Built beside a real market, not in a boardroom.
Trestle started because one organizer was running an entire season on a form builder, a spreadsheet, and an email tool that did not know about each other.
The spreadsheet that ran a season.
The market worked. The system around it did not. Applications came in through a form builder, then were copied by hand into a tracking spreadsheet, then chased through a separate email tool. Every question an organizer had — who applied, who was approved, who still owes a certificate of insurance, who has paid — meant reading three places and trusting that all three agreed.
They rarely agreed. The week before opening day is not the moment to find out which vendor never got the waiver link.
One season, watched closely.
Trestle is being built by one developer, in the open, alongside a working market rather than from a list of feature ideas. Applications, jurying, approvals, documents, waivers, and booth fees each landed in the product because a real organizer hit the wall without them, in the order the season put those walls up.
That is also why it is deliberately narrow. Trestle is for artisan market organizers. It is not a general event platform, an all-purpose CRM, or a ticketing tool wearing a different hat.
Where it is today.
Pre-launch, onboarding pilot markets for the coming season. If you run a market and the description above sounded like a transcript of your spring, a demo is a short conversation and an honest answer about whether Trestle is ready for you yet.
Draft page — the story above is accurate but unapproved, and the pilot market is left unnamed on purpose. See PLACEHOLDERS.md.
Four rules the product does not bend.
Applying should be free, always
A vendor deciding whether to try a new market should never hit a paywall. The only money that moves is the booth fee, after you say yes.
No accounts for vendors
Passwords are a tax on people who just want to sell soap on a Saturday. Vendors get a magic link they can come back to, and you can revoke it.
Deciding is not the same as telling
You should be able to jury a season privately and send the decisions when you are ready. Trestle never notifies a vendor on your behalf by accident.
Calm beats clever
No dashboards that need a tutorial. The season, the vendors, and what is still outstanding — in the order the season actually happens.
Come tell us about your season.
Every market runs differently. The fastest way to find out whether Trestle fits yours is to walk through it together.
Book a Demo