How to Clone Carrd
Dead-simple builder for responsive one-page websites
What is Carrd?
Carrd is the platform that proved you don't need a sprawling website builder to make money. It does one thing: it lets anyone build a single, responsive, beautiful one-page site - a personal profile, a landing page, a link-in-bio, a portfolio - in minutes, with no code. The whole product fits on one screen, and that constraint is the feature, not a limitation.
It's also the patron saint of indie hackers. Carrd was built and is still run by a single founder, AJ, who turned a deliberately tiny product into a business reportedly clearing seven figures a year on a subscription that costs about $19/year. No funding, no team, no bloat. For anyone deciding what to build, Carrd is the proof that 'small and sharp' beats 'big and generic' when you pick the right niche.
Cloning Carrd is one of the most realistic projects on this whole directory. The core - a drag-light block editor that outputs a responsive page, a publish-to-subdomain pipeline, and a cheap subscription - is genuinely buildable solo. You won't out-Carrd Carrd at general one-pagers, but a focused clone for a specific audience (musicians, real-estate agents, wedding pages, Web3 link hubs) is a weekend-to-a-month project with a clear path to recurring revenue.
Who it's for: Indie hackers, freelancers, creators and small businesses who need a single landing or profile page without the cost and complexity of Webflow or Squarespace. The clone opportunity is a vertical template pack: one-pagers tailored to a specific profession or community where opinionated defaults beat a blank canvas.
How Carrd makes money
- $ Annual Pro subscriptions: tiered plans (roughly $9โ$49/year) that unlock custom domains, more sites, forms and analytics.
- $ Custom domain connection: the single biggest reason free users upgrade - they want their own URL, not a subdomain.
- $ Pro features as upsells: contact/lead forms, Google Analytics, embeds, password protection and removing the 'Made with' badge.
- $ Volume over price: a low yearly price multiplied by a huge base of tiny sites - the model wins on retention and near-zero marginal cost.
- $ Template marketplaces (an opportunity, not core today): selling or commissioning premium one-page templates.
Rough estimate inferred from public founder interviews and reported seven-figure annual revenue; exact figures are not disclosed. CloneMRR is not affiliated with Carrd; figures are for educational purposes.
Features to build
MVP ship this first
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โ Block-based page editorUsers stack blocks (heading, text, image, button, divider, social icons) on a single canvas and reorder them, with a live preview.
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โ Responsive outputEvery page automatically looks right on mobile and desktop; the editor shows both breakpoints.
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โ Theme & style controlsPick fonts, colors, background (solid/gradient/image) and spacing without touching CSS.
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โ Publish to subdomainOne click publishes the page to yourname.yoursite.app on the free tier.
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โ Template galleryStart from a pre-built one-pager (profile, link-in-bio, event, portfolio) instead of a blank canvas.
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โ Accounts & site dashboardEmail/Google auth; a dashboard listing the user's sites with edit, duplicate and unpublish actions.
Full version add later
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+ Custom domain connectionPro users point their own domain at a published site, with automatic SSL - the #1 paid feature.
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+ Contact & lead formsAdd a form block that emails submissions or pushes them to the dashboard, with spam protection.
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+ Analytics & integrationsBuilt-in pageview stats plus embeds for Google Analytics, Meta Pixel and third-party widgets.
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+ Multi-section / scrolling pagesOptional longer pages with anchored sections and smooth-scroll nav for richer one-pagers.
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+ Password protection & SEO controlsGate pages behind a password; edit meta title, description and og:image per site.
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+ Remove-badge & white-labelStrip the 'Made with' footer and offer agency/white-label plans for resellers.
Recommended tech stack
| Layer | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Frontend | Next.js + Tailwind CSS | The editor is a rich client app; published pages need fast static output and good SEO, which Next.js handles via SSG/ISR. |
| Editor | React + dnd-kit (or Craft.js) | Block reorder and inline editing are the core UX; dnd-kit gives accessible drag-and-drop without a heavy page-builder dependency. |
| Database | PostgreSQL (Supabase) | Sites are stored as JSON block trees in a relational table; Supabase bundles auth and row-level security so users only touch their own sites. |
| Publishing | Static export to object storage + CDN | Render each site to static HTML and serve from a CDN - near-zero per-page cost is what makes the cheap subscription profitable. |
| Custom domains | Cloudflare for SaaS (or Vercel domains API) | Handles wildcard SSL and per-customer domain routing, the genuinely fiddly part of any site builder. |
| Payments | Stripe Billing | Annual subscriptions, trials and plan tiers out of the box; webhooks gate pro features. |
AI prompts to clone Carrd
Pick your builder, copy the prompt, paste it and iterate. Enter your email once to unlock all prompts on every page - we'll also send you this full prompt pack.
Build a no-code one-page website builder web app called PageDrop, modeled on Carrd.
## Core concept
Anyone can build a single responsive web page by stacking blocks, then publish it to a free subdomain. A paid plan unlocks custom domains, forms and analytics. The product is intentionally simple - one page, done well.
## User roles
- Free user: builds and publishes sites on a subdomain, limited number of sites
- Pro user: custom domains, forms, analytics, no footer badge
- Admin: sees all users, all published sites, and a revenue dashboard
Tools to build your Carrd clone
Describe your app in plain English and Lovable builds a full-stack web app with auth, database and deployment included.
Best for: Full-stack web apps without writing code
StackBlitz's AI builder. Prompt, run and edit full-stack apps directly in the browser, then deploy in one click.
Best for: Rapid prototypes and web apps
AI app builder with built-in database, auth and hosting. Strong for internal tools and CRUD-heavy products.
Best for: Dashboards, marketplaces and internal tools
The AI code editor. Full control over your codebase with AI agents that write and refactor code for you.
Best for: Developers who want full code ownership
Generates production-grade React + Tailwind UI from a prompt, deployable to Vercel instantly.
Best for: Polished UI and front-ends
Workers, Pages, R2 and D1 - host your clone on a global edge network with a generous free tier.
Best for: Serverless apps and APIs
Cheap VPS and managed hosting with an AI website builder. Easiest way to put a clone online on a budget.
Best for: Budget VPS and WordPress-style sites
How to make money with a Carrd clone
Pick a vertical template pack
Don't build a generic builder. Ship one-pagers tuned for a single audience - musicians, real-estate agents, wedding couples, Web3 link hubs - where opinionated defaults and the right blocks beat a blank canvas.
Charge for the custom domain
Just like Carrd, the custom domain is the upgrade trigger. Keep the free tier genuinely useful on a subdomain, then make 'use your own URL' the headline reason to pay.
Sell premium templates
Once you have a renderer, premium one-page templates are pure-margin digital goods. Open a marketplace and take a cut from third-party designers.
White-label for agencies
Freelancers and small agencies will pay more for a white-labeled builder they can resell to clients - higher-priced plans with no badge and a custom logo.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Carrd make?
Carrd is a solo-founder business reportedly clearing seven figures a year - on the order of $1M+ - from a cheap annual subscription (around $19/year). Exact numbers aren't public, but founder interviews point to a low-six-figure monthly revenue with near-zero marginal cost per site.
How hard is it to build a Carrd clone?
This is one of the easier projects to clone well. The core - a block editor that outputs a responsive page, publish-to-subdomain, and a subscription - is genuinely solo-buildable. The two fiddly parts are custom-domain SSL (use Cloudflare for SaaS) and a clean, fast public renderer.
Is it legal to clone Carrd?
Yes. Website builders are a crowded, legal category - Carrd competes with Webflow, Squarespace, Linktree and dozens more. You can copy the one-page builder concept; you cannot copy Carrd's name, logo, templates or code. Build your own brand and your own templates.
What tech stack should I use for a Carrd clone?
Next.js + Tailwind for the editor and SSG public pages, Supabase (Postgres) for auth and storing sites as block JSON, a CDN/static export for cheap publishing, Cloudflare for SaaS for custom-domain SSL, and Stripe Billing for the subscription. AI builders scaffold most of this from a good prompt.
How much does it cost to build a Carrd clone?
With AI builders, an MVP costs under $50/month in tooling and can be live in under a week. A polished version with custom domains, forms and billing is a 4โ8 week project. Because serving static pages is nearly free, the business is cheap to run at scale - which is exactly why Carrd's model works.
Can a one-page builder really compete with Webflow or Squarespace?
Only by being narrower, not bigger. Carrd wins by refusing to be Webflow - it's faster, cheaper and easier for one specific job. A clone should niche even harder: one page, one audience, perfect defaults. That focus is the entire competitive advantage.
More apps to clone
CloneMRR is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Carrd. Revenue figures are rough estimates based on public reports and are provided for educational purposes only. "Cloning" here means building an original product inspired by a proven business model - never copy a brand's name, logo, content or code.