ClearFlask is an open-source feedback and product roadmap management tool designed for product teams seeking to replace commercial solutions like Canny or UserVoice. It enables organizations to gather user feedback via embedded widgets, visualize feature requests on a public roadmap, and respond to customers with announcements — all while owning their data. Built for developers and product managers, it supports both cloud-hosted and self-hosted deployments with full control over infrastructure.
The platform is built with a Java-based backend (Tomcat) and a Node.js frontend for SSR, using MySQL or Elasticsearch for data storage, MinIO/S3 for file uploads, and AWS SES or SMTP for email. It offers Helm charts for Kubernetes, Docker Compose for quick local setups, and full AWS integration for production environments, making it ideal for teams requiring data sovereignty and scalability.
What You Get
- AI-Powered Feedback Summarization - ClearFlask AI analyzes customer feedback to extract key themes, sentiment, and actionable insights, reducing manual review time.
- Public Product Roadmap - Display and update your product roadmap publicly with status tags (Planned, In Progress, Released) to build transparency and trust with users.
- Embedded Feedback Widget - Integrate a feedback collection form directly into your website or app using a JavaScript snippet, capturing user suggestions in real time.
- GitHub Integration - Automatically link feedback items to GitHub issues or pull requests to synchronize product development with engineering workflows.
- SSO and OAuth Support - Securely authenticate teammates via SAML, Okta, Google, or other OAuth providers for enterprise-grade access control.
- Custom Domain & Whitelabeling - Brand the feedback portal with your own domain, logo, colors, and content templates to maintain consistent customer experience.
- CSV Import/Export - Fully import or export all feedback, roadmap items, and user data in CSV format for migration, backup, or analysis in external tools.
- Multi-Database Support - Choose between MySQL, Aurora, Elasticsearch, or OpenSearch for scalable feedback indexing and search, with AWS DynamoDB and LocalStack as alternatives.
Common Use Cases
- Running a SaaS product with user feedback loops - A SaaS founder uses ClearFlask to embed a feedback widget on their dashboard, collect feature requests, and show a public roadmap to reduce churn and increase engagement.
- Managing enterprise customer feedback at scale - A B2B company with 50+ enterprise clients uses ClearFlask’s SSO, private projects, and AI summarization to prioritize high-value feature requests from key accounts.
- Building a transparent open-source community - An open-source project maintainer deploys ClearFlask self-hosted to let users submit and vote on features, then shares the public roadmap to align contributors and users.
- Replacing Canny or UserVoice with owned infrastructure - A privacy-focused startup self-hosts ClearFlask on Kubernetes with AWS S3 and MySQL to avoid vendor lock-in while retaining all feedback data.
Under The Hood
Architecture
- Monolithic structure with blurred boundaries between API, service, and persistence layers, lacking clear modular separation
- Hard-coded component dependencies without dependency injection frameworks, reducing testability and extensibility
- Tight coupling between frontend and backend through shared configuration and build systems, violating clean architecture principles
- Absence of established design patterns, with generic wrappers replacing well-defined behavioral contracts
- Fragmented configuration management across multiple formats without centralized validation or dependency resolution
Tech Stack
- Java backend with Maven for build orchestration and modular project organization
- React and Next.js frontend with TypeScript, @material-ui, and react-i18next for UI and internationalization
- Docker Compose for multi-environment deployment with tailored profiles for local, self-hosted, and Elasticsearch setups
- Crowdin integration for centralized translation management across Java and frontend resources
- pnpm and custom Makefile workflows to unify frontend build, test, and deployment pipelines
- Webpack with custom plugins for asset optimization and Sentry for production error monitoring
Code Quality
- Extensive test coverage with parameterized suites validating behavior across diverse storage backends
- Sophisticated test patterns including time manipulation, dynamic config overrides, and idempotency verification
- Strong type safety through immutable models, null wrappers, and comprehensive generics usage
- Consistent naming and layered structure supported by reusable test utilities and mock bindings
- Robust error handling with retry mechanisms and structured assertions for state and concurrency behavior
What Makes It Unique
- Unified feedback workflow combining financial backing and community voting to prioritize feature development
- Rich-text editor with extensible content blocks enabling non-technical users to create interactive posts
- Server-side Redux hydration with hostname-based state isolation to eliminate client-side rehydration flicker
- Embedded SSO and Castle authentication at the API middleware layer, eliminating external auth dependencies
- Mock API layer simulating realistic user behavior for fully independent frontend development and testing
- Config-driven permission and pricing models allowing dynamic feature access without code deployments