diff ~/p/justin-welsh ~/p/thomas-frank

Justin Welsh vs Thomas Frank

Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.

Justin Welsh

Solopreneur who passed $10M in revenue with a one-person business

@thejustinwelsh United States

Thomas Frank

Productivity YouTuber behind Ultimate Brain, Notion tutorials and the Flylighter clipper

@TomFrankly United States

Justin Welsh vs Thomas Frank at a glance

Both Justin Welsh and Thomas Frank are bootstrapped and build in public. They overlap in Creators & Writers and Educators & Course Creators. Justin is based in United States, Thomas in Des Moines, United States. Justin started in 2019 and Thomas in 2010. Justin Welsh has 3 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Thomas Frank's 5. On revenue, Justin self-reports $10M+ total revenue (lifetime) (as of 2025) and Thomas $1M in Notion template sales (2022). On X, Justin has about 592K followers and Thomas about 145K.

Side-by-side comparison

Based in: Justin Welsh: United States; Thomas Frank: Des Moines, United States
Started: Justin Welsh: 2019 (7 yrs indie); Thomas Frank: 2010 (16 yrs indie)
Revenue (self-reported): Justin Welsh: $10M+ total revenue (lifetime)self-reported, as of 2025 · source for Justin Welsh's revenue; Thomas Frank: $1M in Notion template sales (2022)self-reported, as of 2022 · source for Thomas Frank's revenue
Products listed: Justin Welsh: 3; Thomas Frank: 5
Product status: Justin Welsh: 3 active; Thomas Frank: 5 active
X followers: Justin Welsh: 592K; Thomas Frank: 145K
Categories: Justin Welsh: Creators & Writers Educators & Course Creators; Thomas Frank: Creators & Writers Productivity Tools Educators & Course Creators Browser Extension Makers
Style: Justin Welsh: solobootstrappedbuilds in public; Thomas Frank: bootstrappedbuilds in public
Courses & resources: Justin Welsh: 3; Thomas Frank: 5

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.

Justin Welsh

No stack shared publicly.

Thomas Frank

NotionLemon SqueezyCirclePipedreamJavaScript

How they build

Justin Welsh

Build a portfolio of one-person businesses designed around the life you want.
Create content consistently to build an audience, then productize what works.
Listen closely to your audience and build the products they ask for.
Keep costs and complexity low to protect high margins and free time.

Thomas Frank

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 Justin and Thomas

Justin Welsh

[course] The LinkedIn Operating System · $200
[course] The Content Operating System · $200
[newsletter] The Saturday Essay

Thomas Frank

[youtube] Thomas Frank
[course] Notion Fundamentals · Free
[book] 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades · Free (digital)
[podcast] The Inforium
[template] Free Notion templates · Free

Justin Welsh vs Thomas Frank FAQ

Who makes more money, Justin Welsh or Thomas Frank?

Justin Welsh self-reports $10M+ total revenue (lifetime) (as of 2025) and Thomas Frank self-reports $1M in Notion template sales (2022). By these self-reported figures, Justin Welsh'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, Justin Welsh or Thomas Frank?

Justin Welsh has 3 products listed (The LinkedIn Operating System, The Content Operating System and The Saturday Essay); Thomas Frank has 5 products listed (including Ultimate Brain, Creator's Companion and Flylighter).