The literal translation of “Indie Hacker” is “Independent Hacker”, but in the Chinese context, most people refer to it as “Independent Developer”.
But in practical terms, it refers to a group of people who are independent, operate autonomously, and develop their own online businesses to generate revenue. They earn profits by programming, developing software or applications, and bringing them to market.
They are both developers and entrepreneurs. They do not rely on large companies, but instead develop their own products through their technical capabilities and business concepts, thereby achieving an independent and free working style.
Awesome independent developer
Levelsio is a recognized success story among independent developers, having developed many projects, with a high failure rate, and successful projects also having strong money-making capabilities. The recently launched project PhotoAI.com has achieved an MRR of $78,000. Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that Levelsio created an e-book, MAKE: THE INDIE MAKER HANDBOOK , which introduces the independent path for startups to learn how to achieve sustainable monetization, and it’s really awesome.
Main product status:
TherapistAI.com has a monthly income of approximately $4,000.
Positioning: An artificial intelligence-based global mental health platform that provides personalized mental health counseling and self-improvement strategies. Users can access 24/7 cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) services through this platform to improve mental health issues. This model generates revenue through subscription services or pay-as-you-go fees.
photoai.com Monthly revenue: $50,000
Positioning: Use AI to help digital nomads create eye-catching photos
nomadlist.comMonthly Revenue: $47,000
Positioning: Dianping for the digital nomad community
interiorai.com Monthly revenue: $38,000
Positioning: AI one-click generation of interior design to help digital nomads create their dream nests
remoteok.com Monthly income: $62,000
Positioning: Help digital nomads find satisfactory remote jobs
Keep trying and create more projects: So far, levelsio has released over 70 applications in total, among which 95% of the projects have failed, and only a few have been able to make money, grow, and achieve success.
Website author levelsio, a developer of multiple website projects, has keenly seized the artificial intelligence trend this time, developed a popular app, and fully utilized TikTok for marketing, earning a substantial income.
According to the data disclosed by levelsio on Twitter, his revenue and user growth trends are as follows: On March 16, 2023, cumulative revenue was 15K dollars and there were 484 customers. On March 17, 2023, cumulative revenue was 18K dollars and there were 587 customers. On March 18, 2023, cumulative revenue was 25K dollars and there were 836 customers.
generously presented the website traffic changes and all cost records up to March 16
Some Thoughts:
1. His products are basically all designed around the group of “digital nomads”. Digital nomads are not only the main body of his fans but also the main body of his product users.
2. Where do these needs come from? They may come from himself, or they may come from his own private domain community.
3. His full-stack, all-round product development capabilities enable him to be so productive and launch one product after another. Or is indie maker just his persona and brand, with a team behind him helping with development?
4. He maximizes the power of Build in public, especially for products with UGC attributes like Nomadlist and RemoteOK, leveraging his reputation and traffic to help the products easily navigate the cold start phase.
Other AI project ideas:
AI-generated YouTube cover
Category: AI Tools Traffic: 40,000/month Introduction: An AI specifically designed for creating YouTube thumbnails Ideas: 1: TikTok also requires creation 2: A highly segmented market. If we can also handle YouTube titles, forming a vertical niche, we should be able to make money steadily
AI-generated advertising creatives
Category: AI Tools Address: www.adcreative.ai Traffic: 1.3 million Growth: 300,000 per month First Observation: March 24: Traffic: 1 million Introduction: With traffic growing by 300,000 in less than a month, monthly traffic should be around 1.4 million. This is interesting; the in-app purchase conversion rate should have increased. Ideas: 1: Can we replicate one and specialize in certain niches? 2: Can we create a wrapper and target some niche markets?
AI God
WhatsApp Plugin Category: WhatsApp Plugin Address: https://godinabox.co Traffic: 1.9 million/month Subscription: $9/month Introduction: WhatsApp Plugin God Thoughts: 1: This thing seems like it can be used to create several more. 2: Upload plugins to various platforms and then generate a wave of passive income.
AI Text-to-Video Generation
Category: AI Video Address: https:/elai.io Traffic: 900,000/month Growth Rate: 300,000/month Introduction: This is a video generation that simulates real people. ChatGPT 3.5 can generate e-commerce, blog videos, etc. Thoughts: 1: E-commerce partners should use it. 2: This type of e-commerce can really form a closed loop.
AI advertising creatives
Category: AI Tools Website: magicbrief.com Traffic: 46,000/month Introduction: I’m actually quite optimistic about this niche, because the gaming industry needs to conduct batch testing of creatives. If this can be developed into video ad creatives, it would be even better. This is a sub-niche within a niche. Add this project to the watchlist to observe its changes.
AI Community
Category: AI Community Website: htps:/www.wujieai..com Traffic: 300,000/month (actual traffic is definitely higher) Introduction: One of the largest domestic communities selling prompts, under the guise of AI sharing, it sells prompts with the feature of one-click replication. This, this should be super profitable. 1: One-click replication 2: Selling prompts 3: Selling computing power It makes money very comfortably.
AI game creatives
Category: AI Tools Website: leonardo.ai Category: AI Creation of Game Creatives Traffic: 14 million/month Introduction: Generate various game creatives using AI
AI-generated mural
Category: AI Tools
Website: www.iamfy.co Traffic: 500,000/month Introduction: AI-generated murals, just ask if this is awesome
AI Memei Music Generation
Website: www.voicemod.net/text-to-song Traffic: 3.3 million (note that this is the traffic for the entire website) Introduction: We’ve already witnessed the huge traffic generated by meme image creation, and now meme music is here. Ideas: 1: Develop an app, this must be done (we’ve seen this vertical niche scenario twice). 2: Drive traffic from the website to the app for subscriptions.
AI Clothing Replacement
Category: AI Tools Www.outfitsai.com Traffic: 235,000/month Growth Rate: 235,000/month Monetization: $29/month (minimum version) Introduction: See what outfit is suitable for going out today through AI clothing replacement, for e-commerce scenarios. Thoughts: 1: With this traffic and this simple page, we can see how great the demand for AI clothing replacement is among people.
AI YouTube Content Generation
Address: https:/ytcopycat.com Category: AI Content Generation Traffic: Unknown Introduction: Generate articles from YTB content, then turn the articles into viral tweets, and then drive traffic or do SEO Thoughts: 1: This is great! It directly generates content from YouTube, optimizes it, does SEO, and then directly generates viral tweets
I just see this trend and possibility, and those who are interested and capable can conduct in-depth research on their own.
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Case Studies and References on Making Money as an Independent Developer with AI
2025-08-19T16:22:17
The literal translation of “Indie Hacker” is “Independent Hacker”, but in the Chinese context, most people refer to it as “Independent Developer”.
But in practical terms, it refers to a group of people who are independent, operate autonomously, and develop their own online businesses to generate revenue. They earn profits by programming, developing software or applications, and bringing them to market.
They are both developers and entrepreneurs. They do not rely on large companies, but instead develop their own products through their technical capabilities and business concepts, thereby achieving an independent and free working style.
Awesome independent developer
Levelsio is a recognized success story among independent developers, having developed many projects, with a high failure rate, and successful projects also having strong money-making capabilities. The recently launched project PhotoAI.com has achieved an MRR of $78,000. Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that Levelsio created an e-book, MAKE: THE INDIE MAKER HANDBOOK , which introduces the independent path for startups to learn how to achieve sustainable monetization, and it’s really awesome.
Main product status:
TherapistAI.com has a monthly income of approximately $4,000.
Positioning: An artificial intelligence-based global mental health platform that provides personalized mental health counseling and self-improvement strategies. Users can access 24/7 cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) services through this platform to improve mental health issues. This model generates revenue through subscription services or pay-as-you-go fees.
photoai.com Monthly revenue: $50,000
Positioning: Use AI to help digital nomads create eye-catching photos
nomadlist.comMonthly Revenue: $47,000
Positioning: Dianping for the digital nomad community
interiorai.com Monthly revenue: $38,000
Positioning: AI one-click generation of interior design to help digital nomads create their dream nests
remoteok.com Monthly income: $62,000
Positioning: Help digital nomads find satisfactory remote jobs
Keep trying and create more projects: So far, levelsio has released over 70 applications in total, among which 95% of the projects have failed, and only a few have been able to make money, grow, and achieve success.
Website author levelsio, a developer of multiple website projects, has keenly seized the artificial intelligence trend this time, developed a popular app, and fully utilized TikTok for marketing, earning a substantial income.
According to the data disclosed by levelsio on Twitter, his revenue and user growth trends are as follows: On March 16, 2023, cumulative revenue was 15K dollars and there were 484 customers. On March 17, 2023, cumulative revenue was 18K dollars and there were 587 customers. On March 18, 2023, cumulative revenue was 25K dollars and there were 836 customers.
generously presented the website traffic changes and all cost records up to March 16
Some Thoughts:
1. His products are basically all designed around the group of “digital nomads”. Digital nomads are not only the main body of his fans but also the main body of his product users.
2. Where do these needs come from? They may come from himself, or they may come from his own private domain community.
3. His full-stack, all-round product development capabilities enable him to be so productive and launch one product after another. Or is indie maker just his persona and brand, with a team behind him helping with development?
4. He maximizes the power of Build in public, especially for products with UGC attributes like Nomadlist and RemoteOK, leveraging his reputation and traffic to help the products easily navigate the cold start phase.
Other AI project ideas:
AI-generated YouTube cover
Category: AI Tools Traffic: 40,000/month Introduction: An AI specifically designed for creating YouTube thumbnails Ideas: 1: TikTok also requires creation 2: A highly segmented market. If we can also handle YouTube titles, forming a vertical niche, we should be able to make money steadily
AI-generated advertising creatives
Category: AI Tools Address: www.adcreative.ai Traffic: 1.3 million Growth: 300,000 per month First Observation: March 24: Traffic: 1 million Introduction: With traffic growing by 300,000 in less than a month, monthly traffic should be around 1.4 million. This is interesting; the in-app purchase conversion rate should have increased. Ideas: 1: Can we replicate one and specialize in certain niches? 2: Can we create a wrapper and target some niche markets?
AI God
WhatsApp Plugin Category: WhatsApp Plugin Address: https://godinabox.co Traffic: 1.9 million/month Subscription: $9/month Introduction: WhatsApp Plugin God Thoughts: 1: This thing seems like it can be used to create several more. 2: Upload plugins to various platforms and then generate a wave of passive income.
AI Text-to-Video Generation
Category: AI Video Address: https:/elai.io Traffic: 900,000/month Growth Rate: 300,000/month Introduction: This is a video generation that simulates real people. ChatGPT 3.5 can generate e-commerce, blog videos, etc. Thoughts: 1: E-commerce partners should use it. 2: This type of e-commerce can really form a closed loop.
AI advertising creatives
Category: AI Tools Website: magicbrief.com Traffic: 46,000/month Introduction: I’m actually quite optimistic about this niche, because the gaming industry needs to conduct batch testing of creatives. If this can be developed into video ad creatives, it would be even better. This is a sub-niche within a niche. Add this project to the watchlist to observe its changes.
AI Community
Category: AI Community Website: htps:/www.wujieai..com Traffic: 300,000/month (actual traffic is definitely higher) Introduction: One of the largest domestic communities selling prompts, under the guise of AI sharing, it sells prompts with the feature of one-click replication. This, this should be super profitable. 1: One-click replication 2: Selling prompts 3: Selling computing power It makes money very comfortably.
AI game creatives
Category: AI Tools Website: leonardo.ai Category: AI Creation of Game Creatives Traffic: 14 million/month Introduction: Generate various game creatives using AI
AI-generated mural
Category: AI Tools
Website: www.iamfy.co Traffic: 500,000/month Introduction: AI-generated murals, just ask if this is awesome
AI Memei Music Generation
Website: www.voicemod.net/text-to-song Traffic: 3.3 million (note that this is the traffic for the entire website) Introduction: We’ve already witnessed the huge traffic generated by meme image creation, and now meme music is here. Ideas: 1: Develop an app, this must be done (we’ve seen this vertical niche scenario twice). 2: Drive traffic from the website to the app for subscriptions.
AI Clothing Replacement
Category: AI Tools Www.outfitsai.com Traffic: 235,000/month Growth Rate: 235,000/month Monetization: $29/month (minimum version) Introduction: See what outfit is suitable for going out today through AI clothing replacement, for e-commerce scenarios. Thoughts: 1: With this traffic and this simple page, we can see how great the demand for AI clothing replacement is among people.
AI YouTube Content Generation
Address: https:/ytcopycat.com Category: AI Content Generation Traffic: Unknown Introduction: Generate articles from YTB content, then turn the articles into viral tweets, and then drive traffic or do SEO Thoughts: 1: This is great! It directly generates content from YouTube, optimizes it, does SEO, and then directly generates viral tweets
I just see this trend and possibility, and those who are interested and capable can conduct in-depth research on their own.