Introduction
We live in an era where AI makes indie development accessible to anyone.
I can barely write code, but I wanted to build apps and earn revenue using AI. I started with that casual mindset — and reality hit hard.
This article is for anyone thinking about starting indie development. Here's what I wish I'd known from the beginning.
The bottom line: Building an app isn't that hard. Selling it is 100x harder.
The First Wall: Nowhere to Sell
I started by building apps in areas that interested me. With AI, it was surprisingly easy to create something functional.
But after building, I realized something:
"Where do I actually sell this?"
The Harsh Reality of a Small Market
Coming from Japan, the options for indie developers to sell apps are extremely limited compared to English-speaking markets.
| Option | Why I Gave Up |
|---|---|
| Personal blog / Landing page | Can't compete with big players in SEO |
| Mobile apps | Both Android and iOS are completely saturated |
| SaaS | Very few distribution platforms available in my market |
| Social media marketing | Zero followers |
"Build Something Great and It Will Sell" Is a Lie
The biggest lesson I learned: "If you build it, they will come" is complete fiction.
No matter how good your product is, if no one can find it, it will never sell.
The Answer: Chrome Extensions
After extensive research, I landed on Chrome extensions.
| Advantage | Details |
|---|---|
| Simple scope | Small enough for AI-assisted development |
| Built-in distribution | Chrome Web Store does the heavy lifting |
| Easy monetization | ExtensionPay — just a few lines of code |
| Niche-friendly | Big companies don't bother with small niches |
What I've Built (14 Extensions and Counting)
🎯 Productivity
PromptStash — Save & manage AI prompts
DataPick — Extract data from web pages
ReadMark — Remember your reading position
🧘 Digital Wellbeing
YouTube Shorts Killer — Hide YouTube Shorts
X Detox — Remove noise from X
🛒 E-commerce
Arbitra — Price comparison tool
Advice for Aspiring Indie Developers
Decide Where to Sell BEFORE You Build
If your goal is revenue, this is the most important step.
"Building" and "Selling" Are Completely Different Skills
AI has dramatically lowered the barrier to building things. But the barrier to selling hasn't budged.
Takeaways
- AI made "building" easy
- But "selling" is still incredibly hard
- Decide your distribution channel before you start building
- Chrome extensions are an excellent choice for indie developers
Revenue is still minimal. But the foundation is in place.
All My Chrome Extensions (14 as of Feb 2025)
What started as 6 extensions has grown to 14. All built with AI.
🎯 Productivity
PromptStash — Save & manage AI prompts (supports 19+ AI services)
DataPick — Extract data from web pages without code
SnippetVault — Code snippet manager
ReadMark — Remember your reading position
🧘 Digital Wellbeing
YouTube Shorts Killer — Hide YouTube Shorts completely
X Detox — Remove noise from X (Twitter)
ZenRead — Distraction-free reading mode
🛒 E-commerce / Reselling
Rakuten Sellers Analytics — Analyze sellers on Rakuten marketplace
Arbitra — Cross-platform price comparison
🔧 Web Utilities
Japanese Font Finder — Identify fonts on any website
TVerPlus — Improve TVer streaming experience
Yahoo Comfort Mode — Better Yahoo! Japan browsing
🏠 Real Estate
Rental Property Analysis — Analyze rental properties
Purchase Property Analysis — Analyze properties for purchase
🔗 Full portfolio → S-Hub
What's your experience with indie development? Let me know in the comments!