29 communities · 15 free · updated 2026
The top indie maker communities for bootstrapped founders, solo developers and side-project builders in 2026. This list covers 7 open forums, 11 paid communities, 8 subreddits and 3 event-led communities, plus 33 groups run by makers listed on IndieMakerList.
Free, public places to ask questions, share progress and launch.
indiehackers.com
The central online hub for bootstrapped founders, with discussion forums, product pages with public revenue, founder interviews and a long-running podcast. Founded by Courtland Allen and later acquired by Stripe before returning to independence.
news.ycombinator.com
Y Combinator's link aggregator and discussion forum, home of Show HN and a key hangout for technical founders.
producthunt.com/forums
Discussion forums inside Product Hunt where makers ask questions, share launches and talk shop.
dev.to
Open community and blogging platform for software developers, often used by makers to write about what they build.
womenmake.com
Community and forum for women makers and founders to share their work, journeys and advice.
startupschool.org
Y Combinator's free online program with curriculum, a founder community and co-founder matching.
peerlist.io/launchpad
Professional network for developers and designers with a weekly project launchpad and community feed.
Smaller, higher-signal groups with accountability, mentors and member perks.
wip.co
Paid community of makers who log daily progress, share what they ship and keep each other accountable, with weekly hangouts and member perks. Run by Marc Köhlbrugge.
megamaker.co
Private Slack community for indie makers founded in 2013, aimed at developers, designers and product people building side projects into businesses. Access is a one-time lifetime fee.
foundercafe.com
Invite-only private community of experienced bootstrapped founders, started by Mike Taber and rooted in the Micropreneur Academy and MicroConf circle. Members apply to join.
ramenclub.com
Paid community for bootstrapped SaaS founders working toward ramen profitability, with Slack accountability, weekly events and mentors. Formerly known as Indie Worldwide.
dynamitecircle.com
Vetted global community of location-independent founders, connected to the Tropical MBA podcast and running since 2011.
smallbets.com
Community and class library started by Daniel Vassallo for people building a portfolio of small, independent income streams.
nomads.com/community
Pieter Levels' community for digital nomads and remote workers, with chat, meetups and city data, popular with location-independent makers.
solofounders.com
Community, resource hub and residency for people building companies without a co-founder.
30x500.com/academy
Amy Hoy and Alex Hillman's course and community teaching research-driven product creation for bootstrappers.
startups.com
Platform for founders offering pitch deck reviews, investor matching and access to advisors, backed by a large founder community.
swipefiles.com
Membership with a community, courses and newsletter for SaaS founders building a sustainable marketing engine.
Large Reddit communities for feedback and launches. Follow each subreddit's self-promotion rules.
reddit.com/r/SideProject
Large subreddit where people share side projects, ask for feedback and celebrate launches.
reddit.com/r/indiehackers
Subreddit for indie hackers discussing ideas, launches, marketing and revenue milestones.
reddit.com/r/SaaS
Busy subreddit for SaaS founders covering growth tactics, pricing, churn and launches.
reddit.com/r/microsaas
Subreddit dedicated to small, often solo-run software businesses and the people building them.
reddit.com/r/EntrepreneurRideAlong
Subreddit where founders document their businesses in detail so others can follow along and learn.
reddit.com/r/buildinpublic
Subreddit for founders openly sharing progress, numbers and lessons as they build.
reddit.com/r/startups
Large, moderated subreddit for startup questions, from validation to fundraising.
reddit.com/r/Solopreneur
Subreddit for people running one-person businesses to swap advice and experiences.
Communities built around in-person conferences and masterminds.
microconf.com
The original community for bootstrapped B2B SaaS founders, known for its in-person conferences plus an online community and matched mastermind groups. Co-founded by Rob Walling.
saasiest.com
Network for B2B SaaS founders and operators built around events, content and a podcast.
businessofsoftware.org
Long-running conference and community for people building software businesses, focused on strategy and product.
Indie Hackers is still the default hub for bootstrapped founders, but these sites like Indie Hackers are worth joining if you want more accountability, a more technical crowd or a smaller, private group.
Best for daily accountability: log what you ship and keep a public streak with other makers.
Best for quick feedback: share a side project with one of the largest maker audiences on Reddit.
Best for technical founders: Show HN posts reach a huge developer audience.
Best for B2B SaaS: conferences, masterminds and an online community for bootstrappers.
Best one-time-fee option: a long-running private Slack for indie makers.
Best for getting to ramen profitability, with weekly events and mentors.
Best for building a portfolio of small income streams rather than one big bet.
Best for women makers and founders who want a supportive peer group.
Best for developers and designers who want a professional profile plus a weekly launchpad.
Groups started by makers profiled on IndieMakerList. Each links to the maker behind it.
30-day accountability program to ship a startup.
by Marc Lou
Private chat with thousands of indie makers, sold as an add-on to MAKE.
Lifetime-access club on self-hosting, home automation and local AI, with direct access to Kitze.
by Kitze
Small private Slack for bootstrapped founders with monthly group AMAs with Tibo.
Jack's founder community.
by Jack Friks
Paid community of makers who share daily progress and keep each other accountable.
Paid membership with unlimited case studies, idea and case-study databases.
by Pat Walls
Online community for self-funded entrepreneurs.
by Mike Taber
Conferences and community for bootstrapped SaaS founders, co-founded with Rob Walling.
by Mike Taber
Library of expert-led classes for entrepreneurs (closed to new members as of 2026).
Community for bootstrappers and makers.
Founder community with courses and accountability sessions, free tier plus passes from $99 per quarter.
Community for builders shipping with AI, run by Josh.
by Josh Pigford
Paid membership with live workshops, courses, build kits and a community for AI-assisted builders.
by Brian Casel
Indie game development forum and devlog community he runs.
by Derek Yu
Networking group for entrepreneurs with meetups in cities around the world.
Free Brazilian SEO group for swapping backlinks, guest posts and partnerships.
Daily-commit accountability group for builders.
by Jason Leow
Long-running community forum for Laravel and PHP questions.
by Jeffrey Way
Paid membership with full reports, daily standups and masterminds for solo founders.
by Dru Riley
Events, masterminds and resources for SaaS founders.
by Rob Walling
Private community for curious knowledge workers, including access to courses and workshops.
Paid community for developers growing their blogs through feedback and collaboration.
by Monica Lent
Community with weekly live streams, an SEO course, directory ideas database, playbook, site reviews and a 12-week accountability challenge.
by Frey Chu
Free community with a step-by-step course, templates and prompts for shipping MVPs with AI coding tools.
Vietnamese community for indie hackers and makers.
by Goon Nguyen
Community for programmers and tech professionals.
Free forum and groups for founders to share progress, ask for feedback and support each other.
Free founder forum for sharing progress, feedback and support.
Community and resource library for online course creators.
Volunteer-run Turkish community where Etsy sellers and beginners share ideas and help each other.
by Kerem Başalı
E-export event for Turkish online sellers.
by Kerem Başalı
Community, conferences and learning resources for software testing professionals.
by Rosie Sherry
Indie Hackers remains the biggest free hub, with WIP, MicroConf, MegaMaker and Ramen Club the most popular paid groups, and r/SideProject, r/SaaS and r/indiehackers the busiest subreddits. This page lists 29 communities, 15 of them free.
Good sites like Indie Hackers include WIP for daily accountability, Hacker News for technical feedback, MicroConf for B2B SaaS founders, Ramen Club and MegaMaker for private peer groups, and the r/SideProject subreddit for launch feedback.
Many are. 15 of the 29 communities listed here are free, including Indie Hackers, Hacker News and all 8 subreddits. Paid communities typically trade price for smaller groups, accountability and better signal.
For launch feedback, post on r/SideProject, Show HN on Hacker News and Indie Hackers. For launch-day upvotes, use a launchpad such as Product Hunt or DevHunt; see our list of product launch platforms.
Pick one or two communities, show up consistently, share real numbers and lessons rather than links, and help others before asking for feedback. Paid communities with accountability rituals tend to work best for staying on track.