Part-Time YouTuber Academy
aliabdaal.com
Course teaching people to grow a YouTube channel alongside a day job.
diff ~/p/ali-abdaal ~/p/thomas-frank
Ali Abdaal vs Thomas Frank
Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.
Doctor-turned-YouTuber, author of Feel-Good Productivity and Part-Time YouTuber Academy
@AliAbdaal United Kingdom
Productivity YouTuber behind Ultimate Brain, Notion tutorials and the Flylighter clipper
@TomFrankly United States
Ali Abdaal vs Thomas Frank at a glance
Both Ali Abdaal and Thomas Frank build in public. They overlap in Creators & Writers, Educators & Course Creators and Productivity Tools. Ali is based in United Kingdom, Thomas in Des Moines, United States. Ali started in 2017 and Thomas in 2010. Ali Abdaal has 3 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Thomas Frank's 5. On revenue, Ali self-reports $4M+ in 2022 and Thomas $1M in Notion template sales (2022). On X, Ali has about 356K followers and Thomas about 145K.
Side-by-side comparison
- Based in
- Ali Abdaal: United Kingdom
- Thomas Frank: Des Moines, United States
- Started
- Ali Abdaal: 2017 (9 yrs indie)
- Thomas Frank: 2010 (16 yrs indie)
- Revenue (self-reported)
- Ali Abdaal: $4M+ in 2022self-reported, as of 2022 · source for Ali Abdaal's revenue
- Thomas Frank: $1M in Notion template sales (2022)self-reported, as of 2022 · source for Thomas Frank's revenue
- Products listed
- Ali Abdaal: 3
- Thomas Frank: 5
- Product status
- Ali Abdaal: 3 active
- Thomas Frank: 5 active
- X followers
- Ali Abdaal: 356K
- Thomas Frank: 145K
- Categories
- Ali Abdaal: Creators & WritersEducators & Course CreatorsProductivity Tools
- Thomas Frank: Creators & WritersProductivity ToolsEducators & Course CreatorsBrowser Extension Makers
- Style
- Ali Abdaal: builds in public
- Thomas Frank: bootstrappedbuilds in public
- Courses & resources
- Ali Abdaal: 4
- Thomas Frank: 5
Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.
Top products
Superfocus
superfocus.me
App combining goals, calendar, focus sessions and coaching into a weekly planning system.
6
6med
6med.co.uk
Medical school admissions courses he co-founded while at Cambridge.
Ultimate Brain
thomasjfrank.com
All-in-one second brain template for Notion combining tasks, notes, projects and goals.
$760K in 2022
Creator's Companion
thomasjfrank.com
Notion template for planning, producing and tracking YouTube and content projects.
Flylighter
flylighter.com
Fast web clipper that captures articles, highlights, notes and YouTube timestamps into Notion databases.
College Info Geek
collegeinfogeek.com
Long-running site helping students study efficiently and prepare for their careers.
Tech stack
No tools in common in their publicly listed stacks. See the indie maker tech stack.
No stack shared publicly.
NotionLemon SqueezyCirclePipedreamJavaScript
How they build
- 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
- Aim to get slightly better at a skill with every new project.
- Create things of value and also show up in the community around them.
- A smaller, focused audience can earn more than a huge general one.
- Treat Notion as a toolkit for building your own productivity systems.
- Give away genuinely useful free education alongside paid products.
Learn from Ali and Thomas
- [book] Feel-Good Productivity · Paid
- [course] Part-Time YouTuber Academy · Paid
- [youtube] Ali Abdaal on YouTube · Free
- [newsletter] Ali Abdaal newsletter · Free
- [youtube] Thomas Frank
- [course] Notion Fundamentals · Free
- [book] 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades · Free (digital)
- [podcast] The Inforium
- [template] Free Notion templates · Free
Ali Abdaal vs Thomas Frank FAQ
Who makes more money, Ali Abdaal or Thomas Frank?
Ali Abdaal self-reports $4M+ in 2022 and Thomas Frank self-reports $1M in Notion template sales (2022). By these self-reported figures, Ali Abdaal'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 Thomas Frank?
Ali Abdaal has 3 products listed (Part-Time YouTuber Academy, Superfocus and 6med); Thomas Frank has 5 products listed (including Ultimate Brain, Creator's Companion and Flylighter).
What tech stack do Ali Abdaal and Thomas Frank use?
Ali Abdaal hasn't shared a stack. Thomas Frank uses Notion, Lemon Squeezy, Circle, Pipedream and JavaScript. They don't list any tools in common.
Where are Ali Abdaal and Thomas Frank based?
Ali Abdaal: United Kingdom. Thomas Frank: Des Moines, United States.
Who has been an indie maker longer, Ali Abdaal or Thomas Frank?
Ali Abdaal started in 2017 (9 years indie); Thomas Frank started in 2010 (16 years indie).
Are Ali Abdaal and Thomas Frank bootstrapped?
Thomas Frank is listed as bootstrapped; Ali Abdaal isn't tagged as bootstrapped on IndieMakerList.
Full profiles
Read the full story, timeline and links on Ali Abdaal's profile and Thomas Frank's profile.
Ali Abdaal vs Easlo
Ali Abdaal vs Sahil Lavingia
Thomas Frank vs Pat Walls
Thomas Frank vs Nathan Barry
Thomas Frank vs Justin Welsh
Thomas Frank vs Paweł Huryn