Micro SaaS Examples: 12 Real Products from Solo Founders and What They Earn

Some of the best-known micro SaaS examples are run by one person: Pieter Levels' Nomad List and Photo AI, AJ's one-page builder Carrd, and Damon Chen's Testimonial.to. Their publicly reported revenue ranges from $10K MRR (Bannerbear) to $1.5M+ ARR (Nomad List, Carrd). Below is a comparison table of 12 real products, the story behind each one, and the patterns they share.

A note on the numbers: every revenue figure here is publicly reported, based on what the founders shared on X, in podcasts or on their websites at the time of research. None of it is audited, and the numbers may have changed since.

Key takeaways

• Solo founders really do run software businesses with seven-figure annual revenue: Nomad List and Carrd are both publicly reported at $1.5M+ ARR.
• Almost every example started with the founder's own problem: a digital nomad built Nomad List, an annoyed employee built an email signature tool.
• The winners are narrow on purpose. Carrd only does one-page sites, Testimonial.to only testimonials, Bannerbear only automated images.
• Most founders failed first: Damon Chen had four failed startups before Testimonial.to, Pieter Levels has reportedly started 70+ projects.
• Simple tech is enough. Nomad List runs on PHP, jQuery and SQLite.

Looking for ideas to build rather than finished products? This post covers real businesses and what they earn. For 27 concrete ideas grouped by category, with who each is for, how to validate it and how to price it, read the companion post: 27 micro SaaS ideas for solo founders.

Micro SaaS examples at a glance

What counts as a micro SaaS?

Micro SaaS is software-as-a-service on a small scale:

• Small team: one to three people, often solo.
• Focused: solves one specific problem for one specific group.
• Bootstrapped: no venture capital.
• Profitable: the common goal is a business in the $5K–$50K MRR range that pays its founder well.

Solo founders are not an exception in this world. According to a MicroConf survey, 39 % of independent SaaS founders run their company alone. Some of the examples below have outgrown "micro" (ConvertKit is the obvious one), but every one of them started as a small, focused product by one or two people.

12 micro SaaS examples and the stories behind them

1. Nomad List: $1.5M+ ARR, built from a spreadsheet

Founder: Pieter Levels (@levelsio) · nomadlist.com

Pieter Levels is one of the best-known solo founders in the indie community. He started Nomad List in 2014 as part of his "12 startups in 12 months" challenge, and the first version was a spreadsheet of cities for remote workers. Nomad List is publicly reported at over $1.5M ARR, run solo without employees, on a stack of vanilla PHP, jQuery and SQLite.

Lesson: You don't need fancy technology. You need a problem you understand because you have it yourself.

2. Photo AI: $132K MRR, 18 months after launch

Founder: Pieter Levels · photoai.com

Photo AI generates photos of you with AI. Levels launched it in 2023 and reported $132K MRR 18 months later. He has said himself that the first version was "so bad", but he launched anyway and kept iterating. It shows his system: start many projects, see which one gets traction, then scale that one.

Lesson: Launch at 70 %, not 100 %. Real users teach you more than months of building alone.

3. Remote OK: $42K MRR from an existing audience

Founder: Pieter Levels · remoteok.com

Remote OK is a job board for remote jobs, started in 2015. It grew through SEO and through the Nomad List community, which was exactly the audience that wanted remote work. Publicly reported revenue: $42K MRR.

Lesson: Once you have an audience, build the next product for that audience.

4. Carrd: $1.5M+ ARR at $19 a year

Founder: AJ (@ajlkn) · carrd.co

AJ originally wanted to build a Squarespace competitor, then realised he couldn't do that alone. So he cut the scope down to simple one-page websites, and that limitation became Carrd's biggest differentiator. Carrd hosts over 4 million websites. It costs $19 per year, and the business is still publicly reported at $1.5M+ ARR.

Lesson: Less can be more. Find a niche within a niche, and let a low price work at volume.

5. Testimonial.to: $840K+ ARR after four failed startups

Founder: Damon Chen (@damengchen) · testimonial.to

Damon Chen has said he had four failed startups before Testimonial.to worked. He launched it on Product Hunt at the end of 2020 and reached $200K ARR within a year. Today the tool is publicly reported at $840K+ ARR, bootstrapped and run solo, and is reportedly used by Fortune 500 companies.

Lesson: Failure is part of the process. Damon needed five attempts.

6. Senja: $1M ARR as a two-person team

Founders: Wilson Wilson and Olly Meakings · senja.io

Two people who met online and work remotely. They reported reaching $1M ARR after 3 years and 9 months. They built in public, and every testimonial widget their customers embedded on their websites became free marketing for Senja.

Lesson: Build features that market themselves.

7. Bannerbear: $10K+ MRR, documented in public

Founder: Jon Yongfook (@yongfook) · bannerbear.com

Jon Yongfook also did a "12 startups in 12 months" challenge. Bannerbear, an API that generates images automatically from templates, wasn't his first attempt, but it was the one that worked. He documented the path from $0 to $10K MRR openly, mistakes included.

Lesson: The path to product-market fit is rarely linear. Iterate on real feedback.

8. ConvertKit: $3.6M MRR, from a public challenge

Founder: Nathan Barry (@nathanbarry) · convertkit.com

Nathan Barry started ConvertKit, email marketing for creators, in 2013 with a public goal: $5K MRR in six months. He documented everything. Twelve years later the company is publicly reported at $3.6M MRR, fully bootstrapped. At that size it is far beyond micro SaaS, but it started exactly like one.

Lesson: Set public goals. The accountability helps.

9. Prerender.io: $2.5M ARR, built next to a job

Founder: Todd Hooper · prerender.io

Prerender makes JavaScript websites readable for search engines. Todd built it because his own projects weren't ranking on Google, a classic "scratch your own itch" story. He grew it on the side until the profit was big enough to quit his job. Publicly reported revenue: $2.5M ARR.

Lesson: Build on the side first and quit only when it works. If you're weighing the same decision, read part-time job plus solopreneur: why I didn't go all in.

10. Tweet Hunter and Taplio: $60K+ MRR on top of social platforms

Founder: Tibo · tweethunter.io / taplio.com

Tibo saw that creators need tools for the platforms they grow on. Tweet Hunter helps with growth on X (Twitter), Taplio with LinkedIn. Both tools combined were publicly reported at $60K+ MRR. It's a textbook case of a micro SaaS built on top of an existing platform: the platform brings the users, the tool fills a gap.

Lesson: The creator economy is a growing market, and tools for creators sell.

11. Newoldstamp and MySignature: $700K ARR from an office annoyance

Founder: Vol · newoldstamp.com / mysignature.io

Vol worked at a TV manufacturer and was annoyed by creating email signatures for every employee by hand. With $10K in savings he reportedly quit and built Newoldstamp. The products are publicly reported at over 500K users and $700K ARR.

Lesson: The best ideas come from real problems in your everyday work.

12. Revid.ai: an AI tool with one clear job

Founder: Tibo · revid.ai

Users enter an idea, and Revid.ai generates the script and the short video for TikTok, Reels or Shorts. There is no public revenue figure for it in our research, but it shows how a serial founder applies AI to one specific use case instead of building "another ChatGPT".

Lesson: AI products work when the use case is narrow and obvious.

5 patterns behind successful solo founder products

1. Scratch your own itch

Almost every example solves a problem the founder had personally:

• Pieter was a digital nomad, so he built Nomad List.
• Todd's sites weren't ranking, so he built Prerender.
• Vol hated making signatures by hand, so he built Newoldstamp.

Takeaway: Build something you would use yourself. You'll understand the users without research.

2. Start small, really small

• Carrd: "only" one-page websites.
• Testimonial.to: "only" video testimonials.
• Bannerbear: "only" automated image generation.

Takeaway: The narrower the focus, the clearer the value proposition, and the easier it is to explain in one sentence.

3. Build in public

Senja, ConvertKit and Bannerbear were all built publicly. That creates accountability, early feedback and free marketing. If you're wondering whether sharing your numbers is worth it, read why solopreneurs share their revenue publicly.

Takeaway: Share your progress. The community helps and remembers you.

4. Expect multiple attempts

• Damon Chen: four failed startups before Testimonial.to.
• Pieter Levels: reportedly 70+ projects started.
• Jon Yongfook: 12 startups in 12 months.

Takeaway: The first attempt rarely works. Keep going, and learn from the attempts that fail, like in why my first SaaS project never went live.

5. Keep the tech stack simple

Pieter uses PHP and jQuery. AJ built Carrd alone. No Kubernetes, no microservices.

Takeaway: Your productivity matters more than the "best" technology.

Which kinds of micro SaaS show up again and again?

Grouping the 12 examples shows which categories have proven themselves:

If you want to turn these patterns into your own concept, the 27 micro SaaS ideas post lists ideas per category with validation steps, and how to find startup ideas as a solopreneur shows how to generate them from your own work.

How to use these examples for your own idea

1. Document your frustrations for one week. Every time you think "there should be a tool for this", write it down.
2. Check the competition. No competition usually means no market. Existing competitors prove people pay; your angle is niche, price or user experience.
3. Validate before you build. Find 10 people with the problem and ask if they would pay. "Maybe" is a red flag, "How much?" is a green light.
4. Build a small MVP. Four to eight weeks at most, one core feature that works really well, launched at 70 %.

And keep your expectations realistic. These are the outliers that made it, after years of work. How long it really takes to live off your own product puts their timelines in perspective.

Resources for further reading

• Communities: Indie Hackers, MicroConf, r/SaaS
• Podcasts: Indie Hackers Podcast, MicroConf On Air, The Bootstrapped Founder
• Books: MAKE by Pieter Levels, The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick, Company of One by Paul Jarvis
• Tools to start with: Stripe for payments, Crisp for support, Plausible for GDPR-compliant analytics

FAQ

What are some examples of micro SaaS?

Well-known micro SaaS examples are Nomad List, Photo AI and Remote OK by Pieter Levels, the one-page builder Carrd, Testimonial.to, Senja, Bannerbear, Prerender.io, Tweet Hunter, Taplio and the email signature tools Newoldstamp and MySignature. Each solves one specific problem for one audience and was started by one or two founders without venture capital.

How much do solo developer SaaS products make per month?

The examples in this post report between $10K MRR (Bannerbear) and $132K MRR (Photo AI), and up to $1.5M+ ARR for Nomad List and Carrd. These are publicly reported outliers, not typical results. Many solo products earn far less, and getting to consistent revenue usually takes many months of focused work.

Are there micro SaaS success stories built on top of existing platforms?

Yes. Tweet Hunter and Taplio are built around X and LinkedIn, and Testimonial.to and Senja live as widgets on their customers' websites. Building on a platform gives you a ready audience and a clear gap to fill, but it also makes you dependent on that platform's rules.

How much does Photo AI make?

Pieter Levels publicly reported $132K MRR for Photo AI 18 months after its 2023 launch. He has also said the first version was "so bad", which is why it's a popular example for launching early and iterating.

Is Carrd run by a solo founder?

Yes. Carrd was built by AJ alone as a deliberately small alternative to full website builders. With a price of $19 per year and over 4 million hosted websites, it is publicly reported at $1.5M+ ARR.

Show what you're building

Every founder in this list made their work visible: a public goal, shared revenue numbers, a product people could find. If you're building your own micro SaaS, SolopreneurPage gives you one page for all your projects, their revenue and your links, on your own domain, like an indie hacker portfolio page that grows with every product you ship.