Shields.io

Business Profile

Core Value Proposition

Shields.io provides concise, consistent, and legible badges for projects, enabling easy display of metrics and statuses in READMEs and web pages.

Target Customer

Open-source project maintainers, developers, and teams who need easy-to-integrate badges for documentation and dashboards.

Key Differentiator

Offers both dynamic and static badges for hundreds of services, plus tooling to render badges in apps (NPM badge-maker) and an option to self-host via a Docker image, all backed by broad open-source usage.

Implementation Timeline

Immediate value: badges can be created and embedded instantly by copying a URL or code snippet; optional customization via parameterized badge builder.

Pain Points

1Need a single source of badge formats for hundreds of services to maintain consistency across docs.
2Desire an easy, copy-paste solution to embed badges in GitHub READMEs and web pages.
3Requirement to customize badge appearance (style, color, logos) and, optionally, self-host the service.

Key Features

1Dynamic badges for hundreds of services
2Static badges with customizable label, message, and color
3NPM library badge-maker to render badges in applications
4Self-hosting option with a Docker image
5Copyable badge URLs or code snippets for quick embedding
6Logo and style customization (simple-icons logos, various styles)

Target Customer Industries

1Technology

Client Results

1Widespread adoption in open-source projects and developer documentation (world's most popular open-source projects cited).
2High usage scale: shields.io serves over 1.6 billion requests per month across its infrastructure.
3Badges can be integrated into GitHub READMEs and other web pages via URL or code snippets.

Competitive Advantages

1Wide coverage: badges for hundreds of services
2Flexibility: dynamic and static badge options
3Developer tooling: npm badge-maker for integration into apps
4Self-hosting option: run shields.io behind your firewall with Docker
5Proven usage in popular open-source projects; active community and donation model

Key Benefits

1Consistent badge design across many services

2Easy integration via simple URLs and code snippets

3Customizable appearance (style, colors, logos)

4Self-hosting capability for on-premises deployments

5NPM badge-maker for embedding badges in applications

Additional Product Information

Product Description

Shields.io delivers concise, consistent, and legible badges that can be embedded in GitHub READMEs and web pages, with dynamic and static badge options, customization capabilities, and self-hosting support.

Target Market

Open-source projects, software developers, and documentation teams needing reusable, customizable badges for project metrics and statuses.

Unique Value Proposition

A centralized, extensible badge service offering both dynamic and static options, extensive service coverage, easy embedding, and optional self-hosting, widely adopted in the open-source community.

Technical Requirements

Requires client-side or server-side integration to render badges via URL endpoints; can use npm badge-maker for rendering in apps; optional Docker image for self-hosting; supports Simple Icons logos and customizable parameters (style, color, label, message, logo, etc.).

Pricing Model

Donation-based model: Shields.io is a non-profit project run by volunteers. Donations via Open Collective with tiers including Sponsors ($35/month) and Monthly Backers ($3/month); one-time or custom donations also available. Open Collective transparently shows transactions.

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