Who's behind this
NeighCheck and the rest of the NorseHorse app catalog are designed, written, supported, and shipped by NorseHorse — an individual sole proprietor in Hoover, Alabama. There is no team. There is no investor deck. There is no "we." When you email support, you reach the same person who wrote the code that's confusing you.
The day job is the floor at Texas Roadhouse. The night job is software. That dual existence is the whole point of the app: every feature in NeighCheck exists because the developer needed it himself or watched a coworker get screwed by the absence of it. The tax savings jar is here because servers under-set-aside and then panic in April. Wage Wire is here because every restaurant whisper-network is one good map away from being honest market data. Tip-out tracking is here because the math sucks at midnight on a closing shift.
Why an indie app instead of a venture-funded one
Software for tipped workers has been built before — by people who don't tip out, don't work split shifts, and don't get audited. The economic incentives of a VC-backed app point in one direction: extract data, sell ads, lock features behind a tier wall, then sell to a payroll giant. The incentives of a solo indie point in another: ship the thing, listen to the people who use it, charge fairly, don't sell out their data to anyone.
This means a few things will always be true about NeighCheck:
- Your data will never be sold or rented. There is no advertising business model.
- There are no third-party trackers in the app. None. Not Google Analytics, not Firebase, not Mixpanel, not Amplitude.
- Direct messages between Masks are end-to-end encrypted on-device. The server cannot read them.
- Features you have today will not be retroactively locked. If paid tiers ever launch, what you already have stays free for you.
- The roadmap is published in the open. See /changelog.
How the app got built
v1 shipped in 2025 as a private tip log for one person — the developer — to stop losing track of cash tips in a notes app. The first six months were entirely about getting the tax math right: real progressive federal brackets, real state rates, a savings jar that updates after every shift, a quarterly estimator that doesn't pretend self-employment tax doesn't exist.
v2 added insights — weather correlation, section performance, period comparisons, paycheck prediction. Tipped workers already know Fridays pay better than Tuesdays; v2 made the magnitude visible. v3 added sync, multi-job support, eleven profession profiles, an AI coach, widgets, Live Activities, and Siri shortcuts.
v4 — the current major version — is The Herd. Wage Wire, Employer Intel, Pastures forums, end-to-end encrypted DMs, the Job Board, Verified Resume, and the entire Mask system. Anonymous wage transparency that's backed by real logged data instead of self-reported guesses.
Android shipped natively in 2026 — Jetpack Compose, Material 3, the same data model as iOS. Same app, both platforms, switch whenever.
Other things NorseHorse builds
NeighCheck is the largest project in a small catalog. The rest of the NorseHorse roster shares the same philosophy — small, opinionated, made by one person who uses what they ship.
- HeardCheck — restaurant operations app for managers and back-of-house: kitchen display, prep lists, inventory, scheduling, terminal POS.
- EntityDesk — entity management and equity cap-table tool for solo founders and small businesses.
- PGPony — modern OpenPGP encryption for iPhone and Android. GnuPG interop included.
- Squirrel City — a social platform for an audience the developer cares about.
- StillHold — a permanent opinion archive for people who want their public takes to live somewhere they control.
- GlazeTrain — anonymous appreciation messages.
- Hate City, Jesse!, Umbra Browser, Hoof League, Polly's Place, and more.
Who NeighCheck is for
If you get a W-2 with reported tips on it, you're the target audience. If you get a 1099 from a rideshare or delivery app, you're the target audience. If you split your week between a coffee shop, a bar, and the occasional catering shift, you are especially the target audience — multi-job math is what most existing tip apps quietly refuse to do.
If you've never been tipped in your life, NeighCheck will probably still work for tracking shifts and hours — but the tax dashboard and Wage Wire are built for people whose income looks different than salaried W-2 work.
Where to reach us
Email is the highest-bandwidth channel. NorseHorse@norsehor.se for press, partnerships, ideas, or things you want the developer specifically to see. support@neighcheck.com for app issues. Both are the same inbox in practice.
Press & partnership inquiries
Writing about NeighCheck, tipped-worker economics, or indie app development? Email NorseHorse@norsehor.se with what you need. App icon, screenshots, founder bio, and quotes available.