Alternatives
Products that do what your personal, self-built productivity tool does
Care to share a screenshot and the 'killer feature' of any of your personal, self-built productivity tools? eg. I made my own calendar and money-tracker last year - there are no other users, it makes no money, I have no plans to make it public, but it holds my life together :) http://i.imgur.com/h2keJDg.png GREAT BECAUSE... it tells me how much I'm going to get paid this month. Absolutely no ulterior motive here (ie. I'm not canvassing opinions for a productivity app startup or anything), just interested.
- 1IP
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
- 2
- 3KT
I started to track my expenses on excel sheets earlier this year. It was interesting to see how much I spent casually on just another hangout with friends or on education. Excel sheets are painful, at least for me. So I built this with my friend: (it's just MVP) http://accountant.besperk.com Edit: Coming up next: > Mobile site and apps asap. > Graphs and reports > SSL > Custom Alerts (when you cross a certain limit, that you define, for certain tag) > Pre populated tags. Tech used: > Rails > on Heroku My co-founder is offline will ask him to add more details on…
2011
- 4BY
I've just published my app and I would love to have more feedback on it. I got the idea when I was busy moving around several projects during my last semester. And I always don't know which project I should work on next. Even worse, whenever I'm busy with something, I no longer have time to "read book", "go jogging" etc. That's when I thought it would be great if there is an app that keeps track of all the tasks that you want to do and habits that you want to make. And here it is! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKVr0k9Hax0…
2014
- 5AD
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
- 6IB
I’ve always liked fast online tools for jotting notes or organizing thoughts — but most “productivity” sites either save data to the cloud, require sign-ups, or are full of distractions. So I built an online productivity tools website, a small collection of browser-based tools. It includes an online notepad where you can write and save notes right in your browser, a cornell notes tool available in more than 20 languages, and more coming soon like a pomodoro timer and a simple blank page for focused writing. Everything works entirely in-browser using localStorage — no accounts, no cloud sync,…
Oct 2025 · onlinenotep.ad
- 7DI
This is my first web app, so there are bound be to be a few kinks that need to be worked out. That's why it's here, in hopes that some of the awesome people I read about on HN can take a minute to offer some criticism. http://dailydo.it/ DailyDo.it is meant to replace the canonical to-do list with a do-it list – a list of things that you will actually do. My monetization plan is based on team do-it lists, where you can see your teammates' do-it lists and assign them tasks, while keeping the individual do-it lists totally free. Please let me know if you find any bugs, what the pain points…
2012
- 8IM
I'm documenting everything about my process. From learning to code, to building the app, and all the way to my outreach efforts. I'm learning as I go and sharing it with everyone who's not a programer, and is daunted to build a software on their own. Trust me. If I can do it, anyone can! You can find my updates on: https://Claritask.com ...as well as video updates on https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdmqmifW4kIcPclXigay1dQ Would love to hear your feedback on my progress and if you have any suggestions on what I can do better. There's so many task managers out…
2017
- 9MS
For years, I have struggled to understand my cash flow and save for the future. In addition to that, my wife has many credit cards and accounts that complicate matters. I am building a tool that connects all our accounts, helps us create a budget, and tracks and adjusts expenses on the fly. I am also sprinkling some AI magic on it for financial suggestions. I am looking for feedback on the implementation. More importantly, I am looking for more beta testers to improve the product.
2023 · financemadelovely.com
- 10LS
We built this using investor tools. I really wanted to know which startups to work for. Are we on the right track? PS - there's a paywall but if you want to explore more, just DM me your email and I'll give you free access in our db!
2023 · usemassive.com
- 11IB
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
- 12AC
We created Slash (https://getslash.co/hn) after realizing that todo list apps are hopelessly broken. They're great at making lists, but offer you no help in crossing them off. In fact, they often create even more stress when you're staring at a list 100 items longs. Slash is a task "do-er" that helps you CRUSH your list by focusing on one task at a time. Quickly enter your tasks, hit 'Start', and the window shrinks down to a small always-on-top window that shows your current task and how long you've been working on it. When you're done, hover over the task name and click…
2019
- 13NA
Since I went remote(working) last year, I found it hard to track my work/focus hours. To begin with, I started with my mobile stopwatch but found it to be inefficient and distracting. I then tried some time management tools online but they were geared towards enterprises than individuals. Plus, had too many features. So, last weekend I created https://www.timemygrind.com/ - a simple focus time tracking tool that requires no login, no internet and has no ads. Once you finish your work, it shows the times in the table below. I usually pause when I take a break or go out for…
2024 · timemygrind.com
- 14IS
i built a heart rate zone training app for runners. ios + apple watch. custom zones, real-time haptics, post-run graphs. all the “smart” stuff you’d expect. but i never talked to a single runner before building it. not even myself lol. started as a thesis → kept building → added features → added a paywall (€4/month!) → launched it → and yeah… no one cared. zero feedback. zero users. just code in the void. i recently made the whole thing free. not trying to “sell” anything now — just seeing if it’s actually useful, and listening this time. curious how others handle this. ever build…
2025 · basamasa.github.io
- 15IM
Hi HN, I am a solopreneur in the evenings and a software engineer during the day. In the past, I have created lots of calculators for my web projects and freelancing friends. These were pretty basic, but users always welcomed them. I also used currently available builders, but the problem was that they were either slow, broke on mobile devices, had nonsense page view limits, or were expensive. Some even ticked all those boxes. So I have decided to create my own, with a simple interface, and called it Creative Widgets (if it ever takes off, I plan to add more exciting stuff like charts, etc,…
2024 · creativewidgets.io
- 16OI
I'm trying to get the motivation up to actually finish building out a "real" product, and I found myself needing a "win" to keep my momentum up. So, I hacked out a little one sentence journal app last night. I experimented with a few UI things (e.g.., the autosaving of the sentence for today and so on), so it was a good learning experience also. You can check it out at: http://osod.im
2012
- 17OE
Hey hey! This is a tool I've worked on for a while, and it's reached the point I'm quite happy with the results! Comments and suggestions are appreciated :) Enjoy your day!
2023 · github.com
- 18C6
Hey there, I'm a solo dev behind KewlTools. So I'm one of those people who like to build their own tools/utilities whenever they a) want to get something done, or b) want to learn something. c) don't want to spend ages finding a utilty and going through walls of ads. I gradually built 66 tools, all free, fast, ad-free, and zero login. I (and my family/friends) use these daily, so thought some of you will find it useful! Any suggestions, improving current tools or adding new ones, please let me know.
2025 · kewltools.com
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