Photopea
photopea.com
Free advanced image editor in the browser that supports PSD, XCF, Sketch, XD and RAW files.
~$200K/mo
Ivan Kutskir
Solo developer of Photopea, the free browser-based Photoshop alternative
About Ivan Kutskir
Ivan Kutskir is a Ukrainian programmer based in Prague who single-handedly built Photopea, a free online image editor that runs entirely in the browser and opens PSD, XCF, Sketch and many other file formats. It is widely used as a lightweight alternative to Adobe Photoshop by designers, students and hobbyists.
He began working on the editor as a side project around 2012 and launched Photopea publicly in 2013. Over the following years it grew to millions of monthly users without any marketing team, investors or employees. Ivan writes the code, answers users and ships updates himself.
Photopea is monetized mainly through display ads, with an optional paid account that removes them. Ivan has said in interviews that it earns six figures a month while costing very little to host, which made him one of the best-known examples of a one-person software business.
Products by Ivan Kutskir
Builds indie alternatives to:Adobe Photoshop
Revenue
Ivan Kutskir has publicly reported ~$200K/mo (as of 2023). Source
- Revenue (monthly, log scale)
- First product
- Started 2013
- 2013First product: Launched Photopea as a free online photo editor
- 2017Revenue: Ads started: $400–500/month≈ $400/mo bestofama.com
- 2019Revenue: ~$250K revenue in 2019≈ $21K/mo bestofama.com
- 2020Revenue: Over $500K revenue in 2020≈ $42K/mo lunadio.com
- 2021Revenue: Photopea: ~10M visits, ~$100K/month≈ $100K/mo
- 2023Revenue: Photopea at $200K+/month≈ $200K/mo indiehackers.com
- 2024Revenue: $3M revenue in 2024≈ $250K/mo indiehackers.com
Timeline
- 2013 — Launched Photopea as a free online photo editor.
- 2021 — Reported about 10M monthly visits and roughly $100K per month, mostly from ads.
- 2023 — Said Photopea earns slightly over $200K a month, with ads making up most of the revenue.
How Ivan builds
- Build a genuinely useful free product and monetize with ads at scale.
- Keep costs tiny: no office, no employees, minimal hosting.
- Do everything yourself and ship steadily for years.
Ivan Kutskir FAQ
Who made Photopea?
Photopea was created and is still maintained by one developer, Ivan Kutskir.
How much does Photopea make?
In late 2023 Ivan said Photopea earned slightly over $200K per month, about 90% of it from ads.
Does Photopea have employees?
No. Ivan runs Photopea alone, with no employees or office.
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