Audiomass: audio editing in the browser, no install — two HN front-page hits

Free, open-source, web-based audio and waveform editor — record, import, trim, fade, EQ, effects — running entirely in the browser with no install or account.

A full audio editor can live in the browser: free, open-source, offline, ~65KB of vanilla JS — and keep shipping big features years later for a second wave of attention.

Greek developer Panagiotis Kalogiros started AudioMass in July 2018 to show that a full-featured audio editor could run entirely in the browser — a ~65KB vanilla-JS app, no plugin, no install, no account, working offline. When he posted it to Hacker News on 2020-05-28 it exploded: 1,011 points and 181 comments in a day, with the community comparing it to Audacity, testing format support, and praising the 'calm, solid' design.

Instead of cashing in or abandoning it, Kalogiros kept the project alive — 199 commits across six years, a Go-based local server for those who want it, a growing effects rack (EQ, compression, reverb, pitch-shift, LUFS metering). The payoff came in May 2026 with full multitrack: layer tracks, drag clips, crossfade overlaps, record onto armed channels, bounce the whole mix to one file. The Show HN post drew 553 points and 120 comments, and nonprofits like Building Beats in Brooklyn added it to the toolbox they teach middle- and high-school music production with.

Still live and open-source as of 2026-09-03; the multitrack release showed a free web tool can earn a second HN front page six years after its first — the last commit was 2026-08-20.

The zero-install bet removed the biggest barrier: a browser tab that works offline beats a 200MB desktop suite for school devices, borrowed computers, or privacy-minded setups.

He stayed in the constraint: ~65KB of vanilla JS forced ruthless scope discipline, making the later multitrack addition genuinely impressive.

The 2020-2026 gap worked as compound interest: each HN front page re-familiarized the community, and six-year continuity gave the second launch credibility.

Nonprofit adoption (Building Beats) shows the product found an audience no growth hack could buy: classrooms where 'no install' is the only viable option.

Attention compounds for tools that keep paying off: shipping a flagship feature six years after launch earned a second HN front page — persistence was the moat.

As of 2026-09-03 AudioMass remains free, open-source and actively maintained — the last push to the repo was 20 August 2026. The 2026 multitrack release brought the tool from hobbyist single-track editing toward podcast and classroom use, and the Building Beats toolbox page gives it a durable institutional distribution channel. Kalogiros continues solo development; there is no company, revenue model or funding, and the editor's staying power rests on a second HN front page almost exactly six years after the first.