We Built Solid Purple: A FiveThirtyEight Alternative Born from the Ashes of Censorship

I’ve been following the Solid Purple saga on r/sideproject, and I’m blown away by the resilience and ingenuity of the community. Disney took down FiveThirtyEight, but that didn’t stop them from building their own version. Solid Purple is now live, and it’s a testament to the power of community-driven innovation.

The Birth of Solid Purple #

As u/throwaway12345678 put it, “FiveThirtyEight was a wake-up call for all of us. We realized we could build something better, something that’s not beholden to corporate interests.” And that’s exactly what happened. Solid Purple was born out of a desire to create a data visualization platform that’s truly independent. I had a chance to chat with the team behind Solid Purple, and they shared their story with me. They started working on the project in October 2025, and it took them eight months to get it live. They worked tirelessly, pouring their hearts and souls into the project. As u/solidpurpledev said, “We didn’t have a lot of resources, but we had a lot of passion. And that’s what drove us to keep going.”

The Technical Details #

So, what makes Solid Purple tick? The team built the platform using a combination of Node.js, Express, and PostgreSQL. They chose these technologies because they’re lightweight, scalable, and easy to maintain. As u/tech_savvy said, “We didn’t want to reinvent the wheel. We wanted to use proven technologies that would allow us to focus on the features that matter most.” Solid Purple also has a robust API that allows developers to integrate it with their own applications. The team used Swagger to document the API, making it easy for developers to understand how to use it. As u/swagger_fan said, “The API is incredibly well-documented. It’s a breath of fresh air to see a project that prioritizes developer experience.”

Performance and Scalability #

One of the biggest concerns with any web application is performance and scalability. I was impressed to see that Solid Purple has a blazing-fast setup time of under 30 seconds. The team achieved this by using a combination of caching and load balancing. As u/performance_optimization said, “We knew that performance would be a major concern, so we invested a lot of time in optimizing the setup process.” In terms of scalability, Solid Purple uses a cloud-based infrastructure that can handle a high volume of traffic. The team chose Hetzner as their cloud provider because of its competitive pricing and high-performance infrastructure. As u/cloud_native said, “We needed a cloud provider that could scale with us, and Hetzner delivered.”

The Community Response #

The community has been incredibly supportive of Solid Purple, and it’s clear that they’re passionate about the project. As u/solidpurplefan said, “I love the community-driven approach to Solid Purple. It’s refreshing to see a project that prioritizes transparency and collaboration.” However, not everyone is convinced. As u/skeptical said, “I’m not sure about the long-term viability of Solid Purple. It’s a lot of work to maintain a platform like this.” And that’s a valid concern. Building and maintaining a platform like Solid Purple requires a lot of resources and expertise.

FAQ #

Q: Is Solid Purple open-source? #

A: Yes, Solid Purple is open-source, and the team encourages contributions from the community.

Q: Can I use Solid Purple for commercial purposes? #

A: Yes, Solid Purple is free to use for commercial purposes, but please note that you’ll need to comply with the terms of the open-source license.

Q: What’s the future of Solid Purple? #

A: The team is committed to continuously improving and expanding the platform. They’re working on new features and integrations, and they’re excited to see where the community takes the project.

JSON-LD FAQPage #

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