I thought I could share my current Indie Hacking toolkit. Hopefully, you'll find something interesting in here! A large portion of those tools can be used for free.
Note that only a tiny fraction of those tools are necessary, depending on the business you create/run. Keep in mind that a toolbox is just something that contains a set of tools that you might need. You don't have to pick them all at once. They're in your toolbox, and you can pick them up when you need to use them. Moreover, you don't need to get all of those at once. You can get new tools when you actually need those 🔧.
Alright, let's go! 🚀
My favorite Personal Knowledge Management (PKM), note-taking & journaling tools
- PKM: Obsidian (https://obsidian.md)
- Journaling: LogSeq (https://logseq.com)
- Shared knowledge, inventory, processes, etc: Notion (https://www.notion.so)
- Capturing highlights: Readwise (https://readwise.io)
- Mind maps: Freemind (http://freemind.sourceforge.net), Whimsical (https://whimsical.com)
My favorite productivity tools
- Time blocking and focus: focusd, our upcoming project (https://focusd.app)
- Time tracking: Clockify (https://clockify.me)
- Tasks: Trello (https://trello.com)
- Calendar: Google Calendar
- Text expander: Espanso (https://espanso.org)
- My time timer (https://amzn.to/3AEU9Hx)
- And my whiteboard of course!
My favorite software development tools
- IDE: IntelliJ (Feels so much better to use than VS Code), VS Code (because it's useful too from time to time) + VS Code extension packs (https://dsebastien.net/blog/2019-11-24-vs-code-extension-packs-to-boost-productivity)
- SCM: Git + Hub (https://github.com/github/hub)
- Git GUI: GitKraken (https://www.gitkraken.com/invite/jdXvWeMU). Very pleasing UI for Git, allowing to quickly add/remove hunks (my favorite feature of Git, along with rebase) (heads up: I'm an ambassador for them!)
- Source Code hosting, CI & CD: GitHub & Gitlab
- Code formatting: Prettier (https://prettier.io) because we have better things to do than format code by hand or waste time comparing code style diffs
- Scripting & shell: Bash & ZSH, tmux
- Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL): To feel right at home even on Windows
- ConEmu + Git Bash + Notepad++ when stuck in Windows-land, configured with a Quake-style dropdown terminal
- Linux Terminal: Tilda (main now), Yakuake (past) and Terminator (I'll be back...)
- Notepadqq on *nix
- User Story Maps and brainstorming: Miro (https://www.miro.com)
- UX & UI: Figma (https://figma.com)
- Schemas: Diagram.net, Excalidraw (https://excalidraw.com), Visual Paradigm Community Edition
- Logos: Logology (https://www.logology.co)
- Documentation, knowledge base, processes, etc: Notion
- Lightshot for screenshots (Windows)
- Correcting mistyped commands: thefuck (https://github.com/nvbn/thefuck)
- Testing API calls: HTTPIE (https://httpie.io) and Insomnia (https://insomnia.rest)
- FTP & al: FileZilla (https://filezilla-project.org/)
- Network analysis: WireShark (https://www.wireshark.org) and nmap
- tldr for avoiding wasting days in man pages (https://tldr.sh)
- Installers: SDKMan (https://sdkman.io), Winget (https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli), Homebrew (https://brew.sh), Volta (https://volta.sh)
- Spotify (can't live without this one)
- f.lux to save my eyes (https://justgetflux.com)
- The Chrome Dev Tools and tons of extensions
My current tech stack
- Language: TypeScript
- Front-end: Next.js, maybe soon Remix
- UI: Tailwind
- Back-end: NestJS on my most recent project, really enjoyed the DX
- Monorepo: Nrwl NX (https://nx.dev/). Really can't live without this one
- State machines: XState (https://xstate.js.org)
- Immutability: Immer (https://immerjs.github.io/immer)
- DB: PostgreSQL @ Supabase (or others), CouchDB
- Authentication: Auth0
- Infrastructure: Docker & Kubernetes, Minikube and microk8s for dev, kubectl/kubens (https://github.com/ahmetb/kubectx), Skaffold (https://skaffold.dev), Dive (https://github.com/wagoodman/dive)
- Hosting: DigitalOcean, Vercel, Netlify
- DNS: CloudFlare
- Certificates: LetsEncrypt, mkcert for dev (https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert)
- Reverse proxy: NGINX
- Analytics: Plausible (https://plausible.io/sites)
- Mails: Mailgun (https://www.mailgun.com)
- Integration: Zapier (https://zapier.com)
- NoCode: Bubble (https://bubble.io)
My favorite writing tools
- Grammar, typos and complexity: Grammarly (https://app.grammarly.com) and Hemingway (https://hemingwayapp.com)
- Alternatives: Rephrasely (https://rephrasely.com)
- Blogging: My own site, Medium, HashNode and DEV.to
- Fiction writing: Scrivener (https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview)
Where to find images and illustrations
- Unsplash (https://unsplash.com)
- Pexels (https://www.pexels.com)
- Kaboompics (https://kaboompics.com)
- unDraw (https://undraw.co)
- Favicon (https://realfavicongenerator.net)
- The Noun Project (https://thenounproject.com)
Where to find fonts
- dafont (https://www.dafont.com)
- FontSpace (https://www.fontspace.com)
- Google Fonts (https://fonts.google.com)
Where I store my files
- Google Drive
- Synology NAS (DS1812+)
- Amazon S3
- Digital Ocean
Remote backup services
- Backblaze (https://www.backblaze.com)
- Amazon Glacier (I'm moving away though)
Tools you can use to find product and domain names
- Namecheap (https://www.namecheap.com)
- Google domains (https://domains.google.com)
- DreamHost (https://www.dreamhost.com)
- Domain.garden (https://domain.garden)
- Domainr (https://domainr.com)
- Namelix (https://namelix.com)
- Namae (https://namae.dev)
What I use to check social handles availability
Social handle availability:
- NameCheckr (https://www.namecheckr.com)
What I use to find UI inspiration
- Dribbble (https://dribbble.com)
Tools you can use to look for existing trademarks
- USPTO (https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/search)
- BOIP (https://www.boip.int/en/entrepreneurs/trademarks)
- WIPO (https://www3.wipo.int/branddb/en)
Tools I use for SEO
- Ahrefs (https://ahrefs.com)
- Wordtracker (https://www.wordtracker.com)
- Sitebulb (https://sitebulb.com)
- Keywords Everywhere (https://keywordseverywhere.com)
- Keyword planner (https://ads.google.com/aw/keywordplanner)
- Google Webmaster Tools
- SEM Rush (https://www.semrush.com)
- Detailed SEO Extension (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/detailed-seo-extension/pfjdepjjfjjahkjfpkcgfmfhmnakjfba)
- Ahrefs SEO Toolbar (https://ahrefs.com/seo-toolbar)
- Linked Data vocabularies (https://schema.org)
- Google Schema Markup Testing Tool (https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/structured-data)
Tools I use to follow trends
- Google Trends (https://trends.google.com/trends)
- Exploding topics (https://explodingtopics.com)
- Pinterest Trends (https://trends.pinterest.com)
- Subreddit Stats (https://subredditstats.com/)
Tools I use for CRM, Invoicing, etc
- Odoo (https://www.odoo.com)
Tools I use to create landing pages
- Carrd (https://carrd.co)
Services to host and serve images
- Cloudinary (https://cloudinary.com)
Password management tools
- KeePass (yes, I'm old school)
Solutions for online banking and payments
- Wise
- PayPal
- Stripe (https://stripe.com)
Tools to sell infoproducts
- Gumroad (https://www.gumroad.com): great because it acts as the Merchant of Record (MoR)
Tools for publishing newsletters (free and paid)
- Revue (https://www.getrevue.co) because of its Twitter integration
- ConvertKit (https://convertkit.com)
Tools to create online polls
- Typeform (https://www.typeform.com)
Tools to create Slide decks (😂)
- Excalideck (https://excalideck.com)
Tools for video recording
- Loom (https://www.loom.com)
- Screencasts: Camtasia
- Use DSRL as a Webcam: Sparkocam (https://sparkosoft.com/sparkocam)
- Remove background: XSplit VCam
- Record on phone: Filmic Pro (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.filmic.filmicpro)
Tools for video editing
- Adobe Premiere Pro
Tools for image editing
- Minimize images: TinyPNG (https://tinypng.com) and ImageMagick (https://imagemagick.org)
- Resize/convert images: ImageMagick (https://imagemagick.org) and Paint.net (https://www.getpaint.net)
- Create animated GIFs: ScreenToGIF (https://www.screentogif.com)
- Process photos: Adobe Lightroom
- Have some 2D fun: Adobe Photoshop and Gimp (https://www.gimp.org)
- Create/edit SVGs: Figma (vector drawing tools are awesome!) and InkScape (https://inkscape.org)
- Create illustrations: Canva (https://www.canva.com)
Tools for 3D modeling
- Blender (https://www.blender.org)
Tools for audio recording
- Audacity (https://www.audacityteam.org)
Tools for streaming
- StreamLabs OBS (https://streamlabs.com)
Communication tools
- Discord, Slack, Microsoft Teams
- Calls: Zoom
- Book meetings: Calendly (https://calendly.com)
- Instant messaging: Telegram
- Work & projects: LinkedIn, Polywork with a custom domain (https://updates.dsebastien.net)
Tools for audience building
- FeedHive (https://feedhive.io)
- TweetDeck (https://tweetdeck.twitter.com)
- BlackMagic (trial for now) (https://blackmagic.so)
- SparkToro (https://sparktoro.com)
Tools and sites for staying up to date
- My Twitter lists (https://twitter.com/dSebastien/lists)
- Feedly (https://feedly.com/)
- Various podcasts (including the IH podcast)
- Hacker News (https://news.ycombinator.com)
- ProductHunt (https://www.producthunt.com)
Communities that support Indie Hackers and tools for community building/management
- Rosie Sherry's wonderful Indiependent Community (https://gumroad.com/a/249779315/GoImj — full disclosure, I'm a member AND an affiliate)
- Indie Worldwide (https://indieworldwide.co)
- IndieHackers of course ;-)
- Circle (https://circle.so)
- Luma (https://lu.ma)
- Butter (https://www.butter.us)
Conclusion
In this article, I've listed many of the tools in my toolbox. There are some more, but those are the main ones. You don't have to feel overwhelmed or intimidated by this list. You probably don't need many of those. There are an infinity of tools, but we should only care about those we really need. Don't bring more tools in your life than you need to.
That's it for today! ✨
About Sébastien
Hello everyone! I'm Sébastien Dubois. I'm an author, founder, and CTO. I write books and articles about programming (TypeScript, Web, React, Angular, NestJS, etc), personal knowledge management, personal organization, and productivity.
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You can follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dSebastien 🐦
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