Unicorn Platform
unicornplatform.com
Simple website, blog and directory builder for busy founders. 10,000+ directories have been built on it.
diff ~/p/john-rush ~/p/pieter-levels
John Rush vs Pieter Levels
Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.
John Rush vs Pieter Levels at a glance
Both John Rush and Pieter Levels are bootstrapped, build in public and are serial makers. They overlap in SaaS Founders, Directory Makers and AI Builders. John Rush has 23 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Pieter Levels' 8. John has sold 1 product. On revenue, John self-reports $3M/yr (as of 2025) and Pieter ~$219K/mo across products (as of 2026). On X, John has about 118K followers and Pieter about 971K.
Side-by-side comparison
- Based in
- John Rush: —
- Pieter Levels: Portugal
- Started
- John Rush: —
- Pieter Levels: 2014 (12 yrs indie)
- Revenue (self-reported)
- John Rush: $3M/yrself-reported, as of 2025 · source for John Rush's revenue
- Pieter Levels: ~$219K/mo across productsself-reported, as of 2026 · source for Pieter Levels's revenue
- Products listed
- John Rush: 23
- Pieter Levels: 8
- Product status
- John Rush: 22 active · 1 acquired
- Pieter Levels: 8 active
- X followers
- John Rush: 118K
- Pieter Levels: 971K
- Categories
- John Rush: SaaS FoundersDirectory MakersAI BuildersMarketing & SEO Tools
- Pieter Levels: AI BuildersSaaS FoundersDigital NomadsDirectory Makers
- Style
- John Rush: bootstrappedbuilds in publicexitedserial maker
- Pieter Levels: solobootstrappedbuilds in publicserial maker
- Courses & resources
- John Rush: 4
- Pieter Levels: 4
Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.
Top products
SEObot
seobotai.com
Fully autonomous SEO robot with AI agents that researches keywords and writes, publishes and interlinks blog articles.
ListingBott
listingbott.com
Lists your product on hundreds of relevant directories in one click to earn backlinks and domain rating.
DevHunt
devhunt.org
The launchpad for developer tools — 1,000+ dev tools launched and 200,000+ developers visiting.
Photo AI
photoai.com
AI photo generator that trains a model on your selfies to create realistic photos and videos of you.
$86K/mo
Vibe Jam
vibejam.com
Game jam for games built mostly with AI coding tools.
$44K/mo
Interior AI
interiorai.com
AI interior design tool that redesigns rooms from a single photo.
$21K/mo
Nomads.com (formerly Nomad List)
nomads.com
Community and city database for digital nomads, ranking places by cost, internet, safety and more.
$12K/mo
Tech stack
No tools in common in their publicly listed stacks. See the indie maker tech stack.
Unicorn PlatformNext.jsMarsXAI agents
PHPjQuerySQLiteVanilla JavaScriptReplicatesingle VPS
How they build
- Distribution beats building: spend more time on SEO and content than on code and design.
- Start SEO on day one — it takes 3–6 months to compound.
- Launch many small bets, at most a week each, and cross-link them.
- Stay founder-only until traction; skip hiring, outsourcing and paid design before $10k MRR.
- Talk like a human on social media and share both wins and failures.
- Ship fast and launch many small bets; most will fail, so volume matters.
- Use boring, familiar tech and keep everything on one server for as long as possible.
- Stay solo and automate work with code instead of hiring.
- Charge money early and grow organically rather than with ads or investors.
- Be radically transparent about revenue and failures.
Learn from John and Pieter
- [book] MAKE: The Indie Startup Manual · $29.99–$69.99
- [community] @levelsio chat on Telegram · +$25
- [podcast] Lex Fridman Podcast #440
- [newsletter] levels.io blog
John Rush vs Pieter Levels FAQ
Who makes more money, John Rush or Pieter Levels?
John Rush self-reports $3M/yr (as of 2025) and Pieter Levels self-reports ~$219K/mo across products (as of 2026). By these self-reported figures, John Rush'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, John Rush or Pieter Levels?
John Rush has 23 products listed (including Unicorn Platform, SEObot and ListingBott); Pieter Levels has 8 products listed (including Photo AI, Vibe Jam and Interior AI).
What tech stack do John Rush and Pieter Levels use?
John Rush uses Unicorn Platform, Next.js, MarsX and AI agents. Pieter Levels uses PHP, jQuery, SQLite, Vanilla JavaScript, Replicate and single VPS. They don't list any tools in common.
Where are John Rush and Pieter Levels based?
John Rush: not listed. Pieter Levels: Portugal.
Who has been an indie maker longer, John Rush or Pieter Levels?
John Rush's start year isn't listed; Pieter Levels started in 2014 (12 years indie).
Are John Rush and Pieter Levels bootstrapped?
Yes, both are listed as bootstrapped founders on IndieMakerList.
Full profiles
Read the full story, timeline and links on John Rush's profile and Pieter Levels's profile.
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