Indie Hackers vs Reddit: Find Founders or Find Your Users
Indie Hackers is a community of founders and makers, so it suits a product whose customers are other makers and a post about what you built and learned. Reddit is a set of communities organised by topic, so it suits a product whose customers already talk about their problem somewhere, provided that community allows the post. Neither has a ranked launch day, and both need an account. Decide by asking who will pay for the product, then go where those people already are.
Who is going to pay for what you made?
Everything else on this page follows from that question. Indie Hackers is a community of people who build and sell products, with a forum and product pages, so its readers are mostly your peers. Reddit is organised around subjects, so its readers are whoever cares about the subject of the community you pick. A peer will give you a sharp critique of your pricing page. A person with the problem will tell you whether they would use it.
Two illustrative products show the split. A dashboard that tracks subscription revenue for small software companies has customers who are founders, so a post on Indie Hackers reaches the buyer and the reviewer at once. A route planner for people who share allotment plots has customers who read a gardening community and have never heard of a pricing teardown. For the second product, a post on Indie Hackers earns kind words and no users.
Both sites refused our automated check on 13 November 2026, apart from Reddit’s sitewide rules page, so this page sticks to the well-known basics of each and leaves out numbers.
How do the two compare on the practical points?
| Point | Indie Hackers | |
|---|---|---|
| Who reads | Founders, makers and people building products | Members of whichever community you post in |
| Unit of posting | A post or a product page on one site | A post in one community at a time |
| Launch day | None; posts move down as newer ones arrive | None; each community’s feed ordered by its own votes |
| Rules you must read | The site’s community guidelines | Reddit’s sitewide rules plus the rules of each community |
| Who enforces them | The site | The site and each community’s moderators |
| Best content | What you built, what happened and what you learned | The problem first, then the product, in that community’s style |
| Account | Needed to post | Needed to post |
What kind of post fits each place?
On Indie Hackers the natural unit is a story with a number or a decision in it: what you built over the last month, what you tried first, what you would change. A post that only announces a link gives readers nothing to answer. Treat the comments as a free review by people who have shipped before, and reply to each one. Our guide to building in public shows how makers write those updates, and what indie hacking is explains the culture around them.
On Reddit the natural unit is a question the community already asks. Reddit’s sitewide rules say to take part authentically in communities where you have a personal interest and not to spam, and each community adds its own limits on self-promotion. Read the sidebar and the recent posts, spend a little time answering other people, then post. The Reddit launch playbook covers the routine, and the Indie Hackers playbook covers the other side.
How much work is each one?
Indie Hackers is one account and one audience, so the effort goes into writing a good post and coming back to answer. Reddit multiplies the preparation by the number of communities: each needs its own reading of the rules, its own wording and its own timing. A realistic plan is one community on the first day, and a second only after you have seen how the first reacted.
Neither site promises a spike, and a thread can sink unseen on either. Count on the conversation, not the visits. If a reply suggests a change, make it and say so in the thread; that is the part of a launch post that compounds.
How to decide when the answer is not obvious
- Write down your first ten likely customers by job or hobby. If most are people who build products, start with Indie Hackers.
- Search Reddit for the problem in plain words, not your product name. If a community asks the question weekly, start there, and read its rules before anything else.
- If the customers split, use Indie Hackers to sharpen the pitch with peers and Reddit to test it on the users, in that order, a few days apart.
- If neither community fits, a public page of your own helps. Our free launch form needs no account, though the board is small and the readers are the ones you bring, and the ideas board shows how others describe a first version.
Our list of indie maker communities names more places like Indie Hackers, and getting feedback on an MVP covers what to ask once you are there.
Frequently asked questions
Is Indie Hackers good for launching a product?
It is good for finding makers who will react to what you built, and for a product whose customers are makers. It has no ranked launch day, so a post is read while it is near the top and then moves down. We could not read its pages by an automated check, so check its current guidelines before you post.
Can I promote my product on Reddit?
Sometimes. Reddit’s sitewide rules ask you to take part authentically and not to spam, and every community sets its own limits on self-promotion. Read the community’s sidebar rules, watch what members post, and take part before you share your own work. Moderators can remove posts that break the local rule.
Should I post on both?
Yes, if your customers split between makers and non-makers. Write two different posts: a build story for Indie Hackers and a problem-led post for the Reddit community. Space them a few days apart so you can reply properly to each, and tag the links with separate UTM sources to see which one sent people.
Which one gives better feedback?
They give different feedback. Indie Hackers readers tend to critique pricing, positioning and what you chose to build, because they make similar decisions. A Reddit community that has the problem tells you whether the product would fit into their routine. Which kind you need depends on whether your open question is about the business or about the use.
Post your build ideas publishes this page and runs a free launch board that competes with some of the sites it names. Facts about other sites came from their own pages on the date shown above; terms, queues and prices change, so confirm on their sites before you decide. About the publisher.