Write.as: Helps you create a blog, journal, or newsletter
Reviewed by Marco Wollank
Write.as
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Threat level
Covered
A covered pick. Anyone can use it as a private drop-in, with no setup or know-how. Enough for most people. Threat levels
Our take
Refreshingly minimal, with a privacy-first stance and the option to self-host the open-source engine if you don’t want to rely on the hosted service. That minimalism is deliberate and divisive: no comments, no analytics theater, no sprawling theme system, just writing and publishing. Great for someone who wants to put words online without surveillance or clutter. Anyone who needs rich design control or built-in audience tooling will find it too spare.
GitHub at a glance
writefreely/writefreely
Stars
5,200
+ 18 this week
Last commit
13d ago
healthy
License
AGPL-3.0
Latest release
v0.16.0
11mo ago
Stars, last 35d
Website at a glance
write.as
D- score 25
Weak website security headers
Graded by Mozilla HTTP Observatory, tested today
Inspect this site yourself
Measures the security configuration of the tool's own website, not the privacy of the product itself. A strong tool can still score low here.
Write.as alternatives
Write.as license, in plain English
AGPL-3.0 Strong copyleft · network
Free to use, even commercially. Changes must be published under the same license, and running a modified version as a network service counts as distributing it.
Permits
- Commercial use
- Modification
- Distribution
- Patent use
- Private use
Requires
- Disclose source
- Network use is distribution
- Same license
- State changes
- License and copyright notice
Does not provide
- Liability cover
- Warranty
Why it matters: The network clause is the point. Anyone who runs a modified version as a hosted service has to publish those changes, so the code handling your data stays inspectable. This is why privacy-first projects reach for AGPL.
Plain-language summary of the project's license, not legal advice. Read the full text for the exact terms.
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