Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. I wrote a short story about AR contact lenses and daemons launched in 2022; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   Writing Prompts Reader▲65

   Bite-sized short stories

   2017 · play.google.com · its alternatives →

2. 2
   20lines▲83

   Sharable user-gen short stories

   2014 · its alternatives →

3. 3
   Phone Stories▲73

   Call to hear a short story for a specific moment in life.

   2016 · popupmagazine.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   Reply All - 41: What it looks like ▲91

   Jamie Keiles is a writer who decided to photograph something

   2015 · open.spotify.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   Collecting Words▲60

   (Very) short (visual) stories

   2016 · its alternatives →

6. 6
   6 Seconds - "Freaky Cat Face"▲66

   Time for a (short) scary story.

   2016 · 6seconds.xyz · its alternatives →

7. 7
   Grelfie▲63

   Weave short stories as a GIF with you and friends

   2016 · its alternatives →

8. 8IM
   I made a Perplexity-like research agent▲5

   2024 · search.sciphi.ai · its alternatives →

9. 9
   I'm writing short stories to help teach kids Python▲7

   2012 · shkspr.mobi · its alternatives →

10. 10IM
    I made A Daily Comic Made by AI (Python, GPT-4o, DALL·E 3, Replit)▲8

    2024 · artificiallaughs.replit.app · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Unusually Short Stories - No. 48▲5

    Poignant transcription of worlds, within a sentence.

    2016 · podcasts.apple.com · its alternatives →

12. 12
    I’m working on a book about Meteor. You can read it online for free.▲9

    2014 · leanpub.com · its alternatives →

13. 13IM
    I made a URL shortener for HN▲8

    2016 · medium.com · its alternatives →

14. 14
    I have been making an animated educational series about motors▲8

    2020 · youtu.be · its alternatives →

15. 15MF
    My first blog post – Finite Automata with a bit of Rust▲6

    2016 · apanatshka.github.io · its alternatives →

16. 16
    I worked on a sci-fi book for the 2025▲5

    Just about a year ago, the concept for a sci-fi book popped into my head. I instantly knew I have to see it through despite not having any writing experience (and a pretty demanding job). Over 2025, I attended writer circles, improved my writing, and structured the story. Here is the first chapter. I hope you enjoy it :)

    Jan 2026 · docs.google.com · its alternatives →

17. 17SA
    Stories as a Service▲8

    2018 · trycereals.com · its alternatives →

18. 18
    Visions▲7

    A science fiction magazine

    2019 · readvisions.com · its alternatives →

19. 19HR
    Hacker Reads, something I made for fun.▲6

    2012 · hackerreads.com · its alternatives →

20. 20IM
    I made a comparison table of 585 camera lenses (DSLR/Mirrorless)▲5

    2019 · lensvana.com · its alternatives →

21. 21MS
    My startup for book collectors▲7

    2012 · shelfproud.com · its alternatives →

22. 22IM
    I made a simple but smart note taking application▲6

    2016 · fromscratch.rocks · its alternatives →

23. 23IM
    I made a site to share creative writing▲5

    2021 · prosepen.com · its alternatives →

24. 24
    I added a print edition to my indie blog▲5

    Contraption essays delivered by mail

    Dec 2025 · contraption.co · 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 →