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Categories

What people here are building, grouped by the kind of thing it is.

Developer tools12 projects

Things built by developers for developers — CLIs, libraries, infrastructure, the unglamorous plumbing. Usually started to scratch the maker's own itch, which is why they tend to be good.

Software8 projects

Installed software rather than something you log into — desktop and mobile applications you download and own. Independent software still has a real market here, mostly because the incumbents got expensive and subscription-only.

Directories7 projects

Curated lists and discovery sites. Easy to start, hard to keep alive — the ones worth listing here are the ones still being maintained.

Growth & marketing7 projects

Tools for getting a product in front of people — SEO and backlinks, conversion optimization, social growth and launches. Mostly web apps from one- and two-person teams who treat distribution as a product problem.

AI tools6 projects

Products built on top of models rather than training them. The fastest-moving category here, and the one where 'currently running' is most worth checking before you trust a listing.

SaaS infrastructure4 projects

The pieces you'd rather not build again: auth, licensing, billing, webhooks, background jobs. Independent alternatives to the incumbents, often cheaper because they're run by one person.

productivity3 projects
Video tools3 projects

Editors, compressors, capture tools and rendering pipelines. A category where independent desktop software still competes with the big suites, because the big suites are slow and expensive.

desktop tools1 project
education1 project
leisure1 project
media1 project
utility1 project
Web design1 project

Studios and solo designers building sites for other people — usually a handful of clients at a time rather than a product. Look here if you're trying to find someone to build something for you.