8 best indie hacker communities in 2026

The communities at a glance

Start with the kind of conversation you want to have. A large public forum, a small private crew and a founder-led group session serve different purposes.

1. Indie Hackers

Indie Hackers is a good first stop when you want to hear how other people are building a business. Courtland Allen created it, and his brother Channing joined as co-founder. Founder stories sit alongside discussions where people ask questions, share progress and give feedback. [1]

You can read the public discussions without paying. Start with a problem you recognise, then follow the people giving useful answers. It is easier to strike up a conversation about a specific pricing decision than to post “looking for indie hacker friends” and hope someone responds.

The trade-off is that a public forum leaves the introductions to you. It can help you find people, but it does not put you into a regular peer group. The paid IH+ content subscription is a separate offer. [2]

2. 4builders

4builders is our answer to wanting a few people who know what you are working on. You are matched with three other solo builders in a private Telegram group, where you can share progress, ask for feedback and talk through the work as it happens. [3]

Matching considers shared languages, stage, timezone and skills, and each match is reviewed before introductions. You can also join with friends. You do not need a launched product to get started.

The current early joining fee is US$19, paid once. Saving your card locks your joining price; you are charged when your group match is approved. There is no subscription or charge while you wait. Check the current tier before joining. [3]

A four-person group makes it easier to remember each other’s projects. It also means you get fewer perspectives than in a large forum, and you may need to wait for a suitable match. That is the choice to make here: would you rather meet lots of founders, or get to know a few?

3. TMAKER Founder Room

If you follow Tibo on X, TMAKER Founder Room is his community offer. Tibo is Thibault Louis-Lucas, the founder behind products including Revid and Outrank and a co-founder of Tweet Hunter and Taplio. [4]

The room combines a private Slack with monthly group AMAs and sessions on members’ SaaS problems. Members submit issues and vote on what to discuss. That format may suit you if you have a question about pricing, growth or product decisions and want to work through it with Tibo and other founders. [5]

Membership is US$99/month. Eligible paying customers of Tibo’s apps get 50% off for 12 months; free trials do not qualify. Read the eligibility list before budgeting for the discount. [5]

This is group support. Joining does not buy private coaching or unlimited access to Tibo, so choose it for the sessions and peer discussions rather than an expectation of one-to-one mentoring.

4. ShipFast community

ShipFast is Marc Lou’s Next.js boilerplate, with a Discord community included in the published offer. Marc also makes CodeFast and DataFast. If you already follow his work, this is one way to meet other people building with his tools. [6] [7]

It makes the most sense when you want the code as well as the company. Working from the same starter gives you something concrete to discuss: setting up a payment flow, getting a launch ready or deciding what to build next.

The All-in plan currently shows US$249 paid once, discounted from US$349. The Starter card also lists Discord, but the FAQ uses a different “Premium” plan label. Confirm community access for the plan you choose before buying. [7]

If you only want a peer group, the boilerplate may be more than you need. Compare a standalone community first, especially if you build with a different stack.

5. WIP

WIP centres the conversation on what people are actually doing. Its own project page names Marc Köhlbrugge and Jankees van Woezik as its makers. Members post completed todos, follow projects and talk about the work behind them. [8]

The habit is simple: post a todo each day to keep your streak going. If you keep putting off a small task, having somewhere to report it can be a useful reason to finish. Membership currently costs $29/month or $199/year. [9]

We would pick WIP for visible progress and accountability. A streak will not tell you whether you are building the right thing, so make time for actual feedback as well.

The public feed is a big part of WIP, although PRO includes private projects. Decide how much of your work you want to share before joining. [10]

6. MicroConf Connect

MicroConf Connect is a private community for bootstrapped SaaS founders, from the organisation co-founded by Rob Walling. It accepts founders at different stages, including people seriously working toward a first launch. Applications are reviewed before you receive a membership invitation. [11]

The offer includes discussions organised by stage and topic, a member directory, monthly expert webinars and quarterly Ask Rob Anything sessions. Founder membership is $49/month or $499/year; you pay after acceptance. [11]

This is worth considering when your questions concern running a SaaS business: pricing, onboarding, sales or a first hire. If your project is a different kind of business, check whether the focus fits before applying.

Connect runs on Circle. MicroConf also offers a separate mastermind matching program, so do not assume Connect membership includes a matched small group. [12]

7. Ramen Club

Ramen Club, founded by Charlie Ward, gives you more ways to meet people than posting into a chat. Its remote membership includes Slack, weekly events such as demos and workshops, virtual coworking, and introductions to other members every two weeks. [13]

That is a useful format if you find it hard to start conversations in a new group. A demo or a scheduled coworking session gives you a reason to show up, and something to ask another founder about.

The current options are £25/month or £170 paid once, subject to applicable taxes. Both include the remote community. The London coworking space, Ramen Space, is a separate membership. [13]

Check the event calendar and timezones before you pay. The events are part of the appeal, but that matters less if you can rarely attend them.

8. MegaMaker

MegaMaker is Justin Jackson’s community for bootstrappers. Jackson, who co-founded Transistor, lists it among his current projects. It welcomes developers, designers and other product people, including those building side projects alongside a job. [14] [15]

The core offer is a private Slack and a member directory. The community describes weekly progress sharing, project feedback and help around launches. We would consider it if you want a private place to talk about making products, without limiting every conversation to SaaS.

The public signup page currently lists $299 paid once. MegaMaker defines lifetime access as the lifetime of the site. That is worth understanding before comparing it with a monthly membership. [16]

A one-time fee can suit someone who wants to stay around for years. It is also a larger payment upfront, so check the current joining terms rather than relying on an old recommendation.

How to choose a group you’ll actually use

Think about the last conversation you wished you could have had. Did you need someone to look at your landing page? A founder who had dealt with churn? Or just someone to ask how the week went?

For a specific business problem, look for members working on similar products at a similar stage. For company during the week, pay more attention to group size, shared language and whether people are around when you are.

Before paying, ask how new members meet one another, when the live sessions happen, and what participation looks like in an ordinary week. A member count alone will not answer those questions.

Then pick one place and contribute something small: introduce your project, ask a question with enough context to answer, and help someone else if you can. Give people a chance to get to know you. If working alone has been wearing on you, our article on why indie hacking can feel isolating looks at the research behind that experience.

Two names to check on older lists

Small Bets: Daniel Vassallo’s official site currently says it is closed to new members. Existing members still have access to the classes. We have left it out of the ranking because this article is about finding a group you can join now. [17]

Indie Worldwide: its website currently redirects to Ramen Club. We list the current destination once, rather than presenting the two names as separate options. [18]

Questions before you join

Where should I start if I have no budget?

Read the public discussions on Indie Hackers and reply where you have something useful to add. You can also meet people through the founders you already follow on X. Before paying for a private group, find out whether you enjoy taking part in those conversations.

Which community does Tibo run?

Tibo runs TMAKER Founder Room: a private Slack with monthly group sessions. Revid and Outrank are products in his portfolio, rather than the community itself. [4]

Is ShipFast a standalone community?

Its main product is a Next.js boilerplate. Discord access is part of the published product offer, so compare it as a code purchase with community access attached. [7]

Do I need revenue before joining a founder group?

Not always. 4builders accepts builders before launch, and MicroConf Connect considers serious pre-launch SaaS founders. Other groups set their own expectations. Read the eligibility terms and describe your stage honestly. [3] [11]

How we researched this list

We checked the communities’ official sites, public membership pages and founders’ own portfolios on 7 October 2026. We compared the audience, conversation format, joining process and payment model. We also checked whether recommendations under older names still led to a current offer.

We did not buy access to every private group or audit its conversations. The product details come from the providers; the suggestions about who each might suit are our judgment. We have left out unverified member counts, revenue promises and star ratings.

Our own product appears at #2 because we built it for solo founders who want a small, familiar group. Someone looking for a wide range of public answers, regular workshops or help with a specific software stack may prefer another option here.