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Nathan Barry vs Thomas Frank

Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.

Nathan Barry

Founder of Kit (ConvertKit), bootstrapped from a failing side project to $1M+ MRR

@nathanbarry United States

Thomas Frank

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

@TomFrankly United States

Nathan Barry vs Thomas Frank at a glance

Both Nathan Barry and Thomas Frank are bootstrapped and build in public. They overlap in Creators & Writers and Educators & Course Creators. Nathan is based in Boise, United States, Thomas in Des Moines, United States. Nathan started in 2012 and Thomas in 2010. Nathan Barry has 1 product listed on IndieMakerList vs Thomas Frank's 5. On revenue, Nathan self-reports $1.19M MRR (ConvertKit) (as of 2019) and Thomas $1M in Notion template sales (2022). On X, Nathan has about 152K followers and Thomas about 145K.

Side-by-side comparison

Based in: Nathan Barry: Boise, United States; Thomas Frank: Des Moines, United States
Started: Nathan Barry: 2012 (14 yrs indie); Thomas Frank: 2010 (16 yrs indie)
Revenue (self-reported): Nathan Barry: $1.19M MRR (ConvertKit)self-reported, as of 2019 · source for Nathan Barry's revenue; Thomas Frank: $1M in Notion template sales (2022)self-reported, as of 2022 · source for Thomas Frank's revenue
Products listed: Nathan Barry: 1; Thomas Frank: 5
Product status: Nathan Barry: 1 active; Thomas Frank: 5 active
X followers: Nathan Barry: 152K; Thomas Frank: 145K
Categories: Nathan Barry: SaaS Founders Marketing & SEO Tools Creators & Writers Educators & Course Creators; Thomas Frank: Creators & Writers Productivity Tools Educators & Course Creators Browser Extension Makers
Style: Nathan Barry: bootstrappedbuilds in public; Thomas Frank: bootstrappedbuilds in public
Courses & resources: Nathan Barry: 4; 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.

Nathan Barry

No stack shared publicly.

Thomas Frank

NotionLemon SqueezyCirclePipedreamJavaScript

How they build

Nathan Barry

Teach everything you know and work in public.
Pick a narrow niche first, then expand once you win it.
Direct sales and concierge onboarding can unlock early SaaS growth.
Stay independent so you answer only to customers.
Consistent creation compounds into authority over 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 Nathan and Thomas

Nathan Barry

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

Nathan Barry vs Thomas Frank FAQ

Who makes more money, Nathan Barry or Thomas Frank?

Nathan Barry self-reports $1.19M MRR (ConvertKit) (as of 2019) and Thomas Frank self-reports $1M in Notion template sales (2022). By these self-reported figures, Nathan Barry'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, Nathan Barry or Thomas Frank?

Nathan Barry has 1 product listed (Kit (formerly ConvertKit)); Thomas Frank has 5 products listed (including Ultimate Brain, Creator's Companion and Flylighter).