Experimental Open Works
A foundation for free tools and free alternatives to paid infrastructure.
What we do
Experimental Open Works builds and maintains free software. Not free trials, not freemium, not “free for now” — free. Where an important tool is locked behind a paywall or a gatekeeper, we build an open alternative and give it away.
Everything here is free to use, free to inspect, and free to keep. That is the whole point, and it is not going to change.
Updates
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July 9, 2026
— Introducing Let's Seal
Our first project is live — a free, open way to seal documents, without paying to be trusted. Read more »
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June 24, 2026
— Why we started Experimental Open Works
Too many of the tools people depend on have quietly become toll booths. Here's what we intend to do about it. Read more »
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June 10, 2026
— Hello, world
A short note on what a "free forever" foundation is, and what it is not. Read more »
Our projects
- › Let’s Seal — a free, open way to seal documents.First project
Let’s Seal is a free way to cryptographically seal PDF documents — an open alternative to the closed, paid trust programs (such as the Adobe Approved Trust List) that decide whose signatures software will accept. Named in the spirit of Let’s Encrypt. Read more »
More projects are in progress. This list will grow.
Principles
- Free forever. No paid tier, no upsell, no “enterprise” catch. Ever.
- Open source. Read the code, run the code, fork the code.
- Alternatives to gatekeepers — not new ones. We replace toll booths; we don’t build them.
- Mission first. We answer to the mission, not to shareholders.
Support this work
Contribute on GitHub · Donate · hello@xowx.org