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←All workCase study 02

A calm desktop app that remembers every renewal, so you don’t have to.

Role
Product · Design · Full-stack
Year
2026
Type
Own product
Status
Live · v1.4.0
Renewal Tracker dashboard in dark mode: renewals sorted by due date, monthly spend and a Usage & Cost panel.

Overview

3

Parts: app, API, website

2

Platforms: Windows & Mac

8am

Daily reminder email

1.4

Current version

01

Subscriptions, insurance, MOT and car tax, visas, warranties — every renewal lives in a different inbox or calendar, and missing one means a fine, a double charge or being locked out. Renewal Tracker puts all of them in one calm list and warns you before each is due.

The Renewal Tracker website: “Never forget what you’re paying for.”
The Renewal Tracker website: “Never forget what you’re paying for.”

02

An Electron app for Windows and Mac. The dashboard sorts everything by urgency and colours what is overdue or due soon, with search, category filters and monthly and yearly spend per currency. Recurring items are marked as renewed and roll forward; one-off items move to History.

A calendar view, a Ctrl+K command palette, tray notifications that keep working when the window is closed, fully designed light and dark themes, automatic background updates — and, because life admin is dull, a rail of retro games.

Renewal Tracker calendar view with renewals marked on each day.
Renewal Tracker calendar view with renewals marked on each day.

03

A Node.js and Express API with MySQL, live at api.pablochtech.com: JWT sessions, bcrypt-hashed passwords, rate limiting and security headers, and one-time codes by email for verification and password resets.

The host has no cron jobs, so a scheduled GitHub Actions workflow calls a protected endpoint every morning, and the API emails anyone with something coming up — even when their computer is off.

Adding a renewal: name, category, amount, due date and repeat.
Adding a renewal: name, category, amount, due date and repeat.

04

app.pablochtech.com carries downloads, pricing, an FAQ, a blog of UK renewal guides, the legal pages and a self-service, code-verified account deletion flow — all static, SEO-tuned and versioned so caches never serve stale styles.

The built-in retro games rail: Tetris, Snake and 2048.
The built-in retro games rail: Tetris, Snake and 2048.
Renewal Tracker dashboard in light mode.

What’s inside

  • Urgency-sorted dashboard
  • Calendar & history
  • Ctrl+K command palette
  • Tray notifications
  • Daily email reminders
  • Light & dark themes

Built with

  • Electron
  • JavaScript
  • Node.js
  • Express
  • MySQL
  • JWT
  • Nodemailer
  • GitHub Actions

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