Work · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to focus with strangers
Hey HN, First time posting here. Go easy on me, haha. I made Focus with strangers, a site where you can do pomodoros alongside some random people online for a hit of social pressure. There's a simple todo list built in, and you can chat (or 'shout' as I like to call it) with other participants during the break. If you don't like the idea of interacting with randoms, you can send a link and work with your friends as well. No logins/accounts, free to use. Made using elixir + phoenix, hosted on fly. Any feedback would be welcome!
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.
- 1
Hey HN! Alexis here, I’m a product manager and software developer in Berlin by way of New York. I want to show you this app I made – It’s like a "buddy" for those, like myself, who inadvertedly talk too much in meetings. The app gives me feedback and a little more in control of what I have influence over by: * Keeping track of how long I’ve been speaking * Catching myself before I talk too much * Developing a better sense of timing I truly love having conversations with people in real-life. But online meetings, especially group calls, tend to make me nervous. I can't read body language. The…
2022 · unblah.me · its alternatives →
- 2
Social Pomodoro▲166Meet an accountability buddy for 25 minutes of focused work.
2018 · its alternatives →
- 3IM
Hi HN ! I've struggled with anxiety for most of my life. But I was lucky to have a supporting family and friends. Not everyone has this chance. So I made Wiro Talk to help strangers pair up and check on each other. Check it out and tell me what you think. It's an mvp so yes it's using discord at the moment.
2023 · wirotalk.com · its alternatives →
- 4
- 5IS
Hey HN friends, I keep getting distracted working from home and always end up watching youtube, browsing blogs like HN or just mindlessly scrolling then I feel like crap because I didn’t do enough. I went through dozens of productivity tools but they’re quite overwhelming to use and none of them actually helped me focus. So I built http://complish.ai, a web-based sidebar that helps me focus on one task at a time. I launched it last month and have over 3,000 users now and I’ll be keeping it free. Would love for you all to try and give some feedback!
2023 · its alternatives →
- 6IM
This is our entry in the "spontaneous event creation" ring. I'd love to hear what HN readers think!
2011 · shoutfast.com · its alternatives →
- 7
my phone secretly robbed all my dreams and i didn’t even knew it got so bad. when i saw my screen time being about 11hrs with ~95 phone pickups per day, i realized how bad it got. my problem is that i could not avoid social media entirely as i post actively because i’m involved in marketing and branding. I tried the usual, app blockers & time limits, but i always find myself hitting “one more minute” like a junkie. i’m not looking for a complete social media absence or deleting everything as these radical solutions don’t fit my lifestyle and needs and i tend to come back needing even more.…
2025 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
- 8TI
Hello HN, I built Teamates.io[0] - a place for professionals to have small coffee chats with a random partner right now. Think of it like a virtual coffeeshop where you can chat with strangers while you're taking a little break. It's in open beta and you can try using it right now. Please be nice and professional to each other :) I noticed over the course of pandemic I missed random coffee chats with my coworkers and random chats with strangers. I think it's important to have these unplanned conversations. I would really appreciate the feedback from you all, since I believe it's a pretty…
2021 · its alternatives →
- 9IC
http://impromptudo.com is a small project I've been working on. Just a webapp for now but I think it qualifies as an MVP. Also has a mobile version at the same url or http://m.impromptudo.com. Right now it pulls in data from meetup.com for upcoming meetups in several populous cities so it's not just an empty map. You can also click on the map to put up your own post. Trying to stay away from making it all social networky, there are plenty of those already.<p>Finally, I'm not a designer, as you can see.
2010 · impromptudo.com · its alternatives →
- 10OC
Hey everyone! I built a little side project called OpenQuest over the last three weeks, and I'm looking for some feedback to see if it's worth taking further. The idea is simple: it's a place to create a chat room where you can connect with people (a maximum of 8) who have the same goal as you, for a short time (7 days for now). Think of it as a way to stay motivated, hold each other accountable, or simply work together with new people on something specific. Some examples can be: - Following a programming course - Reading a book - Getting back to the gym - Cleaning up your home - Shopping…
2024 · openquest.app · its alternatives →
- 11WP
I've been working some software to make capturing feedback cheap and easy. I think it can be much less expensive if we put our friends and family to use.
2012 · moustach.io · its alternatives →
- 12GM
Just finished this over the last few weekends, wanted to get this in front of a few users. A few things: - There are no users as of me posting this. - Add "Hacker News" to your interests once you've signed up. It'll allow us to see each other. - You will only see other users with similar interests. - Only common interests will be revealed. Let me know any feedback/suggestions/bugs/idea sucks, etc.
2011 · its alternatives →
- 13TA
Hey! I just launched TimeSlate.app — a completely free web app to help students stay focused and organized with zero friction. No accounts, no ads, no subscription What it does: - Pomodoro Timer - Task Manager – Tag tasks by subject, assign priorities, track progress. - Subjects - Revision Timetable – Block out your day visually with subject-based time blocks. - Dashboard – See time spent, tasks completed, Pomodoros per subject/day. It’s built for students, self-learners, or really anyone trying to structure deep work time without distractions. Why I made this: Every productivity app I…
2025 · timeslate.app · its alternatives →
- 14
- 15
I used to watch hundreds of hours of lofi beats on youtube while I was coding, but I got really sick of all the ads. I decided to build a better alternative - It's a configurable space for you to hang out online while you work, with a ton of relaxing music and backgrounds. Its got useful tools built in like a timer to keep track of how long you've been locked in, and a notepad for todos or scribbling down ideas while you work. Honestly this is the first tool I've built that I personally use every day, so I'm hoping some of you out there can get some use out of it too!
2025 · lofizone.com · its alternatives →
- 16HA
Hello HN! Here's my November Startup Sprint project (coded in two days). http://hackerlunch.com It allows you to post your lunch plans and lets other hackers join you. I built this because I often see HN users are interested in meeting each other if they are in the same area. I am not a coder, so this version is very rough. If people use it, I will work with others to build a more polished version. I would love some feedback. What do you think? Is this something you will be using?
2010 · hackerlunch.com · its alternatives →
- 17
I built this app in less than 4 hours over a busy and noisy weekend to help me stay focused while studying, during my college days. Since then I have been maintaining this open source project. Its been quite a fruitful and enjoyable ride. Hope you all like it :)
2023 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 18
- 19
Link to test: http://getmeetingsapp.com Basically it is a web-based chat application, with private and public rooms and real-time file sharing. It is currently in a half-arsed situation so needs lot of work but wanted to get some feedback from you. Thanks PS. I created a public room for feature requests, just in case: http://getmeetingsapp.com/rooms/4e7f64ea17ade37b71000002
2011 · getmeetingsapp.com · its alternatives →
- 20AS
Hello Hacker News! In the past few weeks I've been working on a side project that allows you to post anonymously a short message and a photo that is tied to your location. Other people can see posts around them in a radius of 1 kilometer. Posts are ephemeral and disappear after one day. That's all. It started as an exercise to try to write a geohash index and to try nodejs and Redis. I'm not sure if/how it could be useful. Maybe it could be used as a quick way of sharing something with someone next to you, or to leave a reminder for someone at a specific location. Or it could be abused…
2015 · its alternatives →
- 21
Hey everyone, I have been doing Indie Hacking for almost 2 years. I was sick of following people on social media or DMing and calling it networking. So, I built a network/platform where professionals meet with fellows via scheduled video calls. We as a community believe that this is a better way as an initial contact than follows and direct messages. Our platform is open for free, early access, currently. Feel free to check us out at https://makermeet.me and if our mindsets match, you may join us at https://app.makermeet.me/ Whom is it best for? It's perfect for…
2025 · makermeet.me · its alternatives →
- 22
ToNotDo▲2last week i was "working" on 5 things and i was completely overwhelmed to the point that i literally didn't know what to do. i did use ai chatting apps (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc..) and explained to them what i have in my mind but they didn't help me the way i wanted to, idk but they all seem to have a setting or something that makes them act as motivational speakers when they detect that you are overwhelmed (i even tried specific prompts guiding them to not act this way, but didn't help) so, i thought why don't i just make the tool that will fix my exact problem? and i made ToNotDo, a…
Jul 2026 · tonotdo.cc · its alternatives →
- 23FA
The url can be found in the first comment. To scratch my own itch, I created a simple tool that should be helpful to many of us who are under constant distractions. If anyone uses this and finds it effective or ineffective, please kindly share your experience. Below are some ways I think it can be put in use: 1. Before we start a work day, we can use it to clear up random thoughts and anxiousness. 2. We can use it regularly to increase our attention span. Note: This was posted several years ago. I only made very minor changes since last time. I'm reposting it and hope to see some feedback on…
2019 · its alternatives →
- 24NA
Since I went remote(working) last year, I found it hard to track my work/focus hours. To begin with, I started with my mobile stopwatch but found it to be inefficient and distracting. I then tried some time management tools online but they were geared towards enterprises than individuals. Plus, had too many features. So, last weekend I created https://www.timemygrind.com/ - a simple focus time tracking tool that requires no login, no internet and has no ads. Once you finish your work, it shows the times in the table below. I usually pause when I take a break or go out for…
2024 · timemygrind.com · its alternatives →
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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →