40+ resources for bootstrapped SaaS builders

Save time, money, and your sanity with some of my favorite resources for building a bootstrapped SaaS.

Justin Butlion

Apr 26, 2026

Building SaaS is tough. Most of the time they fail.

The goal of this post is to boost your odds of SaaS success.

The 40+ resources in this post fall into the following categories:

Educational resources: Learn important lessons for bootstrapping a SaaS business
Startup programs: Save a fortune on software
Design resources: Great for the non-designers among us
Communities: Connect with peers and stay motivated
Bootstrappers you should follow: Learn from successful bootstrappers

Enjoy!

Educational resources

We are lucky to have access to incredible videos and essays from some of the best SaaS bootstrappers. I’ve listed some of my favorites below.

You will notice a few pieces of content from specific creators such as Rob Walling and Jason Lemkin.

There are only a few high quality content creators in the SaaS space so I’ve done my best to introduce you to the best.

My recent deep dive post into Tally’s journey to $5M ARR is jam packed with insights for bootstrapping a B2B SaaS.

A deep dive into how Tally grew to $5M ARR in 5 years with a small team and no outside funding

Justin Butlion

Apr 17

Read full story

Startup programs

There are many popular SaaS products which offer significant discounts to early-stage businesses.

Below are some of my favorite startup programs:

Perk Bundles

Get discounts on other popular software products through the perk bundles listed below.

Lenny’s Product Pass ($30k in value)
The Vault (by SaaS Decoded)

Design Resources

Design is one of my weaknesses as a founder and hiring a designer can be expensive. Below are some useful resources to help you draft the look and feel of your MVP for cheap.

Communities (peer support and networking)

Building alone is hard. Below is a list of popular communities that provide feedback, and accountability.

Indie Hackers: The gold standard for bootstrapped, profitable business discussions.
Product Hunt: Essential for launching and seeing what other makers are building.
Ramen Club: A community for bootstrapped SaaS founders (great for peer mentorship).
r/SaaS: High-traffic forum for sharing growth tactics and product feedback.
r/MicroSaaS: Focused exclusively on smaller, single-person SaaS businesses.
SaaS Alliance: Networking and workshops for SaaS founders.
WIP (Work In Progress): A daily check-in community for shipping updates.
Small Bets: Records plus a vibrant community of bootstrappers.

Bootstrappers worth following

There are hundreds of bootstrapped founders “building in public” on X.

You can create a list in X, add your favorite bootstrappers, and learn what they got right.

I’ve listed some of my favorite bootstrappers below:

Pieter Levels - Founded many SaaS startups, 100s of thousands in MRR
Rob Hallam - Founder of multiple SaaS, tens of thousands in MRR
Rob Walling - Founder of Drip (sold for multiple 7-figures), and MicroConf, angel investor
Jason Cohen - Founder of 4 companies, 9-figures in ARR
Staurt Chaney - Founder of Booster SEO, Rivo
Simon Høiberg - Founder of many SaaS
Marie Martens - Founder of Tally, $5M ARR
Daniel Vassallo - Founder of the Small Bets community

That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the next one.

Justin

PS: If you have a friend who is building his first SaaS, do him (and me) a favor and forward him this post.

SaaS Decoded

A deep dive into how Tally grew to $5M ARR in 5 years with a small team and no outside funding

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