Life & fun · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to I spent a year building a desktop environment that runs in the browser
Puter is a desktop environment that runs entirely in a web browser, developed over the course of a year. It provides a familiar graphical interface similar to traditional operating systems but accessible through any… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. I spent a year building a desktop environment that runs in the browser launched in 2022; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
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🌐 The Internet Computer! Free, Open-Source, and Self-Hostable. - HeyPuter/puter
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
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A fast, elegant, web-based browser made for Puter OS
2025 · puter.com · its alternatives →
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- 5PPPocket Puter▲89
A Pocket Puter is a smartphone used as a computer.
2018 · pocketputer.com · its alternatives →
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Windows 95▲405Windows 95 app that runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux
2018 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Faster prototyping on desktop
2021 · framer.com · its alternatives →
- 10BM
Hi HN! We're Lucas and Lucas from Briefer and we're building better notebooks. Our notebooks are kind of a mix between Notion and Jupyter with extra features, like the ability to schedule notebooks, turn them into dashboards and apps, and write SQL queries whose results turn into data frames automatically. We're building better notebooks because we think they're a great idea poorly executed - for three reasons. The first problem with notebooks is that they're difficult to share. Non-technical people don't want to download docker containers and install Python libraries to see what the data…
2024 · briefer.cloud · its alternatives →
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Web2Desk▲503Turn your favorite websites into a desktop app in one click
2018 · web2desk.io · its alternatives →
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Source Lair▲136SourceLair lets people develop software in their browsers.
2015 · sourcelair.com · its alternatives →
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Make any web page a desktop application. Contribute to nativefier/nativefier development by creating an account on GitHub.
2016 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Neverinstall 2.0▲368Your browser is the new operating system
2022 · neverinstall.com · its alternatives →
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ToDesktop 2.0▲380All in one platform for building and releasing desktop apps
2020 · todesktop.com · its alternatives →
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Not really an oprating system, Just a pile of javascript pretending to be a Desktop Environment - Lerc/notanos
2013 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Hi HN! I've been working on Bor, an open-source system for centralized Linux desktop management. Bor consists of a lightweight Go agent and a central server. Policies are streamed to clients over mTLS/gRPC in real time—no polling—and currently support Firefox, Chrome, KDE, dconf, polkit and package management, with more coming. Version 0.8 introduces several new policy types - Thunderbird, Microsoft Edge for Business and FirewallD zones, along with a number of improvements and fixes. I'd love feedback on the architecture, policy model, and whether this is something you'd consider for…
Aug 2026 · getbor.dev · its alternatives →
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Hi HN I recently got married, promptly had a bit of a meltdown, and decided to lock myself in a room and build for a while. At the same time, I was trying to outbound sell for my startup and kept running into the same problem: I wanted an automation tool that could actually use my computer like a person. Click through UIs, copy/paste between apps, handle messy workflows — not just APIs and webhooks. I couldn’t find anything that felt: - consumer-friendly (non-technical) - local-first - flexible enough for real-world, UI-driven tasks So I challenged myself to see how far I could get…
Jan 2026 · automatewithtasker.com · its alternatives →
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Windows 95 in an app. Runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows. - felixrieseberg/windows95
2018 · github.com · its alternatives →
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2016 · pfrazee.github.io · its alternatives →
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exaequOS, your browser is your computer
2023 · exaequos.com · its alternatives →
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Deploy Cloud PCs and VDIs in an instant. Zero complexity setups and management with a one-click console. Effortlessly streamline your virtual desktop experience.
2021 · neverinstall.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 →