Case Study — Financial Research SaaS
A metered SaaS platform for financial market researchers who work with astronomical cycles and W.D. Gann methodology. Five specialist computation modules, usage-based pricing, and an API backend that handles the heavy calculation work so the browser does not have to.
Overview
Crohamhurst Observatory in Queensland is where Inigo Jones spent decades studying planetary cycles and their relationship to weather and crop patterns. Jones's method — correlating astronomical data with terrestrial outcomes — became the foundation for a style of market analysis popularised by W.D. Gann in the early twentieth century.
The name is deliberate. Researchers working with Gann methodology need computation tools that handle ephemeris calculations, cycle detection, and geometric price analysis quickly and accurately. Spreadsheets work up to a point, but five-year planetary aspect timelines with custom orb tolerances are the kind of thing that demands a purpose-built tool.
Crohamhurst.app provides that. Five specialist modules, each focused on a specific type of Gann or cycle analysis. A metered compute model so occasional users pay nothing and heavy users pay for what they use. Hosted on Australian infrastructure.
"Gann analysis is not obscure any more — there is a real community of researchers who take the methodology seriously and need tools that match that seriousness. Crohamhurst is built for them."
Computation Modules
Each module handles a specific type of analysis. They run against the same backend API, pull from the same astronomical data, and charge compute units based on the computational cost of the request.
Architecture
The calculation engine lives in a Python API backend, not in the browser. That is the right place for it: astronomical ephemeris computation, FFT cycle analysis, and historical pattern matching are not jobs for client-side JavaScript.
A clean, responsive single-page application. Module inputs, result visualisations, account management, and a blog for research commentary. Built to be fast and uncluttered — researchers want results, not UI.
The backend handles all mathematical heavy lifting: ephemeris lookups, spectral analysis, geometric calculations, and pattern matching against historical data. Versioned endpoints, structured responses, and async processing for longer-running jobs.
Every API request consumes compute units proportional to its cost. Simple lookups are cheap. Deep cycle scans over long date ranges cost more. The model is transparent — users see their usage in real time and can choose the tier that fits how they work.
JWT-based authentication with session management. Users register, log in, and manage their subscription tier within the app. Admin tools allow manual tier assignments and unit quota adjustments without touching the database.
Subscription billing handled by Stripe. Tier upgrades and downgrades take effect immediately. The free tier requires no payment method — researchers can evaluate the tools before committing to a paid plan.
A built-in blog for publishing Gann and cycle research. An announcement system for product updates and module releases. Both are managed from the admin panel without any external CMS.
Pricing Model
The metered model was a deliberate choice. Gann researchers do not all work the same way — some run a handful of checks per week, others run hundreds of queries per day building research archives. A flat subscription penalises light users. A pure pay-per-use model creates anxiety. Metered tiers split the difference.
Compute units are not a trick to squeeze more money from users. Simple requests consume very few units. The metering exists because cycle scanning over multi-year date ranges with high resolution genuinely costs more to compute than a Square of Nine grid. The model reflects actual cost. Usage is visible in the dashboard at all times and resets daily — no rollover, no surprise bills.
Straight Talking
Crohamhurst is a specialist tool for a specific audience. It is not trying to be a general trading platform or a charting service for retail investors. W.D. Gann methodology has a dedicated community of researchers and traders who take the approach seriously and need computation tools built for it. That is who this is for.
The five modules cover the core analytical methods in the Gann tradition: planetary aspects, geometric price levels, cycle detection, and pattern recognition. They are presented as research tools. The Historical Analogs module in particular surfaces what has followed similar price structures in the past — it does not tell users what to do. The work of interpretation is the researcher's.
The platform was built alongside an active Gann research practice, which means the modules were tested against real research workflows as they were developed, not designed in the abstract. That matters for tools where the edge cases are what researchers actually hit.
Crohamhurst Observatory near Maleny in the Sunshine Coast hinterland was where Inigo Jones conducted his long-range climate and crop forecasting from the early 1900s through to 1954. Jones's long-range forecasts were published annually and are still considered in Australian agricultural circles. His methods — observing planetary cycles over decades — sit in the same tradition as Gann's market work. The name is a nod to that Queensland connection and to the seriousness of the research tradition the platform supports.
Nothing on Crohamhurst.app constitutes financial advice. The tools surface data and analysis for researchers to interpret. Gann methodology is a research discipline, not a signal service. Users are researchers who understand what they are working with and take responsibility for their own analysis.
Technical Details
A modern React frontend, a Python backend API for computation, PostgreSQL for data persistence, Stripe for billing. Containerised and hosted on Australian infrastructure in Brisbane.
Hosted on the same Brisbane server as the rest of the HELP4BIS portfolio. The containerised architecture keeps the frontend and API cleanly separated and makes it straightforward to scale the computation side independently if demand requires it.
Crohamhurst is an example of what is possible when the right computation engine sits behind a clean interface. If your product involves complex calculations, domain-specific algorithms, or usage-based pricing — we have built this before.