What is an Indie Hacker?

An Indie Hacker (Independent Hacker) is an individual or a small team that bootstraps a startup by building a software or app (often SaaS) and commercializing it to generate profit.

Bootstrapping — Starting from zero

The defining characteristic of an Indie Hacker is the spirit of Bootstrapping. Instead of spending months building a pitch deck to seek funding from Venture Capital (VC), they use their own programming skills to build the product.

They pay server costs out of their own pockets and use customer revenue to sustain the project. This allows them to retain full control over the product's future without the pressure to "grow at all costs" from investors.

Micro-SaaS & Passive Income

Rather than building unicorn projects that change the world, most Indie Hackers aim for Micro-SaaS. These are small-scale software solutions focused on solving problems in a very specific niche market.

• MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue): The most common metric of success for recurring businesses.
• Automation: Indie Hackers build automated systems so their products can operate and generate money even while they sleep.

Connecting with the Community

The concept was popularized by the IndieHackers.com community. Today, the most active platform for Indie Hackers is X (Twitter), where they practice Open Startups (sharing revenue publicly) and learn from one another.