2025 - The Year That Changed Everything

Made over $600k in total revenue with HabitKit, learned SwiftUI, launched a brand new app, and finally understood what being truly independent means.

2025 was my first full year (12 consecutive months) of indie hacking. No backup plan, no safety net, just me and my apps. And honestly? The numbers my business reached this year completely blew my mind.

I have to pinch myself sometimes. I can work on whatever I want, wherever I want, however I want. No meetings about meetings. No performance reviews. No asking for permission to take a day off. Just building cool stuff and hoping people find it useful.

I know it sounds cheesy, but I am literally living the Indie Hacker Dream. And I never want to wake up. I have the best job in the world.

Do you want to improve your life? Check out my apps HabitKit and FocusKit!

The Year in Numbers

If you came for the numbers, this is the section you were looking for! Keep it mind that these numbers exclude today (Dec 31st).

📱 Apps

• HabitKit

  • Downloads

    • App Store: 272,000 Downloads

    • Google Play: 290,000 Downloads

  • Ratings

    • App Store: 4.8 ⭐ / 6,630 Ratings

    • Google Play: 4.6 ⭐ / 9,443 Ratings

• FocusKit (App Store since Nov 2025)

  • Downloads: 1,600 Downloads

  • Ratings: 4.7 ⭐ / 40 Ratings

💰 Business

• Total Revenue: $602,000

• MRR: $28,000

• Active Subscribers: 25,100

📣 Building in Public

• Substack Newsletter: 1,225 Subscribers (36 articles written)

• X/Twitter: 20,000 Followers (countless posts)

• LinkedIn: 6,000 Followers (countless posts)

The Highlights

January Was Absolutely Crazy

The year started with a bang. A combination of the traditional New Year’s resolution hype for habit tracking apps AND HabitKit being featured in a video by “The Studio” called “Apps You’ll ACTUALLY Use” created the perfect storm.

January alone brought in $112k in revenue.

Let that sink in for a moment. I made more in one single month than I earned in my entire year at my old 9-to-5 job. I remember staring at the numbers thinking “this can’t be right.” But it was.

Finally Cracking the US App Store

After years of trying, 2025 was the year HabitKit finally broke into the top 5 for the keyword “habit tracker” in the US App Store. This is THE market that matters, and ranking there changed everything.

The impact was massive. My monthly revenue stabilized above $40k over the year, which is still hard to believe when I type it out.

The Starter Story Interview

I had the honor of being a guest on Pat Walls’ Starter Story show. If you haven’t seen it, here’s the link. After the video was released, HabitKit saw a nice boost in downloads, which improved my rankings even more. Turns out, talking about your journey publicly actually helps and leads to success!

About Those Copycats...

Last year I stopped sharing revenue numbers because I was scared of copycats. The numbers were getting bigger and I thought “if I shut up about it, maybe they’ll leave me alone.”

Spoiler: They didn’t.

The copycats kept coming anyway. So for this article, I decided to be fully transparent again. If they’re going to copy me regardless, I might as well share the real numbers with the people who actually care about my journey and draw inspiration and motivation from it.

HabitKit Updates

The start of the year was... slow. Some personal stuff got in the way. But I caught myself around April/May and managed to ship some solid updates:

Version 1.11 - Unlimited Tracking

Removed the “completions per day” limit. Want to track 100 pages read? 45 minutes meditated? 17 glasses of water? Go for it. Habits are now as flexible as they should be.

Version 1.12 - Emoji Support

Finally! Users can now choose emojis instead of the classic FontAwesome icons. Plus a text-based search to actually find what you’re looking for. This was a long-requested feature and I’m happy it’s done.

Version 1.13 - Fresh Habit Details

A complete visual overhaul of the habit detail view. Integrated calendar, more information at a glance, much cleaner. Sometimes you need to step back and redesign things properly.

Version 1.14 - Reminder Revamp

Completely rebuilt the reminder system. Multiple reminders per habit, daily check-in reminders, the whole thing. Reminders are now actually useful.

Building FocusKit: A New Chapter

Later that year, iOS 26 dropped.

And with it came Liquid Glass, Apple’s new design language. I was immediately hooked. Something about it made me want to learn proper native iOS development. So I did.

I spent the second half of the year learning SwiftUI from scratch and building a completely new app: FocusKit - a focus timer that I actually wanted to use myself.

I launched it on November 29th, so it’s about one month old now. Early numbers look promising: 1,600 downloads, $874 total revenue, $52 MRR.

But more importantly: I use it every single day. There’s something special about building an app that solves your own problem. I’m excited to keep improving it throughout 2026. My goal: Building the PERFECT focus timer app.

Also, having all my eggs in the HabitKit basket is scary. Diversifying my income with FocusKit or other apps just makes sense.

Why SwiftUI?

I wrote a whole article about switching from Flutter to SwiftUI if you’re curious. Short version: I’m really happy with the switch and will probably use SwiftUI for all future projects.

Living a Deeper Life

This year wasn’t just about apps. It was about how I work and live.

I got really into Cal Newport’s ideas about “deep work” and living a more intentional life. Check out his content if you’re interested in improving your life!

Here’s what changed:

• Less doomscrolling. I’m actively fighting the urge to endlessly scroll through algorithm-based timelines. It’s hard. I fail sometimes. But I’m getting better.

• No more YouTube binges. Instead of watching “just one more video” for three hours, I try to fill my free time with actual hobbies: making music, drawing, reading books.

• Pomodoro is back. Thanks to FocusKit (yes, I’m using my own app every day), I brought back the Pomodoro technique. My concentration improved a lot. My productivity went up.

I’m not perfect. Not even close. But I’m better than I was a year ago, and that’s what counts. 2026 will be even better.

The Not-So-Fun Parts

Not everything was sunshine and rainbows. Here are some moments that gave me minor heart attacks:

Apple Removed HabitKit From the App Store

In August, I woke up to discover that HabitKit was... gone. Completely removed from the iOS App Store.

The reason? I had updated my address in App Store Connect, and Apple couldn’t verify the new information. Instead of reverting to my old (already verified) address, or maybe sending me a warning, they just... removed the app. No deadline, no heads up, nothing.

It was back within 24 hours, but those were some stressful hours. Read the full story here.

Google Didn’t Like My Newsletter Links

Google threatened to remove HabitKit from the Play Store because I was linking to my Substack newsletter from within the app. Their problem? If users clicked through enough links, they might eventually land on a paywall somewhere.

So I had to remove all external links from the Android version. Fun times. More details here.

The moral of the story? Platform risk is real. Never forget that you’re building on someone else’s land.

My Secret Weapon: Cursor

I wrote a couple of articles about my productivity stack and the tools I use to run my indie business (Part 1 | Part 2).

But if I had to pick the most important addition this year, it’s Cursor. This AI-powered code editor completely changed how I write code. It’s like having a really smart pair programmer who never gets tired or annoyed at my questions. Crazy productivity boost.

Podcasts & Appearances

I also had the honor of appearing on two German-speaking podcasts to talk about my indie journey:

• Engineering Kiosk Podcast: Listen here

• Happy Bootstrapping: Listen here

If you speak German, check them out. We talked about building in public, the ups and downs of indie hacking, and what it actually takes to make a living from your own apps.

Books I Loved This Year

Reading was a big part of my year. Here are the standouts:

📚 ”The 1% Rule” - One of the best productivity books I’ve ever read. Simple concepts, but they actually stick.

📚 ”My Indie Book” by Tony Dinh - Super inspiring story from one of my favorite indie hackers. If you’re on this path, read it.

📚 ”Stormlight Archives” - This fantasy series completely took over my reading time in the second half of the year. Brandon Sanderson knows how to write addicting books.

Looking Ahead to 2026

I don’t want to make big promises. But here’s what I’m thinking:

• Keep improving HabitKit (it’s my bread and butter)

• Turn FocusKit into something special

• Maybe start a third app? (I have ideas...)

• Continue fighting the algorithm addiction and live a focused life

• Read more books

• Stay grateful

2025 was incredible. Better than I could have imagined when I quit my job. And I’m going into 2026 with more confidence, more skills, and more appreciation for what I’ve built.

Thank you to everyone who downloaded my apps, subscribed to my newsletter, or just sent a nice message. You’re the reason I get to do this.

Here’s to another year of building cool stuff. 🚀