xkcd
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2005
- Headquarters—
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
xkcd firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- xkcd
- Legal name
- xkcd, inc.
- Website
- https://xkcd.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2005
- Operating status
- Operating
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
xkcd industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Comics
- NAICS
- Periodical Publishers (513120), Book Publishers (513130)
- SIC
- Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Author Website, Storefront & Direct-to-Reader Commerce (D2C Sales) (MPAJAJAE)
Keywords
xkcd business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Book Sales: Sale of published books including 'What If?', 'What If? 2', 'How To', and 'Thing Explainer' through major book retailers and publishers globally
- Merchandise: Sale of xkcd-branded merchandise including shirts, with links to books section on the website
- Licensing (potential future): Licensing inquiries handled via email ([email protected]) for commercial use cases that may be approved on case-by-case basis
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
xkcd product offering
Product offeringCore offering
xkcd publishes a free online webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language, updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The company also operates the What If? blog answering absurd hypothetical questions with serious science, and sells companion books (What If?, What If? 2, How To, Thing Explainer) and branded merchandise through its own store and global retail publishers.
Product overview
xkcd is a single-creator webcomic platform centered on Randall Munroe's work. The core offering is the xkcd webcomic (updated MWF) with accompanying alt-text, supplemented by the What If? blog column. The product portfolio includes three published books derived from the webcomic's content: the What If? book series (original and sequel plus 10th Anniversary Edition) providing scientific answers to absurd questions; Thing Explainer using simplified vocabulary; and How To offering impractical but scientifically grounded advice. Content distribution is via RSS/Atom feeds and email newsletter. All content is released under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- What If?: Answering hypothetical questions with physics, updates on Tuesdays
- Thing Explainer
- How To
Products and services
- xkcd Webcomic The flagship xkcd webcomic featuring stick-figure comics on romance, sarcasm, math, and language, published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for general readers interested in science and humor.
- What If? Blog A companion blog where Randall Munroe answers hypothetical science questions with detailed physics-based explanations for general readers curious about science and unusual scenarios.
- What If? Book Series Published book series collecting scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions from the What If? blog, sold to general readers, book buyers, and gift purchasers through major retailers worldwide.
- Thing Explainer Book A book explaining complex subjects using only the ten hundred most common English words, in the style of the Up Goer Five comic, for general readers and education enthusiasts.
- How To Book A #1 New York Times bestseller providing absurd but scientifically grounded advice for common real-world problems, targeting general readers, gift buyers, and humor/science enthusiasts.
- xkcd Merchandise Branded merchandise such as t-shirts sold through the xkcd store for fans and individual consumers of the webcomic.
Companies that use xkcd
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
xkcd technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
xkcd partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Riverhead Books (Penguin Random House)corePrimary US publisher for xkcd books including 'What If?' 10th Anniversary Edition and 'How To'. Handles book publishing, distribution, and marketing in the United States market.
- HarperCollinscorePublisher of the What If? 10th Anniversary Edition in the US market, with distribution through major retail channels.
- Houghton Mifflin HarcourtcoreOriginal publisher of the first What If? book (2014) and Thing Explainer (2015) in the United States.
- John MurraycoreUK and Commonwealth publisher for xkcd books, handling editions for UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand markets.
- Penguin Random HousecoreMajor distribution partner for xkcd books, including What If? 2 availability through their retail network.
- Creative CommonscoreCreative Commons BY-NC 2.5 license enables free sharing of xkcd comics non-commercially. Partnership framework allows community use while protecting commercial rights.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
xkcd competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (SMBC): Webcomic by Zach Weinersmith featuring science, math, and philosophy humor. Directly comparable to xkcd in topic, format, audience, and book-publishing trajectory (SMBC has published 'Soonish' and other books with major publishers).
- Dinosaur Comics: Webcomic by Ryan North with fixed-template art and dialogue-heavy humor. Directly comparable single-creator webcomic with similar indie publishing model and explicit xkcd cross-promotion (featured on xkcd's homepage).
- The Perry Bible Fellowship: Single-creator webcomic by John Kerschbaum with distinctive art style and dark/absurd humor. Comparable as an artistically distinctive, single-creator webcomic with crossover audience among xkcd readers.
- Cyanide & Happiness: Webcomic with multiple creators delivering dark/absurd humor. Comparable in online-only distribution model, book publishing track record, and merchandise business; broader in creator base but similar audience overlap with xkcd.
- Questionable Content: Long-running webcomic by Jeph Jacques featuring tech/nerd culture. Comparable in daily-update format, nerd/tech audience, single-creator model, and merch program; explicitly cross-promoted on xkcd.
- The Oatmeal: Webcomic by Matthew Inman featuring humor, science explainers, and absurdity. Comparable to xkcd in single-creator model, science-humor crossover content, successful book publishing ('Explaining Creativity', 'Why My Cat Is More Impressive Than Your Baby'), and merchandise strategy.
- Hyperbole and a Half: Single-creator webcomic/blog by Allie Brosh featuring humor, depression, and introspection. Comparable as a single-creator internet-native property that converted into a major bestselling book ('Solutions and Other Problems').
Emerging players
- Poorly Drawn Lines: Webcomic by Reza Farazmand featuring minimalist art, science, and absurdist humor. Comparable to xkcd in minimalist stick-figure aesthetic and science-humor crossover; smaller in scale but overlaps strongly in audience.
Broad incumbents
- The Far Side: Single-creator comic by Gary Larson featuring science and absurd humor. Comparable as a single-creator, science-adjacent, decades-long comic property with strong book sales and merchandise licensing — the closest historical analog to xkcd's brand model.
- Dilbert: Iconic single-creator workplace/nerd humor comic by Scott Adams that expanded into books, merchandise, and TV. Comparable as a single-creator comic brand that achieved mainstream commercial scale, though broader in workplace satire.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
xkcd social profiles
Digital presencexkcd financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
xkcd leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
xkcd funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
xkcd M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about xkcd
What does xkcd do?
xkcd publishes a free online webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language, updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The company also operates the What If? blog answering absurd hypothetical questions with serious science, and sells companion books (What If?, What If? 2, How To, Thing Explainer) and branded merchandise through its own store and global retail publishers.
Is xkcd a public or private company?
xkcd is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was xkcd founded?
xkcd was founded in 2005.
How does xkcd make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Book Sales are the primary driver. The others are merchandise and licensing (potential future).
Who are xkcd's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (SMBC), Dinosaur Comics, The Perry Bible Fellowship, Cyanide & Happiness, Questionable Content, The Oatmeal and Hyperbole and a Half. Poorly Drawn Lines is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are The Far Side and Dilbert.
Does xkcd have an API?
No public API is recorded for xkcd.
What industry is xkcd in?
xkcd's product category is Online Comics. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJAJAE, Author Website, Storefront & Direct-to-Reader Commerce (D2C Sales). Its NAICS code is 513120 and its SIC code is 2721.