BundleIQ — South Africa Data Bundle Comparison App

A full-stack web application that compares prepaid data bundle prices across all 4 major South African mobile networks in real time. Built to help South Africans stop overpaying for mobile data.

Live Demo

• App: https://bundleiq-xk7b.onrender.com
• API: https://bundleiq-api.onrender.com/bundles
• Admin: https://bundleiq-xk7b.onrender.com/admin.html

Networks Covered

Network	Known For
Vodacom	SA's largest network, NXT LVL specials
MTN	Strong promos, TikTok and night bundles
Cell C	Budget friendly monthly bundles
Telkom	Cheapest cost per GB in SA

Current Features

• Compare data bundles across all 4 networks
• Filter by bundle type — Monthly, Daily, Weekly, Night, Social, NXT LVL, Hourly
• Search by data size, network or bundle name
• Ranked results sorted by best value (cost per MB)
• Summary cards showing best deal, most data, best validity and savings percentage
• Dark mode toggle with saved preference
• Admin panel — password protected via backend authentication
• Auto scraper that runs every day at 7AM to keep prices updated
• Fully responsive — works on mobile and desktop
• Font Awesome icons throughout — no emojis in code

Tech Stack

Backend

• Python 3
• Flask
• Flask-SQLAlchemy
• Flask-CORS
• PostgreSQL (Supabase)
• psycopg2-binary
• python-dotenv
• BeautifulSoup4
• Requests
• Gunicorn

Frontend

• HTML5
• CSS3
• Vanilla JavaScript
• Font Awesome 6 icons

Infrastructure

• Supabase — cloud PostgreSQL database (Frankfurt)
• Render — backend and frontend hosting
• GitHub — version control

Project Structure

bundleiq/
    backend/
        run.py              Flask app and all API routes
        scraper.py          Auto scraper — runs daily at 7AM
        updater.py          Manual price updater
        seed_real.py        Seeds database with real SA bundle prices
        requirements.txt    Python dependencies
        .env                Environment variables (not committed)
    frontend/
        index.html          Main comparison app
        admin.html          Admin panel — password protected
    README.md

API Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/bundles	Get all bundles
GET	/	API health check
POST	/admin/verify	Verify admin password
POST	/admin/bundle	Add a new bundle
PUT	/admin/bundle/<id>	Update a bundle by ID
DELETE	/admin/bundle/<id>	Delete a bundle by ID

Setup Instructions

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/Kgaogelo02/bundleiq.git
cd bundleiq

2. Create and activate virtual environment

cd backend
python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate

3. Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Create .env file

Create a file called .env inside the backend folder:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://your_user:your_password@your_host:5432/your_db
ADMIN_PASSWORD=your_admin_password

5. Run the backend

python run.py

6. Seed the database

python seed_real.py

7. Open the frontend

Open frontend/index.html in your browser.

Deployment

Backend — Render Web Service

• Runtime: Python 3
• Root Directory: backend
• Build Command: pip install -r requirements.txt
• Start Command: gunicorn run:app
• Environment Variables: DATABASE_URL, ADMIN_PASSWORD

Frontend — Render Static Site

• Root Directory: frontend
• Build Command: leave empty
• Publish Directory: .

Database — Supabase

• Free PostgreSQL in the cloud
• Region: Frankfurt EU Central
• Connection: Session Pooler (IPv4 compatible)

Security

• Admin password is stored as an environment variable on Render — never visible in code
• All admin routes require a valid X-Admin-Token header verified by the backend
• .env file is excluded from GitHub via .gitignore

Automatic Price Updates

A Windows Scheduled Task runs scraper.py every day at 7AM automatically.

To run manually:

python backend/scraper.py

Roadmap

Phase 2 — More Useful Features

• Coverage map showing best signal per province
• Price history tracking — see when networks changed prices
• Bundle calculator — enter daily data usage and get a recommendation
• Favourites — save bundles you like

Phase 3 — Make It a Business

• SMS and email alerts when a network drops prices or adds a special
• User accounts with personalised bundle recommendations
• Network reviews — users rate speed and coverage
• Affiliate links to network websites to earn commission

Phase 4 — Expand Beyond Data

• Airtime price comparison across networks
• Fibre package comparison — Openserve, Vumatel, Frogfoot
• Load shedding schedule integration
• Prepaid electricity rate comparison by municipality

Phase 5 — Mobile App

• Convert to React Native app for Android and iOS
• Push notifications for daily best deal alerts
• Home screen widget showing today's best bundle

Author

Mabutsi Kgaogelo Kgagara

Built BundleIQ to solve a real problem — South Africans constantly compare data prices but had no clean, accurate tool to do it in one place.

• GitHub: https://github.com/Kgaogelo02

License

MIT License — free to use and modify.