diff ~/p/marc-kohlbrugge ~/p/pieter-levels

Marc Köhlbrugge vs Pieter Levels

Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.

Marc Köhlbrugge

Serial maker behind BetaList, WIP and Startup Jobs, shipping online for 20+ years

@marckohlbrugge Portugal

Pieter Levels

Solo maker behind Photo AI, Nomads.com, Remote OK, Interior AI and the MAKE book

@levelsio Portugal

Marc Köhlbrugge vs Pieter Levels at a glance

Both Marc Köhlbrugge and Pieter Levels are bootstrapped solo founders, build in public and are serial makers. They overlap in Directory Makers, AI Builders and SaaS Founders. Both are based in Portugal. Marc started in 2010 and Pieter in 2014. Marc Köhlbrugge has 14 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Pieter Levels' 8. Marc has sold 3 products. Pieter self-reports ~$219K/mo across products (as of 2026); Marc hasn't shared a revenue figure publicly. On X, Marc has about 89K followers and Pieter about 971K.

Side-by-side comparison

Based in: Marc Köhlbrugge: Portugal; Pieter Levels: Portugal
Started: Marc Köhlbrugge: 2010 (16 yrs indie); Pieter Levels: 2014 (12 yrs indie)
Revenue (self-reported): Marc Köhlbrugge: Not public; Pieter Levels: ~$219K/mo across productsself-reported, as of 2026 · source for Pieter Levels's revenue
Products listed: Marc Köhlbrugge: 14; Pieter Levels: 8
Product status: Marc Köhlbrugge: 11 active · 3 acquired; Pieter Levels: 8 active
X followers: Marc Köhlbrugge: 89K; Pieter Levels: 971K
Categories: Marc Köhlbrugge: Directory Makers Community Builders AI Builders SaaS Founders; Pieter Levels: AI Builders SaaS Founders Digital Nomads Directory Makers
Style: Marc Köhlbrugge: solobootstrappedbuilds in publicexitedserial maker; Pieter Levels: solobootstrappedbuilds in publicserial maker
Courses & resources: Marc Köhlbrugge: 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.

Tech stack

No tools in common in their publicly listed stacks. See the indie maker tech stack.

Marc Köhlbrugge

Ruby on RailsHotwireTailwind CSSPostgreSQLKamalDigitalOceanAmazon SES

Pieter Levels

PHPjQuerySQLiteVanilla JavaScriptReplicatesingle VPS

How they build

Marc Köhlbrugge

Ship often — many small launches teach you more than one big plan.
Build in public and let a community keep you accountable.
Great domain names are an underrated asset for small products.
Keep a simple, boring default stack so you can focus on shipping.
Help founders get their first users early, before launch day.

Pieter Levels

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 Marc and Pieter

Marc Köhlbrugge

[community] WIP
[book] Domain Book
[template] Tweet Photo got acquired
[podcast] How BetaList is helping startups get their first users (Mixergy)

Pieter Levels

[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

Marc Köhlbrugge vs Pieter Levels FAQ

Who makes more money, Marc Köhlbrugge or Pieter Levels?

Pieter Levels self-reports ~$219K/mo across products (as of 2026). Marc Köhlbrugge's revenue is not public, so a direct comparison isn't possible.

Who has built more products, Marc Köhlbrugge or Pieter Levels?

Marc Köhlbrugge has 14 products listed (including BetaList, WIP and Startup Jobs); Pieter Levels has 8 products listed (including Photo AI, Vibe Jam and Interior AI).

What tech stack do Marc Köhlbrugge and Pieter Levels use?

Marc Köhlbrugge uses Ruby on Rails, Hotwire, Tailwind CSS, PostgreSQL, Kamal and DigitalOcean. Pieter Levels uses PHP, jQuery, SQLite, Vanilla JavaScript, Replicate and single VPS. They don't list any tools in common.