Soft.xyz is an independent, data-driven platform that compares 232+ developer tools across 69 categories by real metrics — GitHub activity, npm downloads, actual pricing, DX scores, and community sentiment. Unlike pay-to-play review sites, every ranking on Soft.xyz is based on publicly verifiable data pulled from GitHub, npm, and official pricing pages.

How does Soft.xyz collect data?

Soft.xyz pulls data from public APIs including GitHub (stars, forks, commits, open issues, last commit date), npm (weekly download counts), and official pricing pages. Community sentiment data comes from Reddit and Hacker News mention tracking. All metrics are refreshed weekly and timestamped so you can see exactly when data was last updated.

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Yes, Soft.xyz is completely free to use. All tool pages, comparisons, benchmarks, DX scores, pricing analysis, and category rankings are available at no cost. For teams that need a deeper analysis, we offer a paid Stack Audit report ($199) that evaluates your entire tech stack with personalized recommendations. An API is also available for programmatic access to our dataset.

How many tools does Soft.xyz track?

Soft.xyz tracks 232 developer tools across 69 categories including databases, hosting, authentication, payments, analytics, CI/CD, monitoring, search, CMS, and more. Each tool page includes real-time GitHub metrics, npm download counts, pricing breakdowns, and side-by-side comparisons with alternatives in the same category.

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HockeyApp

Acquired & Killed — November 2019

Reviewed byRoman K· 2019-11-16

What was it?

Mobile app distribution, crash reporting, and feedback. The go-to for beta testing before TestFlight matured.

What happened?

Microsoft acquired HockeyApp in 2014, replaced it with Visual Studio App Center. App Center itself later deprecated.

Migration Guide

Firebase App Distribution, TestFlight (iOS), or Fastlane for distribution.

Timeline & context

HockeyApp acquired & killed in November 2019, 7 years ago. It sat in the ci-cd category, where Soft.xyz tracks 7 discontinued products in total. If you are still running it in production, the migration path above is the shortest route off it.

FAQ

Why did HockeyApp shut down?

Microsoft acquired HockeyApp in 2014, replaced it with Visual Studio App Center. App Center itself later deprecated.

What should I migrate HockeyApp to?

No drop-in replacement is tracked yet — check the ci-cd category for current options.

Is there a free alternative to HockeyApp?

Not among the tracked alternatives.

Also dead in ci-cd

Visual Studio App Center — 2025 Visual Studio App Center — 2025 Ionic Appflow (Free) — 2024 Heroku GitHub Integration — 2024 CircleCI Free Tier (6000 build mins) — 2024 Apache Cordova — 2024