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🚀 Indie Dev Toolkit

A curated list of essential tools and resources for indie hackers, solo founders, and bootstrapped startups building both web and mobile apps. Whether you're launching your MVP or scaling your product, this list offers free and freemium options to help you succeed without breaking the bank!

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[!IMPORTANT] Disclaimer: This list is a carefully curated selection of tools I've personally tested and found valuable. It prioritizes free and freemium options, excluding tools without free tiers. While not exhaustive, it aims to highlight the most useful resources for indie hackers.

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📚 Table of Contents


🛠️ Development Infrastructure

Overview

Tools for hosting, backend management, and deployment to help build and scale applications.

Backend & Hosting

💎 Top Free Pick:

ToolDescriptionPricing
AmplifyAWS-backed hosting and deployment platform for web apps.Free / $15/month
AppwriteSelf-hostable backend server for web and mobile apps.Free / $15/month
CoolifyOpen-source alternative to Heroku & Netlify.Free trial / $5/month
Digital OceanCloud hosting with an affordable entry-level plan.Free / $5/month
RailwayModern platform for deploying web apps quickly.Free trial / $5/month

Automation & Event-Driven Services

ToolDescriptionPricing
TriggerAutomate workflows on event triggers.Free / $10/month

File & Media Management

ToolDescriptionPricing
CloudinaryMedia management and optimization platform.Free / $89/month
UploadthingFile upload service for developers.Free / $10/month

🔐 Authentication & Authorization

Overview

Authentication solutions to secure your applications.

💎 Top Free Pick:

ToolDescriptionPricing
KindeSimple authentication solution for apps.Free / $10/month

🗄️ Databases & Data Management

Overview

Databases and data management solutions to handle scaling data needs.

💎 Top Free Picks:

ToolDescriptionPricing
FaunaDistributed document-relational database as an API.Free / $150/month
FirebaseRealtime NoSQL database.Free / Pay as you go
MongoDB AtlasManaged MongoDB in the cloud.Free / Pay as you go
PlanetScaleServerless MySQL database platform.Depends on usage
upstashServerless Redis & Kafka with per-request pricing.Free / Pay as you go
xataServerless database with built-in search and analytics.Free / $20/month

Search and Indexing

ToolDescriptionPricing
AlgoliaSearch-as-a-service platform. Generous free tier available.Free / Pay as you go
TypesenseOpen-source, typo-tolerant search engine for instant search experiences.Free (Open Source)

📝 Content Management Systems (CMS)

💎 Top Free Pick:

ToolDescriptionPricing
ContentfulHeadless CMS for managing content. Generous free tier available.Free / $10/month
StrapiOpen-source headless CMS solution. Fully customizable.Free / $10/month

🏗️ Website Builders & Frameworks

Overview

Frameworks and tools for building websites efficiently.

💎 Top Free Pick:

ToolDescriptionPricing
BuildshipLow-code visual way to build your app, apis.Free / $25/month
RewebVisual website builder for Next.js & Tailwind.Free / $17/month

UI Components & Libraries

ToolDescriptionPricing
MagicUIUI library with pre-built components for engineers.Free
shadcnCustomizable React component library.Free
Tailwind CSSUtility-first CSS framework for creating modern designs quickly.Free

🤖 AI-Powered Development

Overview

Tools that use AI to enhance development workflows (this may often change).

💎 Top Free Pick:

ToolDescriptionPricing
v0Generate UI with simple text promptsFree / $20/month
bolt.newAI-Powered Full-Stack Web Development in the Browser.Free (Open Source) / $20/month
replitAI-powered software development & deployment platform.Free / $15/month

🎨 Design & UI

Overview

Design resources to create attractive user interfaces.

UI Components & Icons

💎 Top Free Picks:

Design Resources

ResourceDescriptionPricing
unDrawOpen-source illustrations for various use cases.Free
HeroiconsMIT-licensed SVG icons for modern web projects.Free
MobbinCollection of mobile app designs for inspiration.Free / $19/month

📊 Analytics & Monitoring

Overview

Tools to monitor performance, analyze traffic, and track errors.

💎 Top Free Picks:

ToolDescriptionPricing
FathomSimple, privacy-focused alternative to Google Analytics.30 day free trial / $15/month
PlausibleLightweight, privacy-first web analytics tool.$6/month
PosthogOpen-source product analytics platform to monitor user behavior across apps.Free / Usage based
SentryError tracking and performance monitoring for web and mobile appsFree / $26/month
MixpanelAdvanced analytics platform for tracking user behavior.Free (first year free for startups) / $24/month

Link Tracking

ToolDescriptionPricing
dub.coLink tracking and analytics for your links.Free / $19/month

💰 Payments & Billing

Overview

Payment solutions to manage subscriptions, invoices, and transactions.

💎 Top Free Picks:

ServiceDescriptionPricing
Lemon SqueezyAll-in-one platform for selling digital products and managing subscriptions.Free / Transaction fee %
PaddleComplete payments, tax, and subscription management solution for SaaS.Pay as you go
RevenueCatSubscription management system for mobile apps.Free / 1%

📣 Marketing & Growth

Overview

Gather tools that can help you market your product effectively and grow your audience.

Idea Validation

ToolDescriptionPricing
Sensor TowerApp store analytics and insights.Free / Per feature
Google TrendsSearch analytics and insights.Free

Launch and Community Platforms

ToolDescription
Product HuntPlatform for sharing and discovering new products and startups.
Indie HackersCommunity of founders sharing experiences and insights.
Hacker NewsSocial news website focusing on computer science and entrepreneurship.
Reddit / r/startupsNetwork of interest-based communities.
Reddit / r/advancedentrepreneurNetwork of interest-based communities.
BetalistPlatform for discovering and getting early access to startups.
UneedLaunch platform for products.
ToolfolioTool Directory for digital creators.
MicrolaunchCommunity-driven platform for launching and discovering micro-startups.

Email Marketing

💎 Top Free Picks:

ToolDescriptionPricing
00Suite of growth tools for startups and small businesses.Free / Pre-order Pro
LoopsEmail marketing platform for sending newsletters and promotions.Free up to 1,000 contacts / $49/month

SEO Tools

💎 Top Free Picks:

ToolDescriptionPricing
SEMrushComprehensive suite for SEO, content marketing, and competitive research.Free / $X/month

📝 Project & Product Management

Overview

Manage your projects efficiently with these tools designed for product teams.

💎 Top Free Picks:

ToolDescriptionPricing
EraserCollaborative whiteboard tool for diagrams and mind maps.Free / $10/month
FeaturebaseFeature voting and roadmap tool for product teams.Free / $49/month
LogchimpTrack customer' feedback to make product decisions with easeFree (Open Source)
RetoolBuild internal tools with 100+ pre-built UI components.Free / $10/month
WishkitBuild better iOS apps with customer feedback.Free / $15/month

If you found this list helpful, please consider starring ⭐ and watching 👀 the repository to stay updated!


💡 My Pro Tips for Indie Hackers

🌟 Community Recommendations

An example of my usual Stack

What is yours?

Here will be brief examples of how indie hackers have leveraged these tools to build successful projects:

Feel free to share your success stories with a list of tools you used and your project in the discussions section of this repository.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Q: How often is this list updated? A: I aim to update this list monthly, you can always "watch" this repo to get notified of updates.

  2. Q: Can I suggest a tool to be added to the list? A: I'm not currently accepting contributions to this list, but I'm always interested in hearing about new tools that could be valuable to indie hackers. Please see the CONTRIBUTING file for guidelines on how to submit suggestions.

  3. Q: Are the free tiers of these tools sufficient for launching an MVP? A: In many cases, yes. However, it depends on your specific project requirements. Always check the limitations of free tiers.

  4. Q: Have you tested all these tools? A: Not all of them! But I've tested a little bit more than half of them and I'm using some of them in my own projects. I've also used the free tiers of many of these tools to launch side projects or at my day job.

🤝 Contributing

Have you used any of these tools or have suggestions for others? Your experiences and insights are valuable!

Feel free to check the CONTRIBUTING file for more information.

📣 Feedback

I'm always looking to improve this list. If you have any feedback, suggestions, or questions, please open an issue or start a discussion.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the terms of the MIT license. You are free to use, modify, and distribute this list in accordance with the license.