nowfound

Life & fun · June 19, 2025

IM

I'm building an app to replace Overleaf and Notion

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…

I'm building an app to replace Overleaf and Notion launched on June 19, 2025 with 82 votes, #494 of 7,999 launches that month and more than 95% of that year's launches.

Alternativestop 6% of June 2025

In plain words

This writing platform is designed for creating complex documents like theses and research papers. It features a modern block-based editor that doesn't require LaTeX knowledge, yet supports export to templates such as IEEE papers and theses. Available as both a desktop and browser app, it includes real-time collaboration tools and document organization by category. The custom editor handles large documents efficiently, and users can write in Markdown if preferred. The platform targets academic and professional writers seeking an alternative to existing tools.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

In the maker’s words, at launch

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…

Does a similar job

all alternatives →
  • I am building an open-source Confluence and Notion alternative2024 · github.com · ▲551

    Hello HN, I am building Docmost, an open-source collaborative wiki and documentation software. It is an open-source alternative to Confluence and Notion. I have been working on it for the past 12 months. This is the first public release (beta). The rich-text editor has support for real-time collaboration, LaTex, inline comments, tables, and callouts to name a few. Features - Collaborative real-time editor - Spaces (Teamspace) - User permissions - Groups - Comments - Page history - Nested pages - Search - File attachments You can find screenshots of the product on the website. Website:…

  • An open-source, collaborative, WYSIWYG Markdown editor2023 · editor.vrite.io · ▲460

    Inspired by the design and UI/UX of apps like Notion, and utility of open-source apps like StackEdit, I decided to create a minimalistic, local-only WYSIWYG Markdown editor. Some features worth highlighting: - Monaco editor and Prettier integration for code snippets - Tables (apparently the holy grail of WYSIWYG editing) - Embeds (for CodePen, CodeSandbox and YouTube, most useful for HTML or JSON exports) - Accepts Markdown paste-in, and "exports"/generates HTML, Markdown and JSON outputs - Collaboration (with real-time awareness and initial commenting system, available only when…

  • We've open-sourced our bootstrapped startup, ShareLaTeX2014 · github.com · ▲276

    A web-based collaborative LaTeX editor. Contribute to overleaf/overleaf development by creating an account on GitHub.

  • Postleaf2016 · ▲260

    Simple & beautiful open source blogging platform.

  • A Handwritten Blogging PlatformJul 2026 · handwritten.blog · ▲192

    You simply: 1. Connect your device. 2. Create a top-level `handwritten.blog` folder. 3. Every new notebook in that folder becomes a draft on https://handwritten.blog/ I hope this eventually obviates the need to look at the ugly upload interface you have to use to now upload your writing.

  • SkilldocsAug 2026 · skilldocs.dev · ▲192

    I got fed up with Notion, so I built my dream document editor. It's all markdowned so it's easy to view skills or other agent-related documents. It's got the collaboration features I love from Figma (shared cursory and the ability to follow) and Google Docs (comments, realtime editing). Then you can export the diff and comments to an agent. I've been really liking it for talking over skill documents live on a call. I'm curious if this resonates with other people. More generally, I feel like notion is less and less relevant in an age where documents have a very different purpose and Markdown…

More life & fun this month

the category →

Source: Show HN post ↗ · launch text quoted in part

Launched alongside, June 2025

the whole month →
  • IM

    Hey HN! Pilots everywhere are required to keep a logbook of all their flying hours, aircraft, airports, and so on. Since I track everything digitally (some people still just use paper logbooks!), I put together some data visualizations and a few 3D globes to show my flying history. This globe is probably my favourite so far: https://jameshard.ing/pilot/globes/all If you’ve got ideas for other graphs or ways to show this kind of data, I’d love to hear them!

    Life & fun · 2025 · jameshard.ing

  • Stunning presentations with AI. No design skills required.

    AI · 2025 · chroniclehq.com

  • Build native mobile apps for iOS and Android without code.

    Dev tools · 2025 · bble.io

  • Twenty▲989

    Build your Enterprise CRM with an AI-friendly SDK

    Dev tools · 2025 · twenty.com

  • All your connections, across all your socials.

    AI · 2025 · pally.com

  • I was the main contributor to workout.lol, an open-source fitness app to easily build a workout routine. The project had traction (1.4k GitHub stars, 95 forks, ~20K visits/month), but was eventually sold due to video licensing hurdles. The new owner stopped maintaining it, and the repo went abandoned. Over the next 9 months, I sent 15 emails to try to save it : no replies. Feature requests & issues were ignored. The community was left with a "broken" tool let's say. I couldn't just let it die So I built the new version from scratch with the same open-source spirit, but a better…

    Dev tools · 2025 · github.com