Watchdog
watchdog.chat
AI community moderation for Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp and more that blocks spam, scams and trolls.
$444/mo
diff ~/p/ben-katz ~/p/josh-pigford
Ben Katz vs Josh Pigford
Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.
Ex-DoorDash staff engineer building Watchdog AI moderation and flightschools.fyi
@ben_makes_stuff United States
Serial dabbler who built and sold Baremetrics for $4M, now shipping AI products
@Shpigford
Ben Katz vs Josh Pigford at a glance
Both Ben Katz and Josh Pigford build in public and are serial makers. They overlap in AI Builders, SaaS Founders and Community Builders. Ben Katz has 4 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Josh Pigford's 8. Josh has sold 1 product. Ben self-reports $444 MRR (as of 2025); Josh hasn't shared a revenue figure publicly. On X, Ben has about 829 followers and Josh about 76K.
Side-by-side comparison
- Based in
- Ben Katz: New York, United States
- Josh Pigford: —
- Started
- Ben Katz: —
- Josh Pigford: 2013 (13 yrs indie)
- Revenue (self-reported)
- Ben Katz: $444 MRRself-reported, as of 2025 · source for Ben Katz's revenue
- Josh Pigford: Not public
- Products listed
- Ben Katz: 4
- Josh Pigford: 8
- Product status
- Ben Katz: 3 active · 1 shut down
- Josh Pigford: 6 active · 1 acquired · 1 shut down
- X followers
- Ben Katz: 829
- Josh Pigford: 76K
- Categories
- Ben Katz: AI BuildersSaaS FoundersDirectory MakersCommunity Builders
- Josh Pigford: SaaS FoundersAnalytics & DataAI BuildersCommunity Builders
- Style
- Ben Katz: solobootstrappedbuilds in publicserial maker
- Josh Pigford: builds in publicexitedserial maker
- Courses & resources
- Ben Katz: —
- Josh Pigford: 3
Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.
Top products
F
flightschools.fyi
flightschools.fyi
Free directory comparing US flight schools by price, fleet, instructors and quality score.
H
Hackayork
hackayork.com
Indie hacker meetup in New York City for building, demos and community.
Tool that helped websites stay off domain blacklists; shut down after a year.
Subscription analytics and revenue metrics for Stripe and other billing platforms, famous for its open startup dashboard.
Sold for $4M
Personal finance and net-worth app that was open-sourced as a self-hostable project after the original company wound down.
Knockoff
knockoff.co
Brand protection software for Shopify stores that finds copycat listings, builds evidence and files takedowns.
G
Granite
granite.co
AI document vault that reads, files and lets you search your important paperwork in plain English.
Tech stack
No tools in common in their publicly listed stacks. See the indie maker tech stack.
GoAstro
Ruby on Rails
How they build
- Bootstrap small, profitable software businesses.
- Shut down products that do not find customers and move on.
- Build alongside other makers in person.
- Be open about your numbers — transparency builds trust and an audience.
- The early, anything-goes phase of building is where the creative energy lives.
- Ship a first version fast; Baremetrics' MVP took about a week.
- If a product doesn't work as a company, open-sourcing it can give it a second life.
Learn from Ben and Josh
No courses, books or communities listed.
- [community] Initial Commit · $199
- [podcast] A $4M Exit with Josh Pigford (Startups for the Rest of Us)
- [podcast] The Open-Source Transformation of Maybe (The Bootstrapped Founder)
Ben Katz vs Josh Pigford FAQ
Who makes more money, Ben Katz or Josh Pigford?
Ben Katz self-reports $444 MRR (as of 2025). Josh Pigford's revenue is not public, so a direct comparison isn't possible.
Who has built more products, Ben Katz or Josh Pigford?
Ben Katz has 4 products listed (including Watchdog, flightschools.fyi and Hackayork); Josh Pigford has 8 products listed (including Baremetrics, Maybe and Knockoff).
What tech stack do Ben Katz and Josh Pigford use?
Ben Katz uses Go and Astro. Josh Pigford uses Ruby on Rails. They don't list any tools in common.
Where are Ben Katz and Josh Pigford based?
Ben Katz: New York, United States. Josh Pigford: not listed.
Who has been an indie maker longer, Ben Katz or Josh Pigford?
Ben Katz's start year isn't listed; Josh Pigford started in 2013 (13 years indie).
Are Ben Katz and Josh Pigford bootstrapped?
Ben Katz is listed as bootstrapped; Josh Pigford isn't tagged as bootstrapped on IndieMakerList.
Full profiles
Read the full story, timeline and links on Ben Katz's profile and Josh Pigford's profile.
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Ben Katz vs Thomas Sanlis
Ben Katz vs Ayush Chaturvedi
Josh Pigford vs Monica Lent