How we build dupes We copy what an app does, never how it was written
A dupe is a clean-room rebuild. One side studies the original and writes a spec; the other builds from the spec alone. That's what keeps a dupe an independent app.
The method
Four steps, two rooms
The first room only looks. The second only builds. The spec is the one thing that passes between them.
- 01Observe. We run the original like any user and study its behavior with REA: what it asks the operating system for, what it sends and when, how its features fit together.
- 02Describe. We write a spec in plain words: what each feature does, for whom, and the evidence for each claim. No code, screenshots of its design, or text from the app goes in.
- 03Build. The build works from the spec only, in our own design and code. Where the spec is silent, we make our own choices.
- 04Publish. The teardown and a starter prompt go on the dupe's page for free; the finished app is sold once.
Ground rules
What we never do
Copy code or assets
Nothing taken out of the original ships in a dupe: no code, icons, sounds, text or design.
Borrow the brand
Every dupe has its own name and look. The original's name appears only to say what we're an alternative to.
Break in
We don't bypass licensing, copy protection or accounts, and we don't touch other people's data.
The comparison pages
How we research an alternative page
Every “alternative” page compares the original, our dupe and the other options people weigh up. These are the rules each one follows.
- 01Prices come from each product's own pricing page, per person, with the date we checked. When a page hides its prices, we say where ours came from.
- 02Features: we only claim what the product's own pages say. A feature we can't confirm stays out of the table.
- 03Other alternatives are the ones people actually weigh up, free and open-source ones included, each with its catch. We earn nothing from any link.
- 04Words are our own: no marketing copy and no invented reviews. Our characters are fictional and never claim to use an app.
- 05Prices are re-checked monthly and before any change to the page. Spot one that's out of date? Email us and we fix it.
Questions
About the method
What is REA?
REA (Reverse Engineer Anything) is an open-source toolkit that lets an AI agent inspect how an application behaves: its JavaScript or Electron bundle, its network calls, what it asks the operating system for. We use it to understand behavior, then write that behavior down in our own words.
Do you copy the original's code?
No. The people who build a dupe work from our written spec, not from the original app or anything taken out of it. No code, interface design, text, icons or other assets are carried over.
Why name the original app at all?
Because that's how people look for an alternative. We use the name only to say what our app is an alternative to, never in our product's name, logo or design, and we say on every page that we aren't affiliated.