About IndieFails

IndieFails is a public database of indie hacker projects that didn’t go as planned—and that’s exactly the point.

Building something from scratch is hard. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it flops. And sometimes it flops spectacularly. I believe those stories—the unpolished, brutally honest, slightly awkward ones—are worth sharing.

At IndieFails, I collect and showcase these failed projects not to poke fun, but to learn, normalize failure, and remind each other that behind every overnight success is a trail of broken side projects.

Why this exists:

• To de-stigmatize failure in the indie community.
• To help makers learn from real missteps, not just glossy success stories.
• To build a space where founders can say, “Here’s what I tried, here’s what I learned, and wow, please don’t do what I did.”

Whether it was the wrong market, bad timing, burnout, or just a really terrible idea that seemed great at 2am—we’ve been there.

What you’ll find here:

• Candid postmortems from indie hackers around the world.
• Lessons learned, mistakes made, and the occasional existential crisis.
• A strangely comforting collection of things that didn’t work out—but might help you figure out what will.

If you’ve ever launched something that fizzled, stalled, or straight-up faceplanted, you’re in the right place. Contribute your story by clicking the submit button at the top right corner, learn from others, and let’s build smarter—failures and all.