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Ask HN: What's a simple app/software that made a lot of money?

7 points by kkt262 10y ago

What are some apps or software that made decent money (6-figures+), but aren't hard to make at all? Think something that a programmer could make in a weekend or two. Does anything come to mind?

sundarurfriend 10y ago
How about Whatsapp? A plain old chat application, with some bells and whistles like attaching map locations and contacts, but more importantly removing the usual barriers of "Invite your friend to talk to them!", ended up worth 18 billion dollars (and counting).
- Lordarminius 10y ago
  Whatsapp was not simple. Angry Birds?
  - kkt262 10y ago
    I'm pretty sure Angry Birds took a long time to make.
    - Lordarminius 10y ago
      Flappy bird I meant to say
  - catdog 10y ago
    > Whatsapp was not simple. Maybe not 1-2 weekends simple but compared to 18 billion dollars the technical aspect is rather insignificant. It's a chat client hugely leveraging existing technology (XMPP, at least in the beginning), not rocket science. > Angry Birds? If you reduce it to the basic game mechanics, maybe. All in all it's surely not that simple. I think Flappy Bird would be a perfectly fitting example here as it's so simple that it literally can be made in one weekend and made, if you believe the news reports up to $50K per day during the hype phase.
csallen 10y ago
Check out my site https://IndieHackers.com https://IndieHackers.com and sort by highest revenue. The "simplest" apps on there (from a technical perspective) making the most money are probably Semantria ($150k/mo), ConferenceBadge.com ($45k/mo), Nomad List ($33k/mo), Storemapper ($21k/mo), and FormCraft ($13.4k/mo). Of course, if the app is simple to build and makes a ton of money, that invariably means that the other components (marketing, sales, distribution, etc) are tougher to crack.
- kkt262 10y ago
  This is an awesome looking site, but I doubt those apps were that simple to create. I could be wrong. I kind of meant like a "flashlight" app or something similar like that.
  - csallen 10y ago
    Ah, yeah there's nothing like that on the site doing six figures. A lot of these products did start off as small MVPs that could be built in a weekend or two, however. They just got more complex over time, especially as they scaled to handle additional customers. I suppose that's not a concern with a flashlight app :) Can I ask what your goal is? Are you looking to hire a developer for cheap and then do the marketing yourself?
pshamraiz 10y ago
I am not sure! That the programmer could make the app with no problems. I mean that If it could be then it should be available for every county. And also for every currency as well. And The money can also be transfered in Bank accounts only.

7 points by kkt262 10y ago

What are some apps or software that made decent money (6-figures+), but aren't hard to make at all? Think something that a programmer could make in a weekend or two. Does anything come to mind?

sundarurfriend 10y ago

How about Whatsapp? A plain old chat application, with some bells and whistles like attaching map locations and contacts, but more importantly removing the usual barriers of "Invite your friend to talk to them!", ended up worth 18 billion dollars (and counting).

Lordarminius 10y ago
Whatsapp was not simple. Angry Birds?
- kkt262 10y ago
  I'm pretty sure Angry Birds took a long time to make.
  - Lordarminius 10y ago
    Flappy bird I meant to say
- catdog 10y ago
  > Whatsapp was not simple. Maybe not 1-2 weekends simple but compared to 18 billion dollars the technical aspect is rather insignificant. It's a chat client hugely leveraging existing technology (XMPP, at least in the beginning), not rocket science. > Angry Birds? If you reduce it to the basic game mechanics, maybe. All in all it's surely not that simple. I think Flappy Bird would be a perfectly fitting example here as it's so simple that it literally can be made in one weekend and made, if you believe the news reports up to $50K per day during the hype phase.

csallen 10y ago

Check out my site https://IndieHackers.com https://IndieHackers.com and sort by highest revenue. The "simplest" apps on there (from a technical perspective) making the most money are probably Semantria ($150k/mo), ConferenceBadge.com ($45k/mo), Nomad List ($33k/mo), Storemapper ($21k/mo), and FormCraft ($13.4k/mo). Of course, if the app is simple to build and makes a ton of money, that invariably means that the other components (marketing, sales, distribution, etc) are tougher to crack.

kkt262 10y ago
This is an awesome looking site, but I doubt those apps were that simple to create. I could be wrong. I kind of meant like a "flashlight" app or something similar like that.
- csallen 10y ago
  Ah, yeah there's nothing like that on the site doing six figures. A lot of these products did start off as small MVPs that could be built in a weekend or two, however. They just got more complex over time, especially as they scaled to handle additional customers. I suppose that's not a concern with a flashlight app :) Can I ask what your goal is? Are you looking to hire a developer for cheap and then do the marketing yourself?

pshamraiz 10y ago

I am not sure! That the programmer could make the app with no problems. I mean that If it could be then it should be available for every county. And also for every currency as well. And The money can also be transfered in Bank accounts only.