Indiemaker Content & Listing Guidelines

Last updated: 2 October 2026

Introduction

Indiemaker is a curated listing platform focused on digital asset transfers. Founders use Indiemaker to publish structured profiles of independently built digital projects and to engage in conversations that support smooth ownership transitions.

We support asset transfers only. No equity, shares, corporate entities, or regulated transactions.

Every listing is reviewed before it goes live. This page is the standard we review against, so it is worth reading before you start — particularly the section on pre-revenue projects, which is where most submissions are sent back.

What You Can List

Indiemaker supports digital assets that can be transferred cleanly from one operator to another.

Projects and products

• SaaS
• Utilities and tools
• Two-sided platforms
• Mobile apps
• Browser extensions
• Content sites
• eCommerce stores
• Newsletters
• APIs and services
• Desktop apps
• Games
• Communities
• Plugins
• Courses
• Anything else that fits none of these, listed as Other

A project nobody uses yet is listed under what it is, in any of these categories, and marked "No users yet". The sale is of the project and its rights, without an operating business behind it.

Domains

Transferable domains you own at a standard registrar. Domains follow their own listing path rather than the project submission flow.

⚠️ Note on scope: Indiemaker does not support share or entity transfers. We focus exclusively on clean digital asset transitions, ensuring compliance and safety for indie founders.

What You Cannot List

To maintain safety, focus, and compliance, the following are not eligible. These are category rules, not judgements on the quality of your work. A listing in one of these groups is not published however well it is presented, though where a project has revenue or users, or the call is close, a person looks at it before anything is decided.

Thin or non-transferable builds

• Projects without revenue whose builder keeps the back end, so a buyer could never own and run them: a Base44 build, a custom GPT, Gem or other assistant sold as a product on a chatbot platform, and products that are a chat window in front of a general model. Building with AI is not the issue — what matters is that the finished product is yours to hand over. A project built on a tool that lets it be moved (Lovable, Bolt, v0, Replit) is judged like any other listing, as long as you say how it moves to the buyer: a code export, or an ownership transfer inside the tool. For other no-code tools (Bubble, Softr, Glide, Framer and similar), we look at whether a buyer could take the project over from what you describe.
• Prompt wrappers and single-file scripts
• Templates, themes, boilerplates, starter kits, UI kits, landing pages
• Generic SaaS starters and CRUD apps
• Front-end-only builds with no working back end
• Source code sold for redeployment or rebranding rather than as an operating asset

Not a working asset

• Concepts, mockups, designs, PRDs, waitlists, pre-launch ideas
• Projects you describe as unfinished, incomplete, or ready for completion
• MVPs and prototypes that demonstrate an idea rather than solve the whole problem

Out of scope

• Business-in-a-box packages: brand plus playbooks plus sales material, with no customers or revenue
• Ebooks, and any course or product sold on resale rights (a course business that transfers outright is fine)
• Services, agencies, consultancies, validation or introduction services
• Scraped data, lead lists, lead-generation funnels, email databases
• Dropshipping stores with no order history to show
• Events, media, or content services
• Open-source projects without full transfer rights, and multi-licensed IP you cannot transfer outright
• Platforms built for buying or selling businesses
• Equity, shares, corporate entities, or anything resembling a security. Every sale is an asset sale: if your listing puts the company itself into the sale, we will ask you to list the assets it holds instead

Prohibited

• Gambling, betting, adult, political, religious, or offensive projects
• Malware, spyware, or harmful software
• Anything you do not own, or are listing on someone else's behalf

Presentation

• Listings not written in English
• A project link that points to a sales or marketing page rather than the working product
• The product's name, web address or a social handle written into the description fields (buyers see these once they unlock the listing)
• A demo hosted somewhere other than the product's own domain (anything else goes in your data room), or a video walkthrough that isn't on YouTube, Vimeo or Loom
• A project link or demo that is a download (an APK, an installer or an archive) rather than something running in the browser or a page on an official app store

Every Sale Completes Through Indiemaker

The escrow is what protects both sides of a transfer, and a deal moved off it is a deal neither party can recover. A listing that steers a buyer elsewhere is removed regardless of how strong the project is — the quality of the work is not a counterweight to it.

That means a listing must not include:

• A private contact route for the buyer to reach you directly: a personal email address, phone number, or messaging handle. An address on the project's own domain that transfers with it (support@theproduct.com) is part of the asset, and is fine.
• A request to be paid by crypto, bank transfer, or any other method outside the platform, or a price quoted in a crypto unit.
• A discount, faster sale, or better price offered for dealing directly, or any suggestion of skipping the escrow.

None of this applies to what your product itself does. A checkout that accepts PayPal, an app that settles in USDT, a wallet your product connects to — that is the thing you are selling, described, and it is read as such.

Projects With No Revenue

Many projects listed on Indiemaker have no revenue, and that is normal here. Being pre-revenue, having no users and having no traffic are never on their own grounds for declining a listing. Neither is having built it with AI.

What we assess is what a buyer would be holding after the sale. The value has to sit in something that took time to build or to earn: real technical depth, original data or content, access that was not easy to obtain, or a product complete enough to solve a whole problem rather than demonstrate an idea.

A project that could be reproduced quickly with current tools does not clear that bar, and this is the most common reason a pre-revenue listing is sent back. Your submission asks you what is yours and what would be hardest to rebuild. Answer those specifically — that is where the case is made or lost.

Early usage counts towards how a listing is labelled, but it does not replace this assessment.

You don't choose your listing's revenue category. Indiemaker sets it from the monthly revenue figure buyers see: Revenue at $500 a month or more, Early revenue at $1 to $499 a month, and No revenue at $0 or no figure. A listing with no revenue shows why, from your answer in the form: Pre-revenue (not charging yet), Non-commercial (free on purpose, open source, or built for one business) or Stopped earning (used to earn). Your answer to "Does it make money today?" only decides which questions the form asks next.

What Each Kind of Listing Needs

Projects that earn

• A live product with paying customers
• Figures that are internally consistent and agree with whatever proof you provide
• Minimum 3 months of user, revenue, or churn data; 6–12 months is stronger
• Only the asset owner may list

No revenue, with traction

• A functional product at a live URL with real usage evidence: users, traffic, subscribers, downloads, stars, or an audience
• The figures should hang together with your pitch, and be the kind of thing a buyer could check
• Screenshots of dashboards, hosting views, or analytics where applicable

No revenue, no traction

• A functional product a buyer can open and try

  the live product, a demo account, or its page on an official app store (App Store, Google Play, Mac App Store, Microsoft Store, Steam or a browser extension store). A code repository on its own does not count, and nor does a direct download

• A video walkthrough when a buyer can't try it in the browser

  the product is only available through an app store, or the demo needs a sign-in and you have not given a demo account. Anywhere else a video is optional

• The substance test met, and the case for it made specifically

  see the section above

• Correct licensing for any third-party assets

No users yet

• Everything above, plus fully transferable rights and a clear account of what is being handed over

Domains

• Transferable, owned by you, at a standard registrar
• Not accepted: subdomains, platform-hosted addresses (*.vercel.app, *.lovable.app, *.netlify.app and similar), offensive terms, or links behind a paywall
• Short, brandable or keyword-rich names rank higher in browse. Length is not a barrier to listing.

eCommerce

• An operating store with order history
• Your fulfilment model stated, and consistent with the rest of the listing — a dropshipping store is judged on its order history, not on a plan
• Authenticity of inventory, supplier relationships, and customer activity
• If stock is included in the sale, its value stated
• What is handed over: suppliers, accounts, and how orders keep moving

Evidence and Proof

Connect Stripe where you can. For listings that earn, a Stripe connection is the strongest proof available — figures read directly from your account are treated as fact, and are not questioned on plausibility.

Otherwise, support your claims with screenshots, exports, platform dashboards, or P&L uploads. These go to the data room. Your figures need to agree with the evidence you provide.

Upload at least one image. Every listing needs a cover image or at least one gallery screenshot. A buyer cannot assess a product they cannot see, and a demo URL or video walkthrough is not a substitute — both sit behind a click most buyers never make. Listings submitted without an image are sent back for one.

Label pre-revenue listings accurately. Published listings with no usage carry a "No users yet" label beside their kind, and rank below listings with revenue or usage. This is how we keep a pre-revenue listing honest to a buyer rather than holding it to a revenue standard.

Pricing

Your asking price is yours to set, but it has to be supported by what transfers.

If your product's only address is a free subdomain handed out by its host, that address belongs to the host and does not transfer. A buyer gets the code and starts again somewhere new, with no history, no rankings, and no inbound links.

That is ordinary for early work and is never on its own a reason to decline a listing, but it does bear on what your price can claim. Where the price is high relative to what actually transfers, we will ask what supports it before publishing.

How We Review Submissions

Every submission is reviewed when you submit it, first automatically and then, where the call is close, by a person. It is either published, sent back for specific information, or declined. Where something is missing we will tell you what it is, and you can resubmit.

Beyond the category rules above, we look at whether a listing is accurate and whether it hangs together: figures that contradict each other, claims that are not supported by the evidence provided, and the usual spam and scam patterns. Listings that are inaccurate or misleading are declined.

Indiemaker does not guarantee code quality. Buyers must perform their own due diligence.

Other Things Worth Knowing

• Cross-posting

  listing elsewhere as well is welcome.

• Confidentiality & NDAs

  you may request an NDA before sharing sensitive information such as source code, proprietary data, or customer lists. Indiemaker may require one for certain higher-value or complex listings.

• Post-sale support

  say whether you provide onboarding or post-transition guidance. It is not required, and stating it clearly helps.

Compliance

You are responsible for ensuring your listing and the transfer behind it comply with applicable law, including local and international regulations, export and sanctions requirements, intellectual property rights, and data-transfer obligations. Listings that do not may be removed, and Indiemaker may decline to support a transfer where compliance is in question.

Moderation & Removal

Listings may be declined or removed if:

• Information is incomplete, inaccurate, misleading, or unverifiable
• The listing falls in one of the excluded categories above
• The content is offensive, infringing, or unlawful
• The listing asks a buyer to pay or make contact outside Indiemaker
• The listing does not align with these guidelines or our Terms of Service

Reporting Non-Compliant Listings

If you see something that does not belong:

• Use the "Report this listing" link on the listing itself
• Contact us via our support form or email support@indiemaker.com

Final Tips for Strong Listings

• Answer the substance questions specifically — name the integration, the data, the problem you solved
• Complete your profile thoroughly
• Connect Stripe, or provide clear evidence of your key metrics
• Upload good quality imagery
• Describe the transition support you will give
• Price against what actually transfers

Good luck and happy selling! 🚀