Montreal developer behind Wizard Zines, illustrated guides to computing fundamentals
Wizard Zines, Mess With DNS, Memory Spy +2$101,558 in 2018
✍️ 101 makers · 45 products
Best Creators & Writers in 2026
Makers who build audiences with newsletters, YouTube, podcasts and social. This list features 101 indie makers in this space, led by Julia Evans, Thibault Louis-Lucas (Tibo) and Patrick McKenzie, ranked by profile depth, audience and reported revenue.
Top creators & writers
101 makers, ranked.
Built and sold Tweet Hunter and Taplio; now runs a $1M/month AI portfolio led by Revid
Revid, Outrank, SuperX +6~$1M/mo across products
patio11: Bingo Card Creator, Appointment Reminder, Stripe Atlas and Bits about Money
Bingo Card Creator, Appointment Reminder, Starfighter +2~$275K/yr sales, ~$200K pro…
Physicist turned permissionless entrepreneur, co-founder of Sales.co
Sales.co, Founder Flywheel, Opportunities.so +5$90K/mo
Productivity YouTuber behind Ultimate Brain, Notion tutorials and the Flylighter clipper
Ultimate Brain, Creator's Companion, Flylighter +2$1M in Notion template sales
One-person business writer behind The Art of Focus and co-founder of the Eden content app
Eden, The 2 Hour Writer$1M-$1.5M/yr
Web dev educator behind Traversy Media, plus a public lab of indie dev tools
Traversy Media, DevSheets, WebUtils +4
Former Airbnb product lead behind Lenny's Newsletter and Lenny's Podcast
Lenny's Newsletter, Lenny's Podcast, Lenny's Jobs +1$1M+/yr
Self-taught Canadian solo builder of Post Bridge and a string of consumer apps
Post Bridge, Lovelee, Curiosity Quench +4$48.9K MRR
SEO veteran and serial internet entrepreneur shipping AI-coded SEO tools
ian.is SEO tools, URL Monitor (now Cromojo), Keyword Metrics +1$100K ARR
Founder of Starter Story, the founder case-study brand acquired by HubSpot in 2026
Starter Story, Starter Story Build$1M/yr
Founder of Kit (ConvertKit), bootstrapped from a failing side project to $1M+ MRR
Kit (formerly ConvertKit)$1.19M MRR
Founder of Gumroad and author of The Minimalist Entrepreneur
Gumroad, Flexile, Helper$17.8M/yr
Singapore-based Notion template creator behind Second Brain and SyncTasks
Notion Second Brain, Finance Tracker, Easlo Templates +2$239K in 2022
Australian indie dev running a portfolio of 30+ simple iOS apps
Card Value Scanner for Pokemon, Swipe the cat, PIANORUN +3$70K/mo
Ex-Amazon engineer who popularized the small bets portfolio approach
Small Bets, Userbase, Single Server +1$210K profit in 9 months
Doctor-turned-YouTuber, author of Feel-Good Productivity and Part-Time YouTuber Academy
Part-Time YouTuber Academy, Superfocus, 6med$4M+ in 2022
Solopreneur who passed $10M in revenue with a one-person business
The LinkedIn Operating System, The Content Operating System, The Saturday Essay$10M+ total revenue
Co-founder of lemlist, bootstrapped from $1K to tens of millions in ARR
lemlist, lemwarm, lemcal +3~$40M ARR
Founder and CEO of Ghost, the open source, non-profit publishing platform
Ghost, AlcoveGhost: ~$11.1M ARR
Canadian full-stack JavaScript teacher behind JavaScript30 and the Syntax podcast
Syntax, Wes Bos Courses
Co-founder of Academind, bestselling coding instructor with 3.5M+ students
Academind, AI Enhanced Dev, Business Headshots AI
Musician who accidentally built CD Baby, sold it for $22M, and writes books on how to live
CD Baby, HostBaby, Wood Egg
Co-founder and CEO of Transistor.fm, the bootstrapped 'calm company' for podcast hosting
Transistor.fm, MegaMaker, Marketing for Developers +2
Canadian CSS educator with 1,000+ YouTube videos and The Cascade course platform
The Cascade, CSS Demystified, Kevin Powell YouTube channel
Founder of Smart Passive Income, author of Will It Fly? and Superfans, Pokémon YouTuber
Smart Passive Income, SwitchPod, Deep Pocket Monster
Ex-Uber engineering manager who writes The Pragmatic Engineer newsletter
The Pragmatic Engineer, The Software Engineer's Guidebook, The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast
CEO of Late Checkout, host of The Startup Ideas Podcast, creator of Ideabrowser
Late Checkout, Ideabrowser, The Vibe Marketer +3
Syntax podcast co-host and creator of Level Up Tutorials
Level Up Tutorials, Syntax, Phases +1
Founder of Creator Science, teaching creators to build businesses through experiments
Creator Science, The Lab, CreatorHQ +1
Creator of Hacking with Swift, the free Swift and SwiftUI learning site
Hacking with Swift, Hacking with Swift+, Kickstart +2
Sold FeedbackPanda, wrote Zero to Sold, built Podscan in public (acquired 2026)
Podscan, FeedbackPanda
Domain investor who turns premium .com names into businesses — and sells onions online
VidaliaOnions.com, Onions.com, RanchWork.com +3
Hong Kong educator who taught building in public, now building AI learning tools for kids
Public Lab, Chatty Bestie, AlphaStage
Founder of Visualize Value: minimalist visuals, courses on leverage, and digital art
Visualize Value, Checks VV Edition, jackbutcher.md
Warsaw-based author of The Product Compass, a top AI and product management newsletter
The Product Compass$126K ARR
Designer and serial maker behind Humaaans, Blush and Lummi, which Udemy acquired
Lummi, Blush, Humaaans +5
Software engineer turned solopreneur behind BlackTwist and Shipped.club
BlackTwist, Shipped.club, Latentcam +3$2.5K/mo
Founder of Laracasts, the bootstrapped video school for Laravel and PHP
Laracasts, Rosette, Laravel Mix
Developer turned indie hacker on a public $1M revenue journey
iCodeThis, Content Copilot, Indie Action$445K lifetime across proje…
Co-founder of Noko (Freckle) and Stacking the Bricks, creator of 30x500 and Sales Safari
Noko (formerly Freckle), 30x500, Stacking the Bricks
Author of The Mom Test and Write Useful Books, building beta-reading software for authors
The Mom Test, Write Useful Books, The Workshop Survival Guide +1
Dutch no-code maker of Startup Stash who built and sold five curation products
Startup Stash, StartupWatching, Road to Scale +2
Founder of Buttondown, the bootstrapped newsletter platform he started at Stripe
Buttondown, Spoonbill~$15K MRR
Founder of Trends.vc, the market research newsletter and Trends Pro community
Trends.vc, HeadsUp, Multi
JavaScript educator behind Epic React, Epic Web and Testing JavaScript
Epic React, Epic Web, Testing JavaScript +2
Osaka-based solo developer of Inkdrop and the Dev as Life YouTube channel
Inkdrop$10K+ MRR
Neuroscientist and founder of Ness Labs, author of Tiny Experiments
Ness Labs, Ness Labs Membership, Tiny Experiments
Copywriting teacher behind Marketing Examples and its 130K-reader newsletter
Marketing Examples, Copywriting Examples
Creator and voice of Fireship, the fast-paced coding YouTube channel, merged with ui.dev
Fireship, Fireship PRO, Bytes
Co-founder and CEO of Userlist, host of the UI Breakfast podcast
Userlist, The UI Audit, UI Breakfast
AI YouTuber and founder of Future Tools, the AI tool directory and newsletter
Future Tools, Future Tools Newsletter, The Next Wave
The startup meme king: co-founded Logology, runs LaunchDay, wore a 26-sponsor wedding suit
LaunchDay, Logology, How to Dominate Twitter/X
German indie dev and YouTuber behind Islanders, Will You Snail? and Thronefall
Thronefall, Will You Snail?, Islanders +1
Developer-educator behind Mastering Postgres, High Performance SQLite and Solo
Database School, Solo, Screencasting.com +1
Indie iOS developer of Overcast, previously Instapaper and Tumblr
Overcast, Unforgetful, Instapaper +1
Indie iOS developer of Callsheet and co-host of Accidental Tech Podcast
Callsheet, MaskerAid, Peek-a-View +1
Ex-Uber engineer who built NamasteDev, India's popular 'Namaste' coding courses
NamasteDev
Co-founder of Plausible Analytics, writer on privacy and bootstrapped marketing
Plausible Analytics$1M+ ARR
WeddingLovely founder, Hello Web books author, GM at TinySeed and MicroConf
WeddingLovely, Hello Web App, Hello Web Design
Bootstrapper behind HelpSpot since 2005, LaraJobs and the Mostly Technical podcast
HelpSpot, LaraJobs, Outro +2
Denmark-based serial maker of Shipixen, Page UI and the Morning Maker Show
Shipixen, Page UI, Page AI +5
Slovakia-based 'Coding Dinosaur' who has shipped 200+ web projects
Featurenest, Download3000, Colorion +3
Jaipur-based coding YouTuber behind Chai aur Code and ChaiCode cohorts; LCO founder
ChaiCode, LearnCodeOnline
Indie iOS dev of Dark Noise and host of the Launched podcast
Dark Noise, Overviewer
Co-founder of CodePen, ShopTalk Show co-host, ran CSS-Tricks 2007-2022
CodePen, CSS-Tricks
AI-first builder running the IgnytLabs MVP agency, a community and an AI newsletter
IgnytLabs, AI MVP Builders, The AI Head Start
Learn-in-public advocate, Coding Career Handbook author and Latent Space host
Latent Space, AI Engineer, smol.ai
Former Apple engineer running Red Sweater Software, maker of MarsEdit
MarsEdit, FastScripts, Black Ink +2
Non-technical builder who sold Makerpad to Zapier and now runs Ben's Bites
Makerpad, Ben's Bites
Creator of the Notion Mastery course and co-founder of Oki Doki
Notion Mastery, Oki Doki
Polish Kotlin educator, founder of Kt. Academy and author of Effective Kotlin
Kt. Academy, Advanced Compose
Brazilian programming YouTuber, ex-Pagar.me CTO, creator of curso.dev and TabNews
curso.dev, TabNews, cep-promise
Writer and co-founder of Ship 30 for 30, author of The Art & Business of Online Writing
Ship 30 for 30, Premium Ghostwriting Academy, Typeshare
Founder of Indie Hackers, the community and podcast that named the movement
Indie Hackers
Creator of Doing Content Right and Internet Pipes, former a16z podcast host
Internet Pipes, Doing Content Right, Doing Time Right +1
Freelance designer teaching practical UI design through Learn UI Design
Figtree
Barcelona developer-streamer teaching programming and AI in Spanish via midu.dev academy
midu.dev academy, Midudev Tools
AI creator and vibe coder who co-founded Vibecode and now builds Agent Native
Vibecode, Agent Native
Independent iOS developer behind Widgetsmith, Pedometer++ and Sleep++
Widgetsmith, Pedometer++, Sleep++ +1
Solo developer of the Ellie daily planner and other productivity apps, YouTuber
Ellie, Amy, Luna +1
Montreal developer-educator behind CSS for JavaScript Developers and The Joy of React
CSS for JavaScript Developers, The Joy of React, Whimsical Animations
Former BlackRock trader who co-founded Ship 30 for 30 to teach online writing
Ship 30 for 30, Premium Ghostwriting Academy
Upstate New York maker running a solo product studio with 100+ side projects
Bluesky Directory, I Worked On, Side Project MVP +3
Co-founder of Indie Hackers, now building the Hatch AI workspace
Indie Hackers, Hatch
Belgian no-code solopreneur behind Build The Keyword; sold No-Code Exits and No-Code Guru
Build The Keyword, No-Code Exits, No-Code Guru
Founder of Velora, Heights Platform for course creators, and LatchLoop AI agents
Heights Platform, LatchLoop, Velora
Ex-big-tech data engineer who built DataExpert.io into a $4.7M+ education business
DataExpert.io$56K MRR + cohorts
Bootstrapper who built and sold TinyPilot, now writing Refactoring English
TinyPilot, Refactoring English, Zestful +3
Community builder who founded Ministry of Testing and runs Rosieland
Ministry of Testing, Rosieland
London-based indie SaaS maker behind Pop Invoice and the Indie and Profitable newsletter
Pop Invoice, Bunni AI, Hey New +1
Multi-exit engineer behind Zero BS CRM, now building a 100% AI-run business
Profit Swarm, Strew, Zero BS CRM (Jetpack CRM)
Founder of Quicklisting and owner of indie horror distributor Cosmic Films
Quicklisting, Cosmic Films
Former 3x startup CTO now running Spacestation Labs, a Reddit marketing agency
Spacestation Labs
Indie hacker and growth marketer behind NoonLaunch; sold Remote Profile
NoonLaunch, Remote Profile
Founder of FilterGrade, a marketplace for photo and video editing assets
FilterGrade, Moloney Creative Agency
Marketer and newsletter writer who built an audience on Product Hunt
Business & Marketing with Nika
Author of Company of One and co-founder of Fathom Analytics (retired 2024)
Fathom Analytics
Founder of Merrative, building thought-leadership newsletters for B2B brands
Merrative
Directory.fm - online directory of podcast tools
Wavplus, Podkind
Working on YouTube Analytics Tool https://socialcharts.io // First project after a long time, so far 0 MRR.
Socialcharts
Products by creators & writers
45 products in this category.
Bits about Money
bitsaboutmoney.com
Newsletter on the intersection of technology and finance.
by Patrick McKenzie
Complex Systems
complexsystemspodcast.com
Weekly podcast on the technical and human factors underlying infrastructure, finance and government.
by Patrick McKenzie
F
Founder Flywheel
founderflywheel.com
Research-as-a-service newsletter for entrepreneurs.
by Jakob Greenfeld
O
Opportunities.so
opportunities.so
Newsletter of researched business opportunities and ideas for entrepreneurs.
by Jakob Greenfeld
College Info Geek
collegeinfogeek.com
Long-running site helping students study efficiently and prepare for their careers.
by Thomas Frank
Lenny's Newsletter
lennysnewsletter.com
Weekly deeply researched advice on product, growth and careers with a paid tier and private community.
by Lenny Rachitsky
Lenny's Podcast
lennysnewsletter.com
Interview show with product leaders, founders and operators.
by Lenny Rachitsky
Thousands of founder case studies, business idea databases, a premium membership, newsletter and YouTube channel about how real businesses were built.
$1M/yrby Pat Walls
The Saturday Essay
justinwelsh.me
Weekly newsletter for people building one-person businesses, formerly The Saturday Solopreneur.
by Justin Welsh
Web development podcast co-hosted with Scott Tolinski.
by Wes Bos
Project to publish yearly entrepreneurship guidebooks on 16 Asian countries, started while living in Singapore.
by Derek Sivers
Kevin Powell YouTube channel
youtube.com
1,000+ free videos on CSS layout, modern CSS features and front-end fundamentals.
by Kevin Powell
Related categories
🎓 Educators & Course Creators☁️ SaaS Founders🫂 Community Builders🤖 AI Builders📣 Marketing & SEO Tools📱 Mobile App Makers⚡ Productivity Tools🛠️ Developer Tools🗂️ Directory Makers🌱 Open Source Makers
Top countries for creators & writers
Creators & Writers FAQ
Who are the most popular indie creators & writers?
The best-known creators & writers on IndieMakerList are Julia Evans, Thibault Louis-Lucas (Tibo), Patrick McKenzie, Jakob Greenfeld and Thomas Frank. In total 101 makers are listed in this category.
What products do indie creators & writers build?
Notable products include Bits about Money by Patrick McKenzie, Complex Systems by Patrick McKenzie, Founder Flywheel by Jakob Greenfeld, Opportunities.so by Jakob Greenfeld and College Info Geek by Thomas Frank. 45 products are listed in this category.
How much do indie creators & writers earn?
Publicly reported revenue varies widely. Examples: Julia Evans ($101,558 in 2018 (zine business)), Thibault Louis-Lucas (Tibo) (~$1M/mo across products), Patrick McKenzie (~$275K/yr sales, ~$200K profit (excl. Appointment Reminder)) and Jakob Greenfeld ($90K/mo (Sales.co)). Figures are self-reported and sourced from public posts.
Where are indie creators & writers based?
The most common countries in this category are United States (42), Canada (10) and United Kingdom (7).
How do I get listed as one of the creators & writers?
Submit your profile via the Submit page. Listings are free and reviewed before publishing.
Know one of the best creators & writers we're missing? Submit a maker to IndieMakerList →