diff ~/p/ali-abdaal ~/p/sahil-lavingia

Ali Abdaal vs Sahil Lavingia

Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.

Ali Abdaal

Doctor-turned-YouTuber, author of Feel-Good Productivity and Part-Time YouTuber Academy

@AliAbdaal United Kingdom

Sahil Lavingia

Founder of Gumroad and author of The Minimalist Entrepreneur

@shl United States

Ali Abdaal vs Sahil Lavingia at a glance

Both Ali Abdaal and Sahil Lavingia build in public. They overlap in Creators & Writers and Educators & Course Creators. Ali is based in United Kingdom, Sahil in Brooklyn, United States. Ali started in 2017 and Sahil in 2011. Ali Abdaal has 3 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Sahil Lavingia's 3. On revenue, Ali self-reports $4M+ in 2022 and Sahil $17.8M/yr (Gumroad, 2025). On X, Ali has about 356K followers and Sahil about 394K.

Side-by-side comparison

Based in: Ali Abdaal: United Kingdom; Sahil Lavingia: Brooklyn, United States
Started: Ali Abdaal: 2017 (9 yrs indie); Sahil Lavingia: 2011 (15 yrs indie)
Revenue (self-reported): Ali Abdaal: $4M+ in 2022self-reported, as of 2022 · source for Ali Abdaal's revenue; Sahil Lavingia: $17.8M/yr (Gumroad, 2025)self-reported, as of 2025 · source for Sahil Lavingia's revenue
Products listed: Ali Abdaal: 3; Sahil Lavingia: 3
Product status: Ali Abdaal: 3 active; Sahil Lavingia: 3 active
X followers: Ali Abdaal: 356K; Sahil Lavingia: 394K
Categories: Ali Abdaal: Creators & Writers Educators & Course Creators Productivity Tools; Sahil Lavingia: E-commerce Creators & Writers Educators & Course Creators Open Source Makers
Style: Ali Abdaal: builds in public; Sahil Lavingia: builds in public
Courses & resources: Ali Abdaal: 4; Sahil Lavingia: 1

Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.

Tech stack

No tools in common in their publicly listed stacks. See the indie maker tech stack.

Ali Abdaal

No stack shared publicly.

Sahil Lavingia

No stack shared publicly.

How they build

Ali Abdaal

Productivity should feel good, not grim
Start a creative side project alongside your job before going all in
Share the real numbers behind a creator business

Sahil Lavingia

Start with a community you are already part of, then build for it.
Do things manually before you build software, and build as little as possible.
Profitability gives you the freedom to make your own decisions.
Run the company in public: open metrics, open board meetings, open source.
Creators should own their audience and get paid directly.

Learn from Ali and Sahil

Ali Abdaal

[book] Feel-Good Productivity · Paid
[course] Part-Time YouTuber Academy · Paid
[youtube] Ali Abdaal on YouTube · Free
[newsletter] Ali Abdaal newsletter · Free

Sahil Lavingia

[book] The Minimalist Entrepreneur

Ali Abdaal vs Sahil Lavingia FAQ

Who makes more money, Ali Abdaal or Sahil Lavingia?

Ali Abdaal self-reports $4M+ in 2022 and Sahil Lavingia self-reports $17.8M/yr (Gumroad, 2025). By these self-reported figures, Sahil Lavingia's reported monthly revenue is higher. Figures are unaudited and may cover different periods or businesses, so treat them as rough indicators.

Who has built more products, Ali Abdaal or Sahil Lavingia?

Ali Abdaal has 3 products listed (Part-Time YouTuber Academy, Superfocus and 6med); Sahil Lavingia has 3 products listed (Gumroad, Flexile and Helper).