Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

Below are 20 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. I'm not a programer and I'm building a Saas task-manager launched in 2017; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1MF
   My First SaaS▲5

   Promptly is my first SaaS Project. I built it because I wanted to refine my dev skills and also to have a central place to store my prompts for GPT, Midjourney, and other AI platform and systems. Would love some feedback on the website itself, as well as advice on how I should go about the marketing

   2023 · promptly.host · its alternatives →

2. 2IV
   I've built a course platform over the weekend▲7

   Hey my name is Ivo and I'm a developer and a startup entusiast. My girlfriend was out of the coutry for the weekend and I decided to do something cool like building a startup. I've done a few startups over the years but that's the first I actually released, I would love to hear your feedback on it.

   2024 · craftlynow.com · its alternatives →

3. 3IM
   I'm a non-hacker "idea guy" and my weekend project took 1,670 + days▲21

   I am a non-hacker "idea guy" with zero discernible talent. Like most, the story starts with me doing things the hard way. I dreamt of a tool that would save me countless hours. Like most of my ideas, it was supposed to die in a couple of hours, but this one had some legs.... "If I needed this, surely others did too" kept looping in my head. Could I get this built? Could I build it myself? Nah...too lazy to learn how, but before I did anything, I had to promise myself one thing: No more ideas! If ideas were sit-ups, I would have a six pack instead of this tire. It was a constant mental…

   2012 · readwriteweb.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   I Made an Open Source Boilerplate▲7

   Hey HN, When I was learning to code I was always intrigued to see the guys on twitter making money with a SaaS. I always wondered how to make them and after a few months I developed my own. I wanted to share a Boilerplate for any new devs who are wondering how to start their own SaaS or wonder how things work. Boilerplate comes with Auth, Payments, UI and all the good stuff. Ali

   2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   I built a side project to manage my side projects▲9

   Hello HN! I got pretty overwhelmed with Notion, Trello, etc. (Even though they are great tools!) as an indie dev, so I built an app that is simpler to use and perfectly suited for an indie like me :) You can basically divide your projects into multiple milestones (a milestone could be e.g. a new version), and the milestones can have multiple tasks that are either todo, in progress, or done. The progress for each milestone is calculated with those tasks, and you can also prioritize and categorize the tasks using tags (E.g. for me, #ph turns into "High Priority", and #pm into "Medium…

   2024 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

6. 6IP
   I packaged all of the productivity advice into one product▲6

   Hey hackers, Like many of you, I'm always trying to optimize my productivity, and I have tried a lot of apps out there to do so. I didn't find the exact one that I could use, so I built one for myself. Check it out and let me know if you have any thoughts!

   2024 · focusmax.io · its alternatives →

7. 7MP
   My programming language, building in public for 1 year▲7

   My weekly(ish) video logs tracking my progress of building a completely sound statically typed language and structural editor. The motivation is to make lots of invalid programs unrepresentable.

   2022 · petersaxton.uk · its alternatives →

8. 8A2
   After 2 months my project management software is finally finished▲9

   Hey Hacker News, I have finished this after 2 months and made the entire thing free (up to 2 projects) for you all to try out, all you need is an account. Thansk and enjoy, Dan

   2024 · flourishfreelance.com · its alternatives →

9. 9IM
   I'm using a nocode comm tool▲5

   orignally shared this on startup school... i thought id' share it here. i'm using a `nocode communication tool` (a web-based interface... a single browser tab!) for all of these things: 1. landing page — the landing page is the product and i wanted for folks to feel "transported" right into the app without having to walk through a shitty b2b marketing-style content. this is akin to my experience back in the `BBS` days of the mid-90's where you were immediately into the app, community, and tool. no terms of service, no privacy policy. just pure, immediate value. 2. building community — we…

   2021 · its alternatives →

10. 10BP
    Big Picture” project management for software developers▲8

    We got tired of not being able to accurately answer "When will this be done?" and "Will anyone be required to work overtime on the current schedule?", or spending too much time in meetings and standups trying to answer those questions. Just opened up for beta. Would love some opinionated developers to guide future improvements (or feedback on the general idea).

    2022 · projectburndown.com · its alternatives →

11. 11
    I built a GitHub application that generates documentation automatically▲6

    Hi HN, A lot of the dev teams I have worked with had a lot of issues with their documentation. In fact, some of my easiest clients to get were from clients that had "black box" solutions that devs no longer at the company had created. Personally, writing documentation is like grinding nails on a chalkboard. I have been having a lot of fun with building solutions that can run in a distributed way, not something a dev needs to run themselves. And after a significant amount of testing and building out several different solutions, I finally have a solution that is easy to set up and runs in the…

    Dec 2025 · codesummary.io · its alternatives →

12. 12
    I created my first mobile app, could use some support▲5

    Hi Everyone, I created a mobile app called Accumoo, and I would appreciate it if y'all can have a look, download and give me a favorable review. Lots of blood, sweat, tears and love went into this app, and I hope you LOVE it as much as I do - it's the app I always needed and wanted. Anyhow, I've been a Rails developer and Software Engineer for a long time, and this is my first stab at a mobile app. It's a "habit tracker" app on steroids that's just fun to use - syncs across devices, local-first architecture - and an easter egg game for good measure. Help a disabled vet out and give it a go.…

    Jan 2026 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

13. 13IM
    I made a directory of Mac apps and tools and made $126 after 24 hours▲6

    One week ago, I launched a new directory, which is a curated list of useful and cool Mac apps and tools that are not available on the app store. Initially, I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but I managed to create it in just one day. I started promoting it on Twitter and some communities, and although I got some views, I didn't make any sales. Then the next day, I wrote a post on a subreddit related to Mac apps about the directory I launched. People loved it so much, and I got 39k views on that post, leading to around 2.5k visitors on my site. Thanks to this exposure, I made my first 4…

    2024 · mactools.pro · its alternatives →

14. 14AD
    Another Darn To-Do List App▲5

    Hi guys, This is my first time building something from scratch so go easy on me. I've always used to-do lists to keep me productive and stave off anxiety (not sure why they work so well for me but they do). I get kinda annoyed at the to-do list apps on the app stores because they move tasks to the bottom of the list when you tick them off. Some people may like that, but it annoys the shit out of me, because I like to feel a sense of progression as I go down through the list over the course of the day. So this was borne out of my frustration really. I also made it browser-based so it's easy…

    2022 · anotherdarntodo.com · its alternatives →

15. 15
    I built a minimal open-source CMS (FREE)▲6

    I built a minimal opensource CMS, I use it myself for my blog and for other SaaS. l love blogging, and sometimes I post random thoughts on my blog. The only thing is, I always did it with .md files, which is fine too However, I was excited about the idea of using a CMS that was very minimal and avoiding the option of connecting something like WordPress or other big platforms. Open source (if you want to fork it or contribute) and free to use (unless I see you have a million views haha). Star the repo if you like it!

    Jan 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Yikes▲6

    An incorrect link was used so I’ll repost another time.

    2020 · netlify.com · its alternatives →

17. 17
    I built a SaaS without knowing how to code – am I an idiot?▲6

    It's called learnfrom.co, a platform for creating, hosting and selling online courses. I started building it because I wanted to solve a problem I had with existing course platforms. I kept running into things I wanted to change, so I started building them myself. The problem: I wasn't really a software engineer. Instead, I started using AI to build the product. I'd describe what I wanted, let it write the code, test it, fix things when they broke, and repeat. That somehow turned into a real product. LearnFrom is now used by 100+ creators and businesses, with real students and real payments…

    Aug 2026 · learnfrom.co · its alternatives →

18. 18IM
    I'm a 13 year old who built a user feedback board for devs to ship fast▲5

    Hey HN, I'm Aydin, a 13-year-old developer and indie maker looking to improve the world with my small startups. Recently, I built 2 micro SaaS projects. I spent days & weeks coding features, always telling myself that after coding one more feature I was for sure to get traction. This never happened. The reason: I never launched. With IndieReq, you can launch your startup fast and get real user feedback so you know exactly what features to ship and improve. All you have to do is sign up for free, create a feedback board, and share the public link with your users. It's that easy! If you've…

    2025 · indiereq.com · its alternatives →

19. 19PB
    (pre-beta SaaS) "Get organized, get Headspace"▲5

    I am a software engineer working alone on a passion project, a website that helps you stay organized easily and efficiently. Headspace.io is a webmail, notepad, task list and calendar, all rolled into on. The basic premise is that any data in Headspace can be "tagged" and then all relevant information for a particular tag can be displayed in one screen. This is a pre-beta build and I'm hoping to get some early feedback from the wise and generous HN folks. Would you pay a small monthly fee ($5 maybe) for a service like this? http://app.headspace.io/ (This is pre-production so…

    2013 · its alternatives →

20. 20
    I built a Macrodata Refinement game inspired by Severance▲5

    Fully leaned into vibe coding this time around. Started on v0, at some point ejected into running locally (getting v0's exported folder to run locally was a challenge), then iterated with Cursor over the course of a few hours. Really neat how much can be accomplished just conversationally these days.

    2025 · macrodata-refinement.arjit.me · 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 →