Work · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to Lightwave – Real-time notes app, 3.5 years of hand-rolled JavaScript
Hi HN! I've been building this solo for about three and a half years. I kept trying every new project/notes tool (Notion, Asana, Trello, etc.) and always ended up back in a plain text file. I wanted something that felt like a text editor on first touch but could grow into real structure when you needed it. https://lightwave.so (desktop only) The tech stack is Laravel, MySQL, Redis, and hand-rolled JavaScript on the client. No frameworks like React/Vue/etc. ~270 lines of jQuery (out of 80k+ total LOC) for a few legacy DOM utilities, plus IndexedDB for local…
Lightwave is a real-time notes app designed for users who prefer plain text simplicity but need structure as projects grow. Built as a desktop application, it combines a text editor feel with collaborative features… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.
- 1RT
2017 · notational.co · its alternatives →
- 2
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 →
- 3
LightNote▲242An interactive site to learn the basics of music theory 🎶
2016 · lightnote.co · its alternatives →
- 4
Build your personal knowledge base with Trilium Notes - TriliumNext/Trilium
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 5
Hello HN, I hope it will posted as well. I made a note in single html file. This does not require a separate membership or installation of the software, and if you download and modify an empty file, you can modify and read it at any time, regardless of online or offline. It can be shared through messengers such as Telegram, so it is also suitable to share contents with long articles and images. It is also possible to host and blog because it is static html file content.
2025 · keepworking.github.io · its alternatives →
- 6LF
I'm not the author of the app (nor i have any connection with them, just a random user). iA Writer and Writer Pro aren't well suited for me as a developer. They feel quite "strange" to me. Mou is a good option (free too) but still missing some features. So far this, this editor is the most complete user-friendly. Hope it helps!
2013 · clockworkengine.com · its alternatives →
- 7
Thank you for your comments, just some context: - The app is available for iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Apple Vision Pro, and the Web. - The Web version is implemented as a Progressive Web Application that is very responsive, local first, offline first, can be installed, and is entirely free to use. - Native (hybrid) versions do not require subscription fees and have small one-time payment. - You can store your notes in Git using any Git provider such as GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket. However, it has the best built-in integration with GitHub. Self-hosted scenarios like Gitea are also…
2024 · about.noteshub.app · its alternatives →
- 8
Hi HN – we first launched Supernotes[1] to HN in April 2020, and since then Tobias and I (it's just the two of us) have put in the work to make what we hope is an amazing note-taking app. Although the note-taking / personal knowledge management landscape is incredibly competitive at the moment (with lots of great apps adding great new features every day), we think that with the newly released Supernotes 2 we're keeping pace and delivering a unique and satisfying knowledge management experience. Here's the combination of features that make us stand out: - a powerful markdown-based…
2022 · supernotes.app · its alternatives →
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Flat is intuitive music notation software for Mac, Windows, web, iOS & Android. Compose, collaborate, play & print sheet music from any device.
2016 · flat.io · its alternatives →
- 11
As a native Windows user who switched to macOS a few years back, one thing I never got over was the simplicity and usefulness of the old school Notepad app. This app aims to recreate that very same experience, cross-platform and easily installable as a PWA. I've been using this for personal use for around 2 years and I figured it was time to share it with the world. Criticism, issues and PRs are welcome. Thanks!
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 12
Wave 2.0▲306The open source Software as a Service starter kit
2021 · devdojo.com · its alternatives →
- 13IM
The Todo App for Procrastinators ;)
2011 · tomorrow.do · its alternatives →
- 14M2
Hey HN, I want to share with you something I and my four colleagues have been working on for the last several years. It’s a whiteboarding and notes tool called Muse[1]. We just released a 2.0 version which includes local-first sync. A little backstory: I’m one of the authors of the 2019 essay Local-first software[2]. (Past HN discussions[3][4].) The thesis is to reclaim some of the ownership over our data that we’ve lost in the transition from filesystems to cloud/SaaS. So I’m excited to bring CRDT technology “out of the lab” and into a commercial product as a chance to prove the value…
2022 · museapp.com · its alternatives →
- 15
NoteWave▲94AI-powered transcription & summaries for any meeting
2025 · notewave.co.za · its alternatives →
- 16
Terminal-based, hyper-fast, CRDT-backed, collaborative note-taking tool - Sambigeara/fuzzynote
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 17
- 18IM
Hi HN, Since 2019, I’ve been working on a writing platform designed for creating complex documents (e.g., theses). I personally use it for everything as it also allows to classify documents in categories so you can organize them efficiently. As of a few months ago, the app is also available in the browser, and you can now invite coworkers to collaborate on a document in real time. The app is somewhat inspired by LyX. It offers an intuitive, modern editor, but users don’t need to know any LaTeX. When it’s time to export, they can choose from a range of templates (IEEE paper, thesis, etc.). A…
2025 · its alternatives →
- 19
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Realtime Web Apps and Dashboards for Python and R. Contribute to h2oai/wave development by creating an account on GitHub.
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 21IO
Look, every journaling app out there wants you to organize things into folders and tags and templates. I just wanted to write something down every day. So I built this. One note per day. That's the whole deal. - Can't edit yesterday. What's done is done. Keeps you from fussing over old entries instead of writing today's. - Year view with dots showing which days you actually wrote. It's a streak chart. Works better than it should. - No signup required. Opens right up, stores everything locally in your browser. Optional cloud sync if you want it - E2E encrypted with AES-GCM, zero-knowledge,…
Mar 2026 · its alternatives →
- 22
Hey HN! I’ve been building [Octarine](https://octarine.app/) for a little over 2 years. It started because I wanted a note-taking app that was: - Lightweight (< 30MB, fast to launch, no Electron bloat). - Opinionated (good defaults, clean UI, not a plugin bazaar). - Yours (all plain Markdown, nothing proprietary). --- - Command bar (Cmd/Ctrl+K) to navigate and run commands quickly. - WYSIWYG editor (rich text without live preview jumping). - Git sync built-in — backups to GitHub/GitLab, no plugins. - Natural language dates (“yesterday”, “last week”). - Multiple…
2025 · octarine.app · its alternatives →
- 23CN
2019 · react-coursebuilder.netlify.com · its alternatives →
- 24
Welcome to the Collate Blog! As our first blog post, let’s kick things off with the...
2017 · collatenotes.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 →