Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Fog Creek - The Problems with Open Source

And how to fix them with Justin Searls

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Fog Creek - The Problems with Open Source launched in 2015; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   The Bike Shed - #32: Bug For Bug Compatibility▲55

   Microsoft's interest in open source and Sean's progress imp…

   2015 · its alternatives →

2. 2S2
   Ship 2.0 – A macOS Native Interface to GitHub Issues▲233

   2017 · realartists.com · its alternatives →

3. 3IM
   I made an open-source Replit▲9

   I spent the past few weeks making an open source cloud code editing environment with an AI copilot and multiplayer collaboration! It's fully self-hostable in 5-10 minutes. There's a lot of minor improvements to be made, and some are already listed in the Github issues. Let me know what you think and feel free to try it out.

   2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   Flowhub▲85

   Let's Make Code More Playful (Beta Open)

   2014 · its alternatives →

5. 5DA
   Diffmatic – A daily GitHub digest for dev teams▲67

   2014 · diffmatic.com · its alternatives →

6. 6PG
   PolyBrowser goes open source on GitHub. Let’s re-imagine web browsing▲47

   2015 · github.com · its alternatives →

7. 7
   Codetree (pre-launch)▲95

   Improved Github issues

   2014 · its alternatives →

8. 8GA
   Gulp AWS Splash, an Open-Source LaunchRock Alternative▲105

   2015 · github.com · its alternatives →

9. 9OB
   Openblog – Blogging with GitHub Issues▲78

   2016 · github.com · its alternatives →

10. 10OG
    OS – GitHub issues to help beginners make their first pull request▲97

    2017 · open-source.now.sh · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Frankly▲101

    A dashboard of issues and PRs across GitHub repositories.

    2016 · its alternatives →

12. 12
    Waffle▲84

    Your github workflow open sourced.

    2014 · its alternatives →

13. 13MF
    My first open-source project release – RandomJson▲56

    2019 · github.com · its alternatives →

14. 14
    Wick Editor▲88

    The Internet's free and open-source creation suite

    2016 · its alternatives →

15. 15GS
    Glyph – Static Site Generator Powered by GitHub Issues and Pages▲75

    2018 · dbriemann.github.io · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Stack Overflow Podcast - A Bunch of Bald Yaks▲66

    HyperDev, the fastest way to bang out code and run it online

    2016 · its alternatives →

17. 17
    Fog Creek - Success and failure at Fog Creek▲73

    Joel Spolsky & team reflect on 15 yrs of Fog Creek Software

    2015 · its alternatives →

18. 18FF
    Fixbounty – Find security issues in open source projects▲8

    2021 · spatcher.io · its alternatives →

19. 19GJ
    Git (& Jekyll) backed websites anyone can edit. Beta▲61

    2012 · spintoapp.com · its alternatives →

20. 20RM
    Releasing my first real open source project – Captionss▲51

    2014 · captionss.com · its alternatives →

21. 21CW
    Coding WebIDE goes open source – The WebIDE Community Edition▲13

    2016 · github.com · its alternatives →

22. 22CN
    Contributor Ninja – help open source projects▲5

    2017 · contributor.ninja · its alternatives →

23. 23
    Sumbli▲7

    Collaborative content

    2018 · its alternatives →

24. 24
    GitHub Issues & mental health▲5

    Maintaining an open-source project and the tolls it takes

    2016 · its alternatives →

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 →