Standalone Software: built to last

Less tedium, more delight

We develop efficient, local-first applications that let you focus on your craft.

Annotone

Share timestamped notes on sound files that anyone can read, without ever uploading your audio to the cloud.

Learn more

BadConnection

The first time-synced stereo glitch effect plugin that replicates faulty AUX cords and bluetooth connections.

Coming soon

Our Vision

We're putting the personal back in personal computing

In the good old days when you bought software, you received a physical CD that you could use for years, and only upgraded once the new features were worth it. Your files lived on your device. You owned your tools.

Most importantly, you could still run that software today: no overnight "sunsetting" or server outage could render it useless. No subscriptions. No holding your data hostage in the cloud. No lag on crappy airplane Wi-Fi. No AI feature bloat that nobody asked for. No advertising in tools you pay for.

We're bringing that back. Standalone software: local-first, single-purpose tools you can buy once and use forever.

What does "local-first" software even mean?

Standalone software^↗ describes computer programs that work offline on your device and don't need an Internet connection. Local-first^↗ applications keep all your data private ("local") by storing it on your device (rather than a remote server) as files you can access and edit.

We build performant tools with as few external dependencies as possibly (usually none). This translates to blazing-fast applications that are built to last and delightfully easy to use.

Why single purpose tools?

Much of the frustration in your daily computing is the direct result of two things:

Corporate feature creep: In the pursuit of profits, simple tools become Frankenstein-like mashups of features nobody asked for.
The lost art of memory: Almost every app today is a Chromium wrapper (Electron) that eats 100MB+ of memory just to send a text message.

Over the last decade, we have gotten stuck using sluggish, overengineered applications that need an Internet connection just to perform basic tasks.

Instead of building a bloated SaaS product that charges a subscription to do ten jobs poorly, Standalone creates focused desktop apps that do one job perfectly and are yours for life. Our applications are optimized for efficiency by minimizing dependencies and unnecessary memory consumption. Interfaces stay consistent and clean, so you're never re-learning new shortcuts or where to click.

How can you afford to operate this way?

First, we build software to last: local-first, single-purpose, and tuned for performance (with few ot no dependencies). Your data is saved on your device (not the cloud) as a plain-text file, so there's no need for subscriptions, storage limits, or lock-in.

Second, we're a family-owned business. We've never taken investment money and we never will, so we don't face pressure to grow "venture-scale" recurring revenue, monetize user data, or hit quarterly numbers for shareholders. We simply make good tools at a fair price.

Even in the worst case scenario: if we shut down due to some unforeseen circumstance, our applications will still continue running on your devices, because they don't depend on our servers for anything (even to verify your license).