shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Secret (JoinSecret)?

Instantly save thousands of dollars on the best online tools and join a global community of founders. - joinsecret.com

Worth it. Early-stage founders assembling a SaaS stack should sign up — membership is free and cloud credits alone can pay off. Companies with negotiated vendor contracts, or anyone who must security-vet vendors, should skip it.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~18 public sources; mostly marketing pages, affiliate listings and social posts. No independent review-site ratings or security disclosures found.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of useNo independent evidence on signup or redemption experience
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo evidence on support responsiveness
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Startup membership

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Pre-seed and seed-stage startups
  • Bootstrapped founders building a SaaS stack
  • Teams chasing cloud credits
  • Solo founders

Not for

  • Enterprises — you negotiate better terms directly with vendors
  • Teams with no intention of buying new tools this year
  • Companies that must security-vet every vendor they touch
  • Anyone expecting it to replace proper tool evaluation

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

No security page — you can't vet how they handle your signup data.

medium

Guess: first-year discounts like Brevo's 20% reset to full price at renewal — calendar it.

medium

Guess: big credits like Google's $350K usually carry eligibility checks and activation steps before payout.

low

631 deals tempt tool sprawl; only claim deals for tools already on your list.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • 631 deals across popular SaaS tools
  • Membership is free for startups
  • Google Cloud credits up to $350K advertised
  • Notion 6 months free included among deals
  • Claims 287,990 businesses helped

Cons

  • No public security page found
  • Many deals are first-year discounts only
  • Evidence is mostly testimonials and affiliate listings, not independent reviews

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/21/2026 - 8 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x2review x4security x1news x1

Key stats

  • Value for money: 4/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 8

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 4/5. Free to join; savings real only if tools fit your stack
  • Ease of use. No independent evidence on signup or redemption experience
  • Feature depth: 4/5. 631 deals across major SaaS categories
  • Support quality. No evidence on support responsiveness
  • Security posture: 2/5. No public security page found
  • 631 Deals available as listed on joinsecret.com
  • 287,990 Businesses helped Secret's own claim
  • $0 Membership price free for startups per growthhacking.fr
  • $350K Top cloud deal Google Cloud credits (claimed)

Pricing

Startup membership

$0

  • Access to 631+ software deals
  • Founder community access
  • Deals include Google Cloud credits and Notion 6 months free

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

Founder testimonials praise the savings, but no independent review-site ratings were found.

“Secret was the best investment I made in the early days of my company.”
JoinSecret homepage testimonial
“I've just signed up for @joinSecret to access exclusive software perks for founders. Join me!”
LinkedIn user
“the tools are free for very early stage startups. Checkout joinsecret.com”
X (Twitter) user @atriroy

Alternatives

Compare Secret (JoinSecret) with each alternative.

  • AppSumo

    Lifetime software deals; one-time payment instead of subscriptions.

    Secret (JoinSecret) vs AppSumo

  • AWS Activate

    Direct AWS cloud credits for startups, no membership needed.

  • Google for Startups Cloud Program

    Direct Google Cloud credits; skip the middleman.

Full analysis

Based on ~18 public sources; mostly marketing pages, affiliate listings and social posts. No independent review-site ratings or security disclosures found.

Free-for-startups deal vault. Worth it if you'd buy the tools anyway; skip if you have vendor deals or need security vetting.

Methodology

Based on ~18 public sources; mostly marketing pages, affiliate listings and social posts. No independent review-site ratings or security disclosures found.

Sources

  1. Secret homepagejoinsecret.com
    official
  2. Secret invite/deals pagejoinsecret.com
    official
  3. Secret security page crawljoinsecret.com
    security
  4. Growthhacking.fr: Secret becomes free for startupsgrowthhacking.fr
    news
  5. PhuongAcademy listing: JoinSecret deal highlightsresources.phuongacademy.com
    review
  6. LinkedIn post by Nelson Meggittlinkedin.com
    review
  7. X post by @atriroyx.com
    review
  8. Shopper.com coupon listingshopper.com
    review

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