Running a bootstrapped empire of 24+ SaaS products and directories
Unicorn Platform, SEObot, ListingBott +20$3M/yr
📢 Collection · 138 makers
Build in Public Legends: indie makers to know in 2026
Makers known for openly sharing revenue, metrics and lessons as they build. This curated list has 138 makers, including John Rush, Marc Lou and Pieter Levels.
Makers in Build in Public Legends
138 makers, ranked.
French solopreneur from Bali behind TrustMRR, DataFast, ShipFast and 30+ startups
TrustMRR, DataFast, CodeFast +7$98K/mo
Solo maker behind Photo AI, Nomads.com, Remote OK, Interior AI and the MAKE book
Photo AI, Vibe Jam, Interior AI +5~$219K/mo across products
Creator of Tailwind CSS who built a multi-million-dollar business on open source
Tailwind CSS, Tailwind Plus (formerly Tailwind UI), Refactoring UI +4Mid-seven figures/yr
Serial maker of Sizzy, Benji and Tinkerer Club who teaches devs to ship
Sizzy, Benji, Tinkerer Club +6$223K in 30 days
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
SaaS marketer behind Swipe Files, Conversion Factory and the top AI marketing skills repo
Conversion Factory, Swipe Files, Marketing Skills +5$1M ARR
Productivity YouTuber behind Ultimate Brain, Notion tutorials and the Flylighter clipper
Ultimate Brain, Creator's Companion, Flylighter +2$1M in Notion template sales
Vietnamese indie hacker behind TypingMind, DevUtils, and exits Black Magic and Xnapper
TypingMind, DevUtils, Black Magic +3$142K/mo
Self-taught Canadian solo builder of Post Bridge and a string of consumer apps
Post Bridge, Lovelee, Curiosity Quench +4$48.9K MRR
Serial maker behind BetaList, WIP and Startup Jobs, shipping online for 20+ years
BetaList, WIP, Startup Jobs +11
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
Ex-Cisco engineer who built Testimonial.to and grew acquired PDF.ai into a top AI PDF tool
Testimonial.to, PDF.ai, Chat.sh +5$1.3M ARR
Founder of Gumroad and author of The Minimalist Entrepreneur
Gumroad, Flexile, Helper$17.8M/yr
Coined micro-SaaS, sold Storemapper, then founded Calm Company Fund for bootstrappers
Storemapper, Calm Company Fund (formerly Earnest Capital), BK UP~$40K MRR
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
Founder of SavvyCal; co-founded Drip, which sold to Leadpages
SavvyCal, Drip, Codetree +2$20K MRR
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
Founder and CEO of Ghost, the open source, non-profit publishing platform
Ghost, AlcoveGhost: ~$11.1M ARR
Co-founder and CEO of Transistor.fm, the bootstrapped 'calm company' for podcast hosting
Transistor.fm, MegaMaker, Marketing for Developers +2
Designer and co-founder of Typefully; previously built and sold Mailbrew
Typefully, Mailbrew, Boxy Suite +3Typefully: ~$2M ARR
Solo founder who bootstrapped Bannerbear, an image and video automation API, to $81K MRR
Bannerbear, Redacted$81K MRR
Founder of Smart Passive Income, author of Will It Fly? and Superfans, Pokémon YouTuber
Smart Passive Income, SwitchPod, Deep Pocket Monster
Solo designer running Designjoy, a $1M+/yr one-person design subscription
Designjoy, Productize Yourself, GatherOS +1$100K MRR
Serial dabbler who built and sold Baremetrics for $4M, now shipping AI products
Baremetrics, Maybe, Knockoff +5
Greek design engineer running bootstrapped tools MagicPattern, BrandBird and SuperMotion
MagicPattern, BrandBird, SuperMotion +3~$6.5K MRR across three pro…
Serial bootstrapper behind Audience Ops, Clarityflow and Builder Methods
Builder Methods, Agent OS, Clarityflow (formerly ZipMessage) +2
SEO-first serial maker behind GenPPT, LinkDR, AI SEO Tracker and MagicSpace
GenPPT, LinkDR, AI SEO Tracker +5$8.1K MRR
Ex-LEGO engineer building a bootstrapped SaaS portfolio: FeedHive, Aidbase, LinkDrip
FeedHive, Aidbase, LinkDrip +2$400K ARR
French developer-designer behind the Uneed launch platform and Writizzy
Uneed, Uneed Residency, Writizzy$134K in 2025
Vietnamese solopreneur bootstrapping BoltAI, a native AI workspace for Mac
BoltAI, PDF Pals, KTool +1$33.5K/mo
Brazil's self-styled first digital nomad, serial AI app builder and Dolafy co-founder
Dolafy, Ready For Mars, Viralist.ai +3
Solo founder of Key Values, the job board matching engineers with values-aligned teams
Key Values~$300K–350K/yr
Co-founded Senja to $800K ARR; now building Ferndesk, self-updating AI help docs
Ferndesk, Senja$5K MRR
Founder of Creator Science, teaching creators to build businesses through experiments
Creator Science, The Lab, CreatorHQ +1
Sold FeedbackPanda, wrote Zero to Sold, built Podscan in public (acquired 2026)
Podscan, FeedbackPanda
Hong Kong educator who taught building in public, now building AI learning tools for kids
Public Lab, Chatty Bestie, AlphaStage
Warsaw-based author of The Product Compass, a top AI and product management newsletter
The Product Compass$126K ARR
Italian developer in Taipei who built Makerkit, the B2B SaaS starter kit
Makerkit, Formtoro, ngx-chips$8,606 in a month
Singapore solopreneur behind Jason's Plugins for Carrd, Lifelog, Lists Kit and Commit365
Jason's Plugins for Carrd, Lifelog, Lists Kit +1~$12K/yr
Solo founder of ScreenshotOne, a screenshot API for developers and AI agents
ScreenshotOne, How Browsers Work, Open Graph Examples & Debugger +1~$36K MRR
German founder of supastarter, the SaaS starter kit for Next.js, Nuxt and TanStack
supastarter, supatools, Outbid +1$12K/mo
Software engineer turned solopreneur behind BlackTwist and Shipped.club
BlackTwist, Shipped.club, Latentcam +3$2.5K/mo
Solo founder who bootstrapped Chatbase from a student project to $10M ARR
Chatbase$864K MRR
Developer turned indie hacker on a public $1M revenue journey
iCodeThis, Content Copilot, Indie Action$445K lifetime across proje…
Software engineer turned indie hacker behind AI Directories, TransClipper and ColdConvert
AI Directories, TransClipper, ColdConvert +2$7.7K in the last 30 days
Product Hunt Maker of the Year 2018 behind Sheet2Site, Web3 Jobs and SearchConsole.ai
SearchConsole.ai, Applicant AI, Web3 Jobs +5
Solo founder of Postiz, the open-source agentic social media scheduler
Postiz, agent-media$250K MRR
PSPDFKit founder turned creator of OpenClaw, the open-source personal AI agent
OpenClaw, PSPDFKit (Nutrient), CodexBar +2
Co-founder of Noko (Freckle) and Stacking the Bricks, creator of 30x500 and Sales Safari
Noko (formerly Freckle), 30x500, Stacking the Bricks
French solo maker of Capgo, open-source live updates for Capacitor apps
Capgo, Naturopia$30K MRR
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
AI-first builder behind TrendFeed and CodeSpring, teaching non-coders to vibe code
CodeSpring, TrendFeed, ChatIQ$29K/mo
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
Dutch founder of HeadshotPro who sold AI copywriter Headlime for seven figures
HeadshotPro, Headlime, Landingfolio +1
Co-founder of ScrapingBee, bootstrapped to $5M ARR and sold to Oxylabs
ScrapingBee, PricingBot~$5M ARR
Founder of Once, a disposable-camera event app, and owner of Xnapper
Once, Xnapper$35K/mo
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
Technical co-founder of Affilimate and creator of Blogging for Devs
Affilimate, Blogging for Devs, BFD Trends +1
Singapore maker who sold OpenGraph.xyz, now runs a portfolio of directory sites
OpenGraph.xyz, ClinicGeek, Dental Clinics Malaysia +4S$5K/mo
Polish engineer-turned-indie hacker behind Visualizee.ai AI renders
Visualizee.ai, VizTunr, Morga.ai +3$8.2K MRR
Directory website builder and SEO teacher behind Ship Your Directory
Ship Your Directory$2K+/mo
French solo mobile developer running a portfolio of iOS apps and app-dev tools
AcceptMyApp, Mobiqo, CapWrapp +1~$2K/mo
Developer-educator behind Mastering Postgres, High Performance SQLite and Solo
Database School, Solo, Screencasting.com +1
Co-founder of Plausible Analytics, writer on privacy and bootstrapped marketing
Plausible Analytics$1M+ ARR
Co-founder of Senja, bootstrapping a testimonial tool in public to $1M ARR
Senja$1M ARR
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
Creator of Plausible, the open source and privacy-first Google Analytics alternative
Plausible Analytics$1M+ ARR
Builds and teaches AI coding; creator of Chatbot UI and founder of Takeoff
Takeoff / MagicLearn, Chatbot UI, Mckay's App Template +1
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
Software engineer and sole owner of Fathom, the privacy-first Google Analytics alternative
Fathom Analytics, Serverless Laravel, SingleStore for Laravel
Solo founder who bootstrapped Unicorn Platform to $16K MRR and sold it for $800K
Unicorn Platform, saas.page, Paracast +1
Vietnamese builder behind UI UX Pro Max, AgentKit and GoClaw AI agent tools
UI UX Pro Max, AgentKit, GoClaw +3
Non-technical builder who sold Makerpad to Zapier and now runs Ben's Bites
Makerpad, Ben's Bites
Pakistani solo founder of Fore Studio: Vitals and Flit Mac apps, StartupBase, Depost AI
Vitals, Flit, StartupBase +2$13.3K all-time
Co-founder of GrowSurf, bootstrapped referral and affiliate software
GrowSurf$24K MRR
Founder of Indie Hackers, the community and podcast that named the movement
Indie Hackers
Chennai ex-Zoho maker building Guidejar in public to $5K MRR, with two small exits
Guidejar, Cold DM, Support Guy$5K MRR
Creator of Doing Content Right and Internet Pipes, former a16z podcast host
Internet Pipes, Doing Content Right, Doing Time Right +1
AI creator and vibe coder who co-founded Vibecode and now builds Agent Native
Vibecode, Agent Native
Apple-featured indie developer of Compresto for Mac and the Steps pedometer app
Compresto, Steps, Grok Bots$73.8K all-time
Solo developer of the Ellie daily planner and other productivity apps, YouTuber
Ellie, Amy, Luna +1
Ex-CTO turned solopreneur behind the SaaS Pegasus Django boilerplate
SaaS Pegasus, Place Card Me, Scriv +2
Ex-DoorDash staff engineer building Watchdog AI moderation and flightschools.fyi
Watchdog, flightschools.fyi, Hackayork +1$444 MRR
Developer behind DevHunt, Float UI, RapidForms and Wrapifai
DevHunt, Float UI, RapidForms +2
Paris-based solo founder of Hyperping, bootstrapped uptime monitoring and status pages
Hyperping$11K MRR
Upstate New York maker running a solo product studio with 100+ side projects
Bluesky Directory, I Worked On, Side Project MVP +3
Colombo-based Elixir developer bootstrapping WallStRank and imgDeliver; exited from inkl
WallStRank, imgDeliver, phoenix-diff +2
London indie founder of Hovercode; built and sold Page Flows
Hovercode, Page Flows, Linkjar +3
Co-founder and CTO of Userlist; co-host of the Slow & Steady podcast
Userlist, Stage CMS
Co-founder of open-source finance app Midday (acquired by Ramp) and Cursor Directory
Midday, Cursor Directory, Languine
No-code maker behind BuildTheKeyword, launching demand-driven small bets
BuildTheKeyword, Holihounds, SellCheq +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
Bootstrapper who built and sold TinyPilot, now writing Refactoring English
TinyPilot, Refactoring English, Zestful +3
Sold bootstrapped privacy startup Removaly to DuckDuckGo, now runs Sabbath Ventures
Removaly, Bible Answers AI, Ruth & Boaz
Australian engineer in France running OnlineOrNot, a self-funded uptime monitoring SaaS
OnlineOrNot
Build-in-public maker of DeskHub, the CNVS agent canvas and QuickClaw
CNVS, QuickClaw, DeskHub
Community builder who founded Ministry of Testing and runs Rosieland
Ministry of Testing, Rosieland
Indian solo founder of SiteGPT; sold Notion-blog tool Feather for $250K
SiteGPT, Squad, Feather
Ads-first indie hacker who sold Talknotes for $200K, now building AdKit
AdKit, Talknotes
Multi-exit engineer behind Zero BS CRM, now building a 100% AI-run business
Profit Swarm, Strew, Zero BS CRM (Jetpack CRM)
Laravel developer behind Larafast, Blogr.ai and bytemail; sold Directify for $85K
Blogr.ai, bytemail, Larafast +1
Budapest full-stack developer and security trainer shipping AI side projects at night
Fyzz.chat, LetterBox, ReadSonic +1
Cebu-based bootstrapped founder of FontVisual, a font preview tool for crafters
FontVisual, Where to Find VA
Paris designer, CPO and co-founder of book social network Hardcover
Hardcover, LOOT, June
Solo founder of Typebot, the open, self-hostable chatbot builder
Typebot
Indie hacker from India who exited CursorClip and now builds TraceSig
TraceSig, CursorClip
One-person studio Amphibian Digital, maker of FrogDR and ramen.tools
FrogDR, ramen.tools, twelve.tools +1
Nomadic developer behind Saas UI, the React component library and SaaS starter kits
Saas UI, SaaS.js, Trevize +3
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
Canadian developer building a portfolio of niche directories, AI tools and SaaS
aitools.fyi, Amazing Newsletters, Invoice Mama +2
South African Elixir developer building Mailcast email forwarding and Sitesure monitoring
Mailcast, Sitesure
German developer building RewriteBar, an AI writing assistant for macOS, on the side
RewriteBar, A Wifi Place, SnooScan
Founder of 1000.tools, a curated directory capped at 1,000 tools
1000.tools, Picavatar, HuntedWall
Medical doctor turned self-taught full-stack developer and SaaS maker
Evotik, EmailCheckerAI
Bucharest-based product engineer building Krumzi, an AI graphic design tool
Krumzi, InstaCarousel
Wroclaw-based engineer who built and sold Bluesky Meter and Bluesky Stash
Bluesky Meter, Bluesky Stash, Listing Cat +1
Ex-Google Android DevRel engineer, Firebase GDE and maker of ShipFlutter
ShipFlutter, PiBi Studio
Marketer and newsletter writer who built an audience on Product Hunt
Business & Marketing with Nika
Swiss maker of xshot.me, tweet.md, ConfettiSaaS and other tools for X users and founders
xshot.me, tweet.md, ConfettiSaaS +3
Copenhagen software engineer building Race Calendar BG and Amounthly alongside a 9-5
Race Calendar BG, Amounthly, FileBridge
Indian founder of Boringlaunch, a done-for-you startup launch and SEO service
Boringlaunch, Report Card
Cognitive scientist turned founder, co-created the ReviewLab peer feedback platform
ReviewLab
SEO freelancer behind Boringlaunch, a done-for-you directory submission service
Boringlaunch
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Build in Public Legends FAQ
Who is in the Build in Public Legends collection?
138 indie makers are in this collection, including John Rush, Marc Lou, Pieter Levels, Adam Wathan and Kitze.
What qualifies a maker for Build in Public Legends?
Makers known for openly sharing revenue, metrics and lessons as they build.
What do makers in Build in Public Legends build?
The most common categories are SaaS Founders (71), Creators & Writers (50) and AI Builders (48).
Know a maker who belongs on this list? Submit a maker to IndieMakerList →