Why I give my apps away for free

Before I built software for businesses, I built three apps that make me exactly zero money. OpenIdea is a note-taking app with a rich editor, tags, pinning, password-locked notes and version history. OpenMynd is a habit tracker. OpenHarmoni mixes ambient sounds with a focus timer. All three are free, open-source, and speak eight languages.

People ask why I bother. The honest answer has three parts.

First, they were my training ground. Nothing teaches you to build like shipping to real people who owe you nothing. A paying customer forgives a rough edge because they invested in you; a free download does not. If my habits app loses data on day two, the uninstall happens in five seconds — and that is a lesson no tutorial can teach. Those three apps taught me about sync conflicts, translation files, and the strange things people type into a notes app at 3 a.m.

Second, free software travels. I get emails from students in countries where paying for apps is genuinely hard, telling me one of these tools helped them study or stay organized. Eight languages was not my idea alone — volunteers asked to translate the apps, which tells you something about what open source unlocks. A product you give away finds rooms you will never visit.

Third, they keep me honest as a founder. When your business products — like Ada — charge money, every feature negotiation gets loud. The free apps are my reminder that the craft itself is the point: small tools, done carefully, for anyone.

If you are learning to build, my advice is simple: make something small, give it away, and listen to what strangers do with it. The portfolio of my paid work is on the front page of this site. These three live on my GitHub — take them, use them, break them.