If you've ever hunted bugs in public programs and felt the squeeze of saturation, you'll know the frustration of submitting a bug only to see it valued at peanuts — or already found by someone else. What if I told you there's a different game: endless self-hosted bug-bounty programs + an AI-powered search engine that surfaces targets you didn't even know existed?

Here's how I leveraged BugBountyHunt, its self-hosted programs, and the AISearch tool at AI Program Searcher to shift from reactive to hyper-productive, and why the results were absurd. Link- www.aisearch.bugbountyhunt.com

The new paradigm: endless self-hosted programs

Traditional bug-bounty platforms can feel crowded and slow. Spots fill up, scope stagnates, many hunters compete over the same few programs. BugBountyHunt flips that: it hosts self-hosted programs (programs run directly or supported by BugBountyHunt outside the "big platform crowd"). Because these are less saturated, you get early-mover advantage, less noise, and higher upside.

You're not just hunting among thousands of hunters chasing the same targets — you're in a different lane.

AISearch: the unlimited feed

Then there's the tool: AISearch at aisearch.bugbountyhunt.com. I used it as my reconnaissance engine. It acted like a continuous stream of fresh scopes, write-ups, new program launches, hidden endpoints. Because of it:

• I found programs within hours of them going live.
• I discovered hidden features and endpoints in self-hosted programs no one else had triaged.
• I leveraged write-up/trend data (via AISearch) to craft payloads fast. The result? A momentum loop: new program → quick recon via AISearch → high-impact bug → payout. Repeat.

My score-week: how it played out

I entered a sprint mode. Here's roughly how it lined up:

• Day 1: Used AISearch filters (new program launches, self-hosted category) and picked a program hosted by BugBountyHunt that had just gone live.
• Day 2: Recon tools + AISearch intelligence → found a broken access control / IDOR in a hidden API. Submitted.
• Day 3: While waiting for triage, AISearch flagged two more self-hosted programs from BugBountyHunt with similar tech stack. I jumped in.
• Day 4–5: One of those yielded a sensitive data disclosure bug. The other was a multi-step logic exploit.
• Day 6–7: Reports submitted, follow-ups done, 3 valid findings in one week. Combined payout reached around $10K.

Why this works — and how you should replicate it

• Less competition, more opportunity: Self-hosted means fewer hunters and more "firsts".
• Speed via AI-search: AISearch gave me lead time — I was often ahead of the pack.
• Repeatable workflow: Recon → AISearch feed → choose program → exploit → report.
• Focus sprint: I blocked one week for maximum output, no distractions.
• Quality matters: The bugs weren't trivial — they were high-impact, well-packaged, and within scope.
• Ethical & on-scope: I kept everything legal and within program rules.