no cookies required
- Passwordless auth via magic links (no passwords stored)
- All connections encrypted via HTTPS/TLS with HSTS
- Strict Content Security Policy
- Rate limiting on login, signup, and contact forms
- Upload security with magic byte validation and SVG sanitisation
- ICO registered (UK Information Commissioner's Office): ZC099195
- GDPR compliant with documented lawful bases

## Data Practices

- YouTube OAuth tokens encrypted at rest
- Visitor IP addresses not stored in analytics (only country derived from IP at time of visit)
- Double opt-in for newsletter subscribers
- Self-service account deletion
- Self-service data export from your Account page
- YouTube data deleted on channel disconnect or OAuth revocation
- 30-day backup retention

## Blog Posts

- "TubeCMS vs Wix vs Squarespace" — comparison for YouTube creators
- "Turn YouTube Videos Into Blog Posts With AI" — how the AI feature works
- "How Email Subscribers Boost the YouTube Algorithm" — why newsletters help creators
- "Turn Your YouTube Channel Into a Website" — step-by-step guide
- "Why Every YouTuber Needs a Website" — the case for owning your platform
- "Why Linktree Isn't Enough for YouTube Creators" — why a full site beats a link-in-bio tool
- "How to Sell Merch as a YouTube Creator" — integrating Fourthwall, Shopify, or Etsy

## Contact

- Support: https://tubecms.app/support
- Help Centre: https://help.tubecms.app
- Email: support@tubecms.app
- Privacy: privacy@tubecms.app
- Legal: legal@tubecms.app
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tubecms.app

## Business Details

Jonathan Howell t/a TubeCMS
61 Bridge Street, Kington, HR5 3DJ, United Kingdom
ICO registration: ZC099195