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Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to root dir

hey hackers, i'm building a command-line community for developers, builders and creators. if you don't know how to use a cli, this place probably isn't for you. because you have to use commands like 'cd', 'cat' and 'ls' to browse the community. it's a nostalgic trip down memory lane, loaded with easter eggs. currently the waitlist is open, but here's what i'm planning with it: /feed: think x meets irc, but initially without an algorithm deciding what you'll see. showing posts in descending order never hurt anyone, right? /leaderboard: weekly, monthly and yearly leaderboard, based…

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.

  1. 1

    Work together to build profitable businesses & side projects

    2018 · indiehackers.com · its alternatives →

  2. 2

    CLI Todo app for hackers

    2015 · github.com · its alternatives →

  3. 3

    Easily create beautiful directories

    2018 · communitybox.co · its alternatives →

  4. 4

    Hi HN, I’m Dvir, a young developer. Last year, I got rejected after a job interview because I lacked some CPU knowledge. After that, I decided to deepen my understanding in the low level world and learn how things work under the hood. I decided to try and create an OS in C and ASM as a way to broaden my knowledge in this area. This took me on the most interesting ride, where I’ve learned about OS theory and low level programming on a whole new level. I’ve spent hours upon hours, blood and tears, reading different OS theory blogs, learning low level concepts, debugging, testing and working on…

    Oct 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

  5. 5

    I work on R00M 101, a Reddit-based OSINT profiler. While building it, I realized most open-source intelligence (OSINT) tools are scattered across GitHub, outdated blog posts, or random Discords. So I put together a public-facing directory of 100+ OSINT tools used by analysts, journalists, and security folks, free, filterable, and categorized by risk, platform, and use case. The idea was to make something useful and no-friction. Built with static HTML + SQL backend + a lot of caffeine. Would love feedback on how to improve the UX or tool curation. If anyone wants to contribute tools or help…

    2025 · r00m101.com · its alternatives →

  6. 6

    A much easier way to install slash commands!

    2015 · its alternatives →

  7. 7AD

    Hi, Piotr here I was collecting nice open-source companies for quite some time now. Mostly to take some inspiration and learn from their code. Last week, I though it would be fun to learn this Astro thing everyone's talking about. So I thought building a directory website out of this collection was pretty good idea. After 2 days of building, OpenAlternative was born. It's a community driven list of open source alternatives to proprietary software and applications. Enjoy and thank you for your support!

    2024 · openalternative.co · its alternatives →

  8. 8
    Viberia▲146

    Hey HN, This is my take on the agent harness. Everything on an isometric map. Agents are grouped into "buildings" that run in a sequence or a loop; e.g., the CodeForge has an agent that writes a PRD, another one that implements, and a third that reviews. Everything is customizable, you build your own buildings/teams however you want. It's a Tauri app, really light (about 8x less energy than the closest competitor I benchmarked, so it actually runs from a coffee shop on battery). It's macOS only for now, but ping me if you are willing to test the Windows or Linux version. I've been…

    May 2026 · getviberia.com · its alternatives →

  9. 9

    Programming the oldschool way! Hack 1000+ Apple II apps!

    2016 · its alternatives →

  10. 10
    Shlack▲75

    Whoa, a bash shell inside Slack!

    2016 · shell.playplay.io · its alternatives →

  11. 11
    HackerX▲83

    Hacker and Maker community on Slack

    2014 · typeform.com · its alternatives →

  12. 12

    Follow for follow? Beta for beta - early stage beta testing.

    2021 · its alternatives →

  13. 13

    A living map of indie hackers around the world

    Mar 2026 · nomaddot.verifiedtools.info · its alternatives →

  14. 14

    The open community for Slack commands

    2017 · its alternatives →

  15. 15

    I used to be just a blogger. Now I build internet products, still without code, using AI, design, and taste. I was building in public on X for last 2 months. And honestly, I got tired of how it became performative and started to feel fake. I shipped 2 products. Both failed to get any real traction. I kept sneaking into popular builders’ profiles, hoping to learn how they do it. One thing I kept seeing everywhere, product launch directories. I thought here is the scope. So I started building one. Same UI like the rest. Nothing special. Suddenly one day when it was half built, I realized…

    2025 · founderswall.com · its alternatives →

  16. 16

    Check out RootBadger. A nice alternative to Reddit

    Jul 2026 · rootbadger.com · its alternatives →

  17. 17

    Hi HN, I spent 20 hours manually researching "best startup directories" for my last launch. Found outdated GitHub lists, dead links, and no data on which directories actually matter. So I built this instead. *Live*: https://awesome-directories.com *GitHub*: https://github.com/awesome-directories/awesome-directories *What It Is* An open-source aggregator of 300+ verified launch directories with: - Domain Rating scores (Ahrefs), dofollow/nofollow badges, pricing filters - Community voting, favorites, and submission tracking per project - CSV export and…

    Nov 2025 · awesome-directories.com · its alternatives →

  18. 18

    GitHub is where people build software. More than 150 million people use GitHub to discover, fork, and contribute to over 420 million projects.

    2018 · spectrum.chat · its alternatives →

  19. 19SA

    Hey HN, A buddy and I have been working on a side project in the online community space in our free time over the past few years. Our platform is a sort of Discord/Reddit/Patreon hybrid. Decided to do a soft launch today in light of all the recent Reddit news. Community features: 1. Customizable discussion boards. Community owners can setup threaded discussion boards for different topics related to their niche. Say a user creates a community for a niche like "Cars", under that community they could create different discussion boards for sub categories like "Car-mods", "Car-photos",…

    2023 · sociables.com · its alternatives →

  20. 20

    Hi HN, I’m the creator of Cordum. I’ve been working in DevOps and infrastructure for years (currently in the fintech/security space), and as I started playing with AI agents, I noticed a scary pattern. Most "safety" mechanisms rely on system prompts ("Please don't do X") or flimsy Python logic inside the agent itself. If we treat agents as autonomous employees, giving them root access and hoping they listen to instructions felt insane to me. I wanted a way to enforce hard constraints that the LLM cannot override, no matter how "jailbroken" it gets. So I built Cordum. It’s an open-source…

    Jan 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

  21. 21
    Axera▲8

    GitHub meets X, built for developers who ship

    Jun 2026 · axera.dev · its alternatives →

  22. 22

    Hey! So I worked on a new website for my TUI called `dash` on https://gh-dash.dev The docs content was contributed by a community member @michaeltlombardi https://github.com/michaeltlombardi which I'm super grateful for. Also, for any community member I created a discord server (https://discord.com/invite/SXNXp9NctV) where we can share configs and nerd out about terminal. The site itself is built with Starlight by Astro. I've set up a VPS with Dokploy (https://dokploy.com/) which made things so easy! Each PR publishes a new version…

    2025 · gh-dash.dev · its alternatives →

  23. 23

    I built this for myself. I was tired of checking Product Hunt, Hacker News, Reddit, Indie Hackers, and YouTube separately while building. Here Be Shovels is a calm, opinionated place that aggregates tools, launches, AI signals, and YouTube channels indie makers actually watch. It’s intentionally incomplete and updated every few hours and I had a lot of time building out the Wild West metaphor. Happy to hear feedback

    Dec 2025 · herebeshovels.com · its alternatives →

  24. 24CP

    Hi hackers, long time reader, first time "real" submitter. This is by no means a revolutionary idea, or even execution, but rather something I've always wanted to do, just to see if I could write a good implementation of it. So without further adieu: http://ca.pitali.st/ Yes, it's just an URL shortener. Please check out the API and if there anything you like about it, please share, so I can take this feedback with me to my future projects. If there's something you REALLY hate, that's feedback too. Don't be afraid to hurt my feelings; this was put together in less than 4 hours to see if I…

    2011 · ca.pitali.st · 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 →