When the going get's tough...
Zoom out.
If the equity you are gaining is gaining value, when are you expecting to cash in on that value? 2 years? 5? 20?
While that might be amazing in a few years, it is putting you in a weird spot now.
The question you need to answer is are you willing to "hustle" a little in order to gain those equity benefits in the long term?
It sounds like the answer is yes. You just need to keep reminding yourself of WHY you are putting in this extra work right now and let that fuel you.
I freelanced for 11 years. During that time I went through many different seasons of business. During some I worked 80 hour weeks. Other times (like when my kids were born) I barely worked for a few months.
The great thing about freelancing is that it can mold to what you need right now.
I no longer freelance, I instead spend time creating digital products and growing my newsletter for freelance web developers (link in my profile, it might be of interest to you!). Shoot me a DM too, I still have clients come in and I am always looking for freelancers to send them to!
Go for it!
I recently released my first Google Sheet product (A calculator for freelancers to figure out how much money they need to make and the rate they should charge in order to get there).
I got a lot of sales when I first launched it. I have a way to track the links and see how many times the link is clicked. I have not noticed any abnormalities so far.
I also am not worried. If someone wants to steal it, well have fun! I hope it brings them value. You could waste a lot of energy and time trying to keep people from pirating your tool, or you could use that time to better support the paying users. That is the approach I am taking.
As far as "is it a good idea", yes! I was surprised at how many people would pay for a tool like this. It beat my expectations on sales in the first couple of hours. I say go for it! You already have the tool built.