Ellie
ellieplanner.com
Minimalist daily planner with brain dump, timeboxing and calendar timeline across web, desktop and iOS.
diff ~/p/chris-raroque ~/p/marco-arment
Chris Raroque vs Marco Arment
Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.
Solo developer of the Ellie daily planner and other productivity apps, YouTuber
@raroque United States
Indie iOS developer of Overcast and Unforgetful, previously Instapaper and Tumblr
@marcoarment United States
Chris Raroque vs Marco Arment at a glance
Both Chris Raroque and Marco Arment are bootstrapped solo founders. They overlap in Mobile App Makers and Creators & Writers. Chris is based in Dallas, United States, Marco in New York, United States. Chris started in 2021 and Marco in 2008. Chris Raroque has 4 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Marco Arment's 5. Marco has sold 2 products. On X, Chris has about 18K followers and Marco about 105K.
Side-by-side comparison
- Based in
- Chris Raroque: Dallas, United States
- Marco Arment: New York, United States
- Started
- Chris Raroque: 2021 (5 yrs indie)
- Marco Arment: 2008 (18 yrs indie)
- Revenue (self-reported)
- Chris Raroque: Not public
- Marco Arment: Not public
- Products listed
- Chris Raroque: 4
- Marco Arment: 5
- Product status
- Chris Raroque: 4 active
- Marco Arment: 3 active · 2 acquired
- X followers
- Chris Raroque: 18K
- Marco Arment: 105K
- Categories
- Chris Raroque: Productivity ToolsMobile App MakersCreators & Writers
- Marco Arment: Mobile App MakersCreators & Writers
- Style
- Chris Raroque: solobootstrappedbuilds in publicserial maker
- Marco Arment: solobootstrappedexited
- Courses & resources
- Chris Raroque: 1
- Marco Arment: 2
Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.
Top products
Overcast
overcast.fm
Popular indie podcast player for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch with Smart Speed and Voice Boost.
U
Unforgetful
unforgetful.app
Reminders app built on Apple Reminders that keeps reminding you until tasks are done, made for forgetful people and ADHD; iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Read-later service for saving articles; Arment sold a controlling interest to Betaworks in 2013.
FI Driving
apps.apple.com
Community app for sharing driving-condition reports on Fire Island, made for local residents.
Tech stack
No tools in common in their publicly listed stacks. See the indie maker tech stack.
ReactSwiftUIFirebaseSupabaseVercelPostHog
SwiftObjective-CPHPMySQL
How they build
- Build tools you use every day yourself.
- Keep apps simple and design-led rather than feature-heavy.
- Document the journey publicly to find early users.
- Run several small focused apps instead of one sprawling product.
- Build the app you want to use yourself, and polish details others ignore.
- Respect user privacy and avoid invasive tracking.
- Keep the business small enough that one person can run it sustainably.
Learn from Chris and Marco
- [youtube] Chris Raroque on YouTube
- [podcast] Accidental Tech Podcast
- [podcast] Under the Radar
Chris Raroque vs Marco Arment FAQ
Who makes more money, Chris Raroque or Marco Arment?
Neither Chris Raroque nor Marco Arment has publicly reported a revenue figure that IndieMakerList tracks, so it's not public.
Who has built more products, Chris Raroque or Marco Arment?
Chris Raroque has 4 products listed (including Ellie, Amy and Luna); Marco Arment has 5 products listed (including Overcast, Unforgetful and Instapaper).
What tech stack do Chris Raroque and Marco Arment use?
Chris Raroque uses React, SwiftUI, Firebase, Supabase, Vercel and PostHog. Marco Arment uses Swift, Objective-C, PHP and MySQL. They don't list any tools in common.
Where are Chris Raroque and Marco Arment based?
Chris Raroque: Dallas, United States. Marco Arment: New York, United States.
Who has been an indie maker longer, Chris Raroque or Marco Arment?
Chris Raroque started in 2021 (5 years indie); Marco Arment started in 2008 (18 years indie).
Are Chris Raroque and Marco Arment bootstrapped?
Yes, both are listed as bootstrapped founders on IndieMakerList.
Full profiles
Read the full story, timeline and links on Chris Raroque's profile and Marco Arment's profile.
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