When I joined WIP.co, I was hopeful. The idea of a maker community—a place to share progress, gain motivation, and connect with other creators—sounded exactly what I needed. However, after spending time on the platform and exploring its features, I came to a frustrating realisation: for a platform that charges USD 199 per year for its pro plan, it feels more like an indie hacking project than a polished, valuable product.
The Promise vs. The Reality
At its core, WIP.co offers a place to share updates about your projects and, supposedly, interact with a community of makers. While the interface is clean and functional, the value stops there.
The platform itself is invite-only, meaning you must be invited by someone already a member—an attempt to create artificial scarcity and exclusivity. It’s the only Gmail invite approach that felt exciting 20 years ago, but in 2024 feels overdone.
The first issue is the lack of real engagement. I posted updates about my projects, expecting feedback, encouragement, or even casual interaction. Instead, I got silence. The platform feels like a broadcasting station where everyone is shouting into the void. People post updates, but meaningful back-and-forth is practically non-existent. For a platform that brands itself as a maker community, the experience is surprisingly lonely.
Not to mention people post absolute crap on there. Some makers are treating wip.co as a life journal rather than a platform for posting updates about what they are working on or sharing secrets of their success.
Compare this to IndieHackers.com, where the interaction feels organic, frequent, and supportive. On IndieHackers, people share progress and genuinely connect, collaborate, and provide thoughtful feedback. The difference is stark: WIP.co feels transactional, while IndieHackers feels alive.
$199 USD Per Year: What Are You Actually Paying For When You Upgrade To “Pro”?
Here’s the kicker: WIP.co charges USD 199 annually for its Pro plan. Let’s break down what you get for that price:
- Access to a “deals” section that contains discounts for various tools.
- Dark mode
- Hide ads on the site
- A pro badge
- And a few other features that have been paywalled (like ability to mute users and have private projects)
For the price, I expected far more. At $199 a year, this is entering the territory of premium platforms with rich features and active engagement. But WIP.co doesn’t deliver anything close to that level of value. Instead, it feels like you’re funding someone’s indie hacking project—something they built as a side hustle to bootstrap their own dreams, rather than a polished product aimed at helping others succeed.
Limited Benefits, High Price: A Tough Sell
The high cost of the pro upgrade is particularly frustrating because WIP.co doesn’t solve any unique problems for makers. There are countless free and well-supported options if you’re looking for a platform to post updates about your projects. If you’re seeking community, IndieHackers.com outshines WIP.co in every way—better engagement, more authentic connections, and no paywall.
The truth is WIP.co charges a premium for a few inconsequential features for what feels like a minimal product. The community aspect—the very thing it markets itself on—is underwhelming at best. If I’m paying nearly $200 for pro, I expect more than a minimalist UI, a few discount codes and a silent audience.
Final Verdict: WIP.co Isn’t Worth the Price
For $199 a year, WIP.co feels overpriced and underwhelming. You can choose not to pay, but the fact they try and charge for this alleged upgrade feels a bit pushy.
The lack of meaningful community interaction and the limited feature set make it hard to justify the cost for pro and the free version while functional, just doesn’t offer anything that you can’t already get on Twitter or other platforms that are similar.
WIP.co has potential, but it’s hard to recommend unless they drastically improve the community aspect and re-evaluate their pro pricing. Makers deserve better than paying premium prices for what feels like a bootstrapped side project.
Have you tried WIP.co or other maker platforms? Let me know your thoughts in the comments—especially if you’ve found alternatives that deliver more bang for your buck.
