Introducing Bonnet. Looking for a Few Good Beta Testers.

I’ve been quietly working on something new, and I’m excited to share it with you.

Meet Bonnet.

Over the past 28 years, I’ve had the pleasure of helping people bring their brands to life through Honey Butter. Those collaborations have taught me so much about what makes a website feel personal, beautiful, and useful.

Bonnet grew out of that experience – and conversations with people who wanted a thoughtfully designed website but weren’t ready for a custom build. I wanted to put that design foundation in your hands, with the freedom to make it your own.

What is Bonnet?

Bonnet is a simple, design-driven website builder created especially for this community.

It starts with 34 curated themes, each with different color palettes and plenty of room for your personality. I’ve brought the same care to the layouts, typography, and little details that I bring to my custom work. I still get very excited about a good font pairing. Some things never change.

Choose a theme, create a logo, build galleries, add your rates and FAQs, and create forms – all without knowing how to code.

Your website belongs to you. Host it wherever you like and update it on your schedule. When you’re ready for a fresh look, you can change themes or take your brand in a new direction.

I’ll keep adding themes, features, and creative options, with your ideas helping shape what comes next.

One purchase, room to grow

My current plan is to offer Bonnet as a one-time purchase with lifetime access, including new additions as I release them. No recurring Bonnet subscription; your hosting would be separate. The actual number is still being hotly debated in my brain.

By “lifetime,” I mean for as long as I continue maintaining and operating Bonnet. I can’t promise immortality, but I’m excited to keep building this.

I’d love your help

I’m getting ready to welcome a small group of beta testers who’d enjoy building their own websites with Bonnet and helping me improve the experience.

I’ll be listening, learning, and making adjustments based on what you share. Here’s what would make you a good fit:

1. High-quality photography and content ready to use. The themes give your images plenty of room to shine, so large, sharp photos work best. Having your bio, rates, and other details ready will help you explore more of the tools.
2. An established brand or business. For this first round, I’m looking for people with some experience and a sense of how they want to present themselves. You don’t need a huge following or every detail figured out.
3. A willingness to give honest feedback. Tell me what you love, what feels confusing, and what’s missing. You won’t hurt my feelings – you’ll help make Bonnet better.
4. Comfort with everyday online tasks. No design or coding experience needed. You should be comfortable using a browser, uploading files, and managing photos.
5. Your own hosting, or a willingness to set it up. Bonnet doesn’t include hosting, but I’ll have recommendations and guidance to help you get started.
6. Adult participants and content only. You and everyone featured must be consenting adults, 18 or older, and you must have the rights and permissions to use any images you upload.

What to expect

This is beta software, so there will be rough edges. Some things may break, and features will evolve as we learn what works best.

My goal is to make building your website feel intuitive and enjoyable. I have a slightly nerdy ambition, too: I’d love for Bonnet’s support page to be the least visited page on the site.

Your feedback will help me get there, and I’m grateful for the time and care you’ll be putting into it. As a token of gratitude, you will be given lifetime access to Bonnet for free.

Want to join me?

I’m keeping the first group small so I can give everyone’s feedback the attention it deserves. If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, I’d love to hear from you.

Apply to Beta Test Bonnet

Thank you for being part of the community that inspired this. Whether we’ve worked together for years or are just getting acquainted, I’m excited to see what you create.

Let’s make something beautiful together.

— Honey Butter