Why we build small apps with no subscriptions

Draftline is a small set of apps: Updraft, Drift, Tagged, Kitted, Dialed and Timberline. They’re tools we built instead of paying for ones that got in the way, plus one game. This page explains the thinking behind them.

It started with tools that got in the way

Most of these apps started the same way: a tool we used kept getting in the way. A project board we paid for every month, with an upgrade prompt every time we clicked something. Load calculators that assume sea level. Dictation that misheard trade words.

So we built our own. One person, after hours, with Claude Code. No CS degree. The same way an install gets done: plan it, build it, check it.

Small and focused

Each app does one job.

• Updraft: talk and it types, anywhere on your computer, and Teams and Zoom calls turn into notes.
• Drift: fast notes, notebooks and Word-style docs, saved as plain files you own.
• Tagged: one app to run the house: projects, upkeep, the calendar, money and meals.
• Kitted: gear checklists, a trip calculator and a camp menu, so nothing gets left at home.
• Dialed: Manual J, S and D at altitude, plus the quick field look-ups.
• Timberline: a hardcore first-person survival game.

A focused app is easier to learn, easier to trust, and easier to keep fast. When it does one thing, it can do that thing well.

What we ask of every app

A few rules we try to hold every app to:

• Open fast and stay fast. A tool you reach for many times a day can’t make you wait. Drift is built so the heavy parts load only when you use them, and Updraft’s speed and accuracy come before every other feature.
• Work where you are. Kitted opens offline at camp. Dialed runs with no signal in a basement or an attic. Drift needs no account and no cloud.
• Say what it does, and only that. Each app page lists what the app really does today, and what’s still being built is marked that way.
• Get better without getting worse. Updraft has a voice test that scores how well it understands you, so every update can be checked against the last.

Free to download

Every app that’s out is free to download and use.

There are a few honest exceptions, and we’d rather say them up front:

• Drift is still in development. The download comes with the first public release.
• Tagged’s sign-in is invite only for now.
• Dialed will add Pro for the full Manual J, S and D tools: $50 once, no subscription. The quick tools stay free.
• Updraft’s AI features are optional and use your own Claude key.

Why no subscriptions

Subscriptions make sense for some things, like services that cost money to run every month. But a lot of software that runs on your own computer doesn’t need one. A monthly fee for a tool that lives on your PC adds up, and it means you lose the tool the day you stop paying.

When something does cost money, like Dialed Pro, it’s one price, paid once.

Your stuff stays yours

Building small also makes it easier to keep your data close.

• Updraft turns speech into text on your own computer and never uploads your voice.
• Drift keeps notes as plain files in a folder you pick.
• This website uses no cookies. If you download an app, your email is kept only to tell you about updates and new apps.

How the apps keep going

If one of these saves you time, a coffee keeps them going. There’s a Ko-fi tip jar at the bottom of every page. It’s optional, and the apps work the same either way.

How they’re built

Every app is planned, built and checked with Claude Code, and the downloads are published as releases on GitHub. Updates for Updraft, Tagged, Kitted and Dialed come through Check for updates in Settings.

Where to start

• If you type a lot, start with Updraft.
• If you run a household, look at Tagged.
• If you camp or hunt, try Kitted.
• If you work in HVAC, see Dialed.

Or browse the guides for plain how-tos on the methods behind each app.