Work · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to Heynote – A dedicated scratchpad for developers
Hey! I made Heynote entirely for my own use case. For many years, I always had an Emacs instance running with the scratch buffer open, even long after I had abandoned Emacs as my programming editor in favor of more recent IDE:s. The simplicity of having just one big scratch buffer appeals to me, but I still want to separate the different things I jot down somehow (without using tabs or similar). Previously, my solution was to insert a bunch of blank lines between the notes, but hitting C-A would still select the entire buffer. That's why I came up with the concept of "blocks", which turned…
Heynote is a scratchpad application designed for developers who need a single, persistent workspace for temporary notes and code snippets. Instead of using multiple tabs or scattered files, it organizes content into… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Heynote – A dedicated scratchpad for developers launched in 2023; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
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I wanted to see how far I could go building a notes app using only what modern browsers already provide – no frameworks, no storage APIs, no build step. What it does: Single HTML file, no deps, 111 loc Notes live in the URL hash (shareable links!) Auto-compressed with CompressionStream Plain-text editor (contenteditable) History support Page title from first # heading Respects light/dark mode No storage, cookies, or tracking The entire app is the page source. https://textarea.my/
Dec 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Notebag▲298A keyboard-focused note-taking app that gets out of your way
2020 · notebag.app · its alternatives →
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PeekNote▲176Lightweight always-on-top notes for devs & multitaskers
2025 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
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NoteTabs▲129Native macOS text editor with horizontal tabs & auto-restore
Jan 2026 · notetabs.azurewebsites.net · its alternatives →
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Notepad▲113A rich, distraction-free alternative to sticky notes 📋
2018 · notepad.microtheta.com · its alternatives →
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2013 · alpha.hiroapp.com · its alternatives →
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Capture notes on every new Tab
2025 · chromewebstore.google.com · its alternatives →
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Tab Notes▲90Turn your browser new tab into a distraction-free notepad
Aug 2026 · chromewebstore.google.com · its alternatives →
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So I've been working on this app for a very long time now. Started off by wanting an app that separates long form notes from short form notes visually and keeps everything organized on a canvas. The app features: -Sticky notes for quick, small notes and A4 notes for long form documents -A quick mode that uses local storage to quickly open the app and jot down a thought on the canvas -A PDF export option that exports your notes into 3 custom designed PDF styles -Visual hierarchy to replicate file structure instead of a linear fashion, where your files are notes, stacks are folders and labels…
Jul 2026 · passinote.app · its alternatives →
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2018 · html-notepad.com · its alternatives →
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VNote▲78A Vim-inspired note-taking application with Markdown
2018 · tamlok.github.io · its alternatives →
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Jot & Paste▲85Keyboard-oriented desktop app for fast note-taking and paste
2022 · jotnpaste.com · its alternatives →
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tl;dr - I built a fast and low-frills notepad which helps me keep a flow state. I spend a lot of time in the browser: in calls, managing stuff between SaaS apps, or consolidating info from multiple tabs. Usually, I'd bring up an editor and side-by-side it, or switch between my current tab and a notion tab. This extension lets you hit a hotkey and bring up a notepad in-place. It's a scratchpad for thinking in the moment - key points and questions as I'm working. If I want to hold on to the memory, I can export it to another app - if not, I'll just delete the note. It's kind of like the RAM to…
2022 · getjotter.com · its alternatives →
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BlockNote▲73A simple note taking app with focus on keyboard shortcuts.
2019 · blocknote.xyz · its alternatives →
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MadNotes PRO▲72Browser's new tab markdown notepad for seamless productivity
2023 · madnotes.app · 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 →