How much does Pieter Levels make?

As of mid-2025, Levels reported his companies together make about $3.1 million per year. This includes Nomad List at roughly $700K ARR, Photo AI at roughly $600K ARR, and Remote OK at $3.4M lifetime revenue. All figures are self-reported.

What tech stack does Pieter Levels use?

PHP, SQLite, jQuery, and a single server. Photo AI is a single 40,870-line index.php file. He has said he avoids modern frameworks and keeps the stack as simple as possible.

Has Pieter Levels raised funding?

No. He has never raised venture capital and has never sold a company. His entire portfolio is bootstrapped and solo-operated.

Pieter Levels

@levelsio

Solo founder of Nomad List, Remote OK, and Photo AI. $3.1M/year, zero employees.

Indie hackerNetherlands

X GitHub Website

Last updated Aug 26, 2026 · Content reviewed Aug 26, 2026

Pieter Levels is a Dutch indie hacker who builds and runs a portfolio of bootstrapped internet startups solo, without employees or venture funding. His portfolio generates approximately $3.1 million in annual revenue as of mid-2025. He is best known for Nomad List, Remote OK, Photo AI, and Interior AI. He codes in PHP and SQLite, ships in public, and has never raised venture capital or sold a company.

Our take

Levels is the archetype indie hackers study and the one most of them get wrong. People copy his stack - PHP, SQLite, one server - without copying his distribution: a decade of building in public, an X following that turns every launch into an event, and a willingness to let projects run for years at near-zero cost. The portfolio model, not any single product, is the real insight.

By the numbers

Portfolio ARR

$3.1M

Nomad List ARR

$700K

Photo AI ARR

$600K

12 startups in 12 months

In 2014, Levels publicly committed to launching 12 startups in 12 months. Most failed. Nomad List, a city comparison tool for remote workers, was the breakout. It was profitable on day one and grew into his anchor product.

The portfolio model

Rather than going all-in on one product, Levels runs multiple small products on a single server. Some earn $5 a month; others earn $50K. He has said the oldest code on his server has not been changed in ten years and still generates revenue. The near-zero marginal cost of keeping a product alive means nothing gets killed.

Photo AI and the AI wave

In late 2022, Levels built Photo AI, an AI headshot generator, and Interior AI, an AI room redesign tool. Photo AI peaked near $105K per month in March 2024. The entire codebase is a single 40,870-line index.php file. He now builds it with Claude Code.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Pieter Levels make?: As of mid-2025, Levels reported his companies together make about $3.1 million per year. This includes Nomad List at roughly $700K ARR, Photo AI at roughly $600K ARR, and Remote OK at $3.4M lifetime revenue. All figures are self-reported.
What tech stack does Pieter Levels use?: PHP, SQLite, jQuery, and a single server. Photo AI is a single 40,870-line index.php file. He has said he avoids modern frameworks and keeps the stack as simple as possible.
Has Pieter Levels raised funding?: No. He has never raised venture capital and has never sold a company. His entire portfolio is bootstrapped and solo-operated.