Where indie makers and founders gather
Last checked October 10, 2026.
People who make a product and look for its first users: indie developers, solo founders, small SaaS teams.
On Reddit
| Community | Members | Posts that week | Still up | About finding first users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| r/saas | 817,822 | 1,364 | 752 | 103 |
| r/sideproject | 859,415 | 7,880 | 2,380 | 102 |
| r/buildinpublic | 121,211 | 929 | 764 | 91 |
| r/microsaas | 219,464 | 570 | 275 | 49 |
| r/appbusiness | 147,996 | 394 | 327 | 31 |
| r/saasbuild | 55,791 | 347 | 257 | 19 |
| r/appmarketing | 4,499 | 117 | 100 | 17 |
On X
| Community | Members | Posts that week | Still up | About finding first users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build in Public | 268,200 | — | — | — |
No public archive covers this platform, so there is no week's count: its own page was read once.
Build in Public
“Share what you're working on. Get feedback. Help each other move forward.”
The community’s own description, read without signing in on October 6, 2026.
x.comits own pagechecked October 10, 2026
How these were counted
Each place was read through for one week, September 27, 2026 to October 3, 2026, in Arctic Shift, a public archive. “Posts that week” is everything posted there; “still up” is what other people could still see afterwards; “about this” is how many of those were judged to be about the question below.
A post counted when it was about getting a product found by its first users: the question of one product, ahahmm itself. The places have not yet been judged again on the plainer question, whether these people are here.
A place is listed when at least 15 of its posts that week were about this, and at least 4 in 100 of the posts still up.
Read and left out
- r/alphaandbetausers34 of 709 posts still up were about this
- r/sideprojects15 of 676 posts still up were about this
- r/smallbusiness12 of 563 posts still up were about this
- r/entrepreneurridealong10 of 119 posts still up were about this
- r/startups9 of 114 posts still up were about this
- r/growthhacking8 of 80 posts still up were about this
- r/startup_ideas4 of 97 posts still up were about this
- r/indiehackers8 of 642 posts still up were about this
- r/roastmystartup0 of 159 posts still up were about this
What the platforms themselves say
Hacker News
“So the way to make a news site for startup founders is to make it be about more than just startups.”
The same page. They are a minority: in a self-selected poll on the site in 2023, founders and indie developers were 188 of 552 votes.
news.ycombinator.comits own pagechecked October 10, 2026
V2EX
“V2EX 非常欢迎独立开发者把他们的新作发布到这里。”
The description of its node for one's own work, 分享创造 (October 23, 2021). In English: V2EX warmly welcomes indie developers to publish their new work here. The same passage says posting there can bring your first users.
v2ex.comits own pagechecked October 10, 2026
Indie Hackers
“Indie Hackers is a place where the founders of profitable businesses and side projects can share their stories transparently”
indiehackers.comits own pagechecked October 6, 2026
X
“Share what you're working on. Get feedback. Help each other move forward.”
x.comits own pagechecked October 10, 2026
Where they also are, and no one outside can read
private groups
“commenting in relevant Slack groups/channels”
A maker's own account in a 573-point thread (May 2025): “I'm up to 8 users so far.” Paid groups say how many they hold: “Join 3,825 makers” (WIP's own number). Being in a group is not being read. Another maker, the same month: “Posts were removed by mods, ignored due to self promotion”.
news.ycombinator.comone person's own accountan estimatechecked October 10, 2026
in person
“Talks at meetups for the first 100. Hacker News for the next 10,000. Target audience was devs.”
A maker's own account (October 2024).
news.ycombinator.comone person's own accountan estimatechecked October 10, 2026
Some on the list get a private beta invite before launch.
What leaves your computerPrivacy policyTermsEmail hello@ahahmm.aiThe maker on X, @Dioooxxxu/AhaHmmm on Reddit
