Indie Hacker: What It Means and How Indie Hackers Build
An indie hacker is someone who builds an internet business on their own terms. Usually alone or with a partner or two, usually without investors, with the goal of a product that pays for itself rather than one that grows at any cost. The “hacker” part is about making things, not breaking into them. Most indie hackers write their own code, but the word also covers makers who build with no-code tools.
The term spread through the Indie Hackers community, which Courtland Allen started in 2016 as a site of interviews with founders who shared their revenue. It now describes a whole way of building software.
What does an indie hacker do?
They pick a problem small enough to solve alone and build a product for it. They put a price on it early, because paying users are the only proof the problem is real, and work until it covers their costs. Then, often, they do it again.
The work is everything a company does, done by one person:
- Building. The product, the landing page, the billing and the emails.
- Selling. Writing copy, setting prices, answering the first support requests.
- Marketing. Posting where the buyers are, submitting to directories, writing posts like this one.
- Running it. Hosting, bookkeeping and keeping the thing up at 3 a.m.
That breadth is the defining trait. An indie hacker can’t hand off marketing to a marketing team, so the products tend to be ones a single person can market.
How is an indie hacker different from a startup founder?
Both build products, but the goal and the money are different:
| Indie hacker | Venture-backed founder | |
|---|---|---|
| Funding | Own savings, revenue, sometimes a day job | Investors, in rounds |
| Goal | A profitable business that pays the maker | Fast growth toward a large exit |
| Team | Usually one to three people | Grows with each round |
| Who decides | The maker | The founders and the board |
| Success looks like | Revenue that covers the maker’s life | A valuation, then an acquisition or IPO |
| Typical product | A focused tool for a niche | A product aimed at a large market |
Neither is better. A product that needs a sales team or years of research before it earns anything is a poor fit for indie hacking. A small tool for a niche that will never be worth a billion dollars is a poor fit for venture capital, and a good fit for one person.
“Bootstrapped” overlaps a lot with indie hacking. A bootstrapped company can have fifty employees, though, while “indie hacker” usually means the maker is still the one shipping the code.
What do indie hackers build?
Most indie products fall into a few groups:
- Small SaaS. A subscription tool that does one job well: invoices for freelancers, a status page, a scheduling tool for a single kind of business.
- Browser extensions and plugins. Something that lives inside a tool people already use.
- Digital products. Templates, courses, ebooks and boilerplates.
- Directories and data sites. A curated list or dataset that earns from listings or ads.
- Mobile and desktop apps. Sold once or by subscription through the app stores.
What they share is a buyer the maker can reach. If you can name the communities, newsletters or search queries where your buyers already are, you can market the product yourself.
How do indie hackers make money?
Subscriptions are the most common model, because recurring revenue adds up month after month and the maker can see where the business is heading. That is why indie hackers talk about MRR so much. One-time purchases, lifetime deals, ads and sponsorships are the others.
Many keep a job or freelance work while the product grows. That is not a lack of commitment. It lets them charge what the product is worth instead of what they need this month, and keep building through the slow first year.
How do indie hackers get their first users?
With no budget, the first users come from the maker’s own effort. The usual order:
- Build in public. Share what you’re making and what you’re learning while you make it. Building in public covers what’s worth sharing and what to skip.
- Launch more than once. A launch is a week of attention, not a single post. Product Hunt, Hacker News, Reddit and launch directories each bring a different crowd. Product Hunt alternatives lists where else to go.
- Get listed. Directories bring a trickle of visitors and, sometimes, a backlink that helps the site rank. Directory submission sites has the ones worth the time.
- Write for search. Posts that answer the questions buyers type keep bringing visitors long after launch week.
- Talk to every user. The first ten users tell you what to build next, if you ask them.
How to get your first 100 users goes through each step in detail.
Where does LaunchGP fit in?
If you have a product and no audience, a launch directory is one of the few places where you get a week of attention without one. We built LaunchGP for that stage. Every week a new Grand Prix starts, and you can race your product in it for free with a small badge on your site. Makers and visitors vote during the week. Your free car gets a dofollow link during its race week, because the badge sends visitors back, and if you finish in the top three you keep a dofollow link for good.
When your product finishes a Grand Prix, it joins Endurance, a race that never ends. Cars there are grouped into classes by verified MRR, read from a Stripe restricted key. That way your $50-a-month product races other small products, not companies a hundred times its size. Without a key, you race in Rookie.
Get a free seat in the next Grand Prix
FAQ
Is “indie hacker” the same as “solopreneur”?
They overlap. A solopreneur is anyone running a business alone, including consultants and freelancers. An indie hacker builds a product, usually software, that can sell without the maker’s time going into each sale.
Do you need to code to be an indie hacker?
No. Many indie hackers code, but plenty build with no-code tools, sell digital products or run content sites. What matters is shipping a product and selling it yourself.
How long does it take an indie hacker to make money?
There’s no typical number. Some products earn in the first week, many take a year or more, and most early projects never earn much. That’s why many indie hackers ship several small products and keep the ones that find buyers.
Can an indie hacker raise money later?
Yes. Some indie products grow into companies that take investment. Starting without it just means you decide when, or whether, you need it.
What’s the best first product for an indie hacker?
One for a problem you’ve had yourself, for buyers you know how to reach. A small product you can ship in a few weeks and charge for teaches you more than a large one you’re still building a year later. How to launch a SaaS covers the launch itself.