Head to head
Indie Hackers vs Medium
Indie Hackers leads the BLP Index (64 vs 63). Medium has more raw reach. Indie Hackers is fairer for founders without a network. Medium scores higher on AI visibility.
| Dimension | Indie Hackers | Medium |
|---|---|---|
| BLP Index | 64 | 63 |
| Rank | #30 | #34 |
| Type | Communities | Communities |
| Cycle | ongoing | ongoing |
| Listing cost | Free | Free to publish |
| Audience | Bootstrapped founders, solopreneurs, and indie SaaS operators | People reading essays in tech, startups, and design tags |
| Traffic | Low per post unless it hits the popular feed; value is relationships | Tag and follower distribution; highly skewed |
| Backlink | Follow/nofollow varies; community citations matter more | nofollow is common — Medium is reach, not SEO juice |
| Reach | 50 | 64 |
| Intent | 76 | 58 |
| Fairness | 74 | 66 |
| Evergreen | 66 | 70 |
| AI visibility | 58 | 60 |
| Ease | 64 | 62 |
Indie Hackers
Milestones, numbers, and long-game relationships. The founders who treat Indie Hackers as a launch button leave empty-handed.
Indie Hackers is a forum of people building internet businesses. There is a place to share a product, but the culture rewards a trail of posts: milestones, revenue, failures, and specific questions. A cold “we launched today” thread from a new account is wallpaper.
Full Indie Hackers guideMedium
Medium still distributes essays to people who read. A launch post can ride tags and publications. It is not a hunt. The canonical recap often belongs on your own domain first.
Medium is a publishing platform with remaining distribution. A clear build story, numbered lessons, or a recap with real numbers can find readers. A link-only ‘we launched’ post dies.
Full Medium guide