Indie Hackers vs Foundinity: where should you look for a cofounder?

Side by side

The rest of this page goes through each row, then covers how to use Indie Hackers well if you post there, and which one fits your situation.

What Indie Hackers is

Indie Hackers is a forum and publication for people building their own businesses. Its about page says it started in August 2016, was bought by Stripe in April 2017, and became an independent business again in March 2023. It describes an indie hacker as someone who has set out to make money independently, from their own customers rather than through an employer.

The homepage today is a feed of member posts and short news pieces about founders and products, plus a list of the newest submissions, a products database, an ideas database and case studies. You join with Google or an email address, and you need an account to write a post, comment or upvote.

There is no cofounder product on Indie Hackers. People have always used it to look for partners, by posting in the forum or, until 2026, in a group called "Looking to Partner Up".

What changed on Indie Hackers in 2026

Two things that mattered for a cofounder search are gone.

The "Looking to Partner Up" group. Indie Hackers retired its Groups feature in 2026, and that group went with it. When we checked on 8 October 2026 and again on 8 November 2026, the group's address showed a page that reads "Groups no longer exists." Partner requests now go into the general feed, next to launch posts, revenue updates and questions about marketing.

Site search. The search page shows the same kind of notice: "Search no longer exists," with the note that the feature was retired in 2026 (checked 8 November 2026). So you can't search Indie Hackers for older cofounder posts from inside the site. If you want to find them, you have to use a general search engine, and what comes back is a scattered set of single posts from different years.

That's why the searches people type, like "indie hackers cofounder" or "find a cofounder on indie hackers", mostly lead to individual posts, such as "Looking for Co-founder" or "How do you find a 'Technical Co-Founder'?". Each one is a person asking, with whatever replies it got at the time.

What Foundinity is

Foundinity is a cofounder matching platform. It's built for one job: finding someone you can build a company with, and finding out early whether the two of you will work well together. You state what you need in a cofounder, take an assessment about how you work, and see people ranked by compatibility. Every match comes with a breakdown of where you align and where you differ, and a 10-day clock so the conversation doesn't stall.

How each one works, step by step

On Foundinity

1. Sign up and say what you need in a cofounder. 2. Take the assessment about how you work. It covers commitment, working style, ambition, personality, goals and values, alongside your skills and interests. 3. Open the app to people ranked by compatibility. 4. Like the people you want to meet. When the like is mutual, it's a match. 5. Read the compatibility breakdown, then book the intro call in the app before the 10-day clock runs out.

On Indie Hackers

1. Join with Google or an email address. 2. Write a post: who you are, what you're building, and who you're looking for. 3. Wait for comments. Your post joins the list of newest submissions. 4. Reply to the people who comment, work out how to reach each other, and set up calls yourself. 5. To find other people's partner requests, search the web for them, since the site's own search is gone.

The gap is in steps 3 to 5. On Indie Hackers, who you hear from depends on who read the feed that day, and judging fit happens on calls, one person at a time. On Foundinity, the sorting is done before you start, and the breakdown gives every first call an agenda.

How you find people

On Indie Hackers, people find you, or they don't. A partner request is one post in a feed shared with everything else members write. As new posts arrive, it moves down the list. Replies come from whoever was reading that week, which may or may not include someone with the skills you need, in your time zone, with the hours you need.

You can go looking too, but with the group and the search both retired, there's no list of people who want a cofounder right now. You end up reading old posts from a web search and messaging people whose plans may have changed months ago.

On Foundinity, you start from the other side. You state what you need in a cofounder, and answer an assessment about how you work: commitment, working style, ambition, personality, goals, values, alongside your skills and interests. A multi-trait algorithm built on established psychological compatibility models ranks the people you see. Everyone there is looking for a cofounder, now or later, so you open the app to compatible people instead of a feed of unrelated posts.

What you know before the first call

On Indie Hackers, you know what someone chose to write. A reply to your post might say what they've built, and their other posts may show how they think. That's useful, and it's more than a bare profile. It still won't tell you how many hours they can give, whether they want a small profitable business or a company that raises money, or how they deal with a bad month. You find that out on calls.

On Foundinity, every match comes with a compatibility breakdown: where the two of you align and where you differ. If you differ on commitment or ambition, you see it before you meet, and you can ask about it in the first ten minutes. Skills tell you who can do the job. The rest tells you who you can actually build with for years.

After you connect

On Indie Hackers, a promising comment is the start. You reply, work out a way to talk, find a time, and keep it going. Nothing on the site keeps track of the conversation or nudges either of you if it goes quiet.

On Foundinity, a mutual like is a match, and a 10-day clock starts. That keeps a match from sitting unanswered for weeks. You book the intro call inside the app, with Google Calendar, instead of trading times in comment threads.

Privacy

Indie Hackers posts are on the open site. The homepage and the newest posts can be read without an account, so a post saying you want to leave your job to start something can be read by anyone, including your employer. If your search needs to stay quiet, write the post with that in mind, or don't post.

Foundinity doesn't share your profile publicly. Only members who are compatible with you can see it, and you can set your status to exploring if you want to look around before you commit to anything.

Where Indie Hackers helps a cofounder search

Indie Hackers is a good place to show your work. Founders who post progress updates, numbers and lessons there build a record that other builders can read. If someone later meets you through Foundinity or anywhere else, that record tells them how you think and how you ship.

It's also a place to meet builders in general: people to ask for feedback, compare notes with, and maybe work with one day. The difference is that on Indie Hackers a partnership happens by chance, while Foundinity is set up to make it happen on purpose.

A sensible split: keep posting on Indie Hackers about what you're building, and run the partner search itself on Foundinity.

If you post a cofounder request on Indie Hackers

If you want to try the forum route as well, these habits give a post a better chance:

• Lead with what exists. A demo link, a revenue number or a waitlist count gets more replies than an idea on its own.
• Say exactly who you need. "A backend developer who has shipped a payments integration" is easier to answer than "a technical person".
• State your hours and location. Say how much time you can give each week and which time zone you're in, so people can rule themselves in or out.
• Say what you bring. Explain what you'll own: sales, design, distribution, the code.
• Tell people how to reach you. Readers need a next step, such as a reply in the comments or a link to book a call.
• Post again when something changes. A new milestone is a reason to ask again, and it puts you back in the newest list.
• Keep it quiet if you need to. If you're employed, leave out your employer and anything that identifies your current role.

For what to ask once you're on a call, see our questions to ask a potential cofounder.

How to check someone you meet online

Wherever you meet a potential cofounder, a few checks protect your time and your idea:

• Look them up outside the platform. A real work history leaves traces: a LinkedIn profile with connections, a GitHub account, a company website, people who have worked with them.
• Read what they've posted. On Indie Hackers, someone's past posts show what they've worked on and how they talk about it.
• Get on a video call early. Someone who keeps finding reasons not to talk face to face is a warning sign.
• Ask what they've built, then check it. If they say they shipped an app, ask for the link.
• Do a small project together before you commit. A two-week trial on something real tells you more than five calls.
• Never send money. No real cofounder asks for a fee to get started.

Cost

Indie Hackers is free to join, and posting and commenting come with a free account.

Foundinity is free to get started: 5 likes a week, up to 3 active matches and up to 3 profile saves. Plus costs $5 a week or $15 a month (₹300 or ₹1,000 in India) and adds 15 likes a week, unlimited active matches, a list of everyone who liked you and up to 5 profile saves. The weekly option means you can pay for one busy week and stop.

Which one fits your situation

You're employed and want to search quietly. Foundinity shows your profile only to compatible members, and the exploring status lets you look without committing. A post on Indie Hackers is readable by anyone.

You're non-technical and need a technical cofounder. On a forum, you're one of many posts asking for a developer. On Foundinity, the developers you see are ranked by compatibility on multiple dimensions around who you are and how you work, so your likes go to people who fit, not only to a job title. Our guide on how to find a technical cofounder covers the rest of the search.

You already post on Indie Hackers. Keep doing it. Your posts are a public record of how you work, and they help anyone you match with on Foundinity get to know you before the first call.

A past partner lost interest after a couple of months. Commitment is part of the Foundinity assessment, and the breakdown shows where the two of you differ on it before you meet. A forum reply won't tell you that.

You've posted twice and heard nothing useful. That's common for a single post in a busy feed. On Foundinity, you start with people who are looking for a cofounder and ranked by fit, and the 10-day clock keeps every match moving. Our post on how long it takes to find a cofounder has more on keeping a search going.

Which should you use?

For the partner search itself, use Foundinity. The ranking does the first sort, the breakdown gives the first call an agenda, and the 10-day clock keeps each match from going quiet.

Use Indie Hackers for what it does well: sharing what you build, getting feedback and meeting other builders. If you do post a cofounder request there, be specific, say what already exists, and check anyone who replies before you put weeks into them.

For other options, see Founder2be alternatives, and for Y Combinator's free platform, see YC cofounder matching vs Foundinity.