Dead Software Cemetery: Archive of Discontinued Apps and Their Best Alternatives

Dead Software Cemetery is a digital preservation archive of discontinued apps killed by acquisitions and neglect, each paired with a vetted modern replacement. Built and curated by Satya Joshi.

What it is

Dead Software Cemetery is an archive of discontinued apps, games and operating systems that were killed by acquisitions, pivots and corporate neglect. Each one has its own memorial page with its years of life, what it was loved for, why it ended, and the best modern replacement to use instead.

What you can explore

The archive: over a thousand memorials, from Napster and Adobe Flash Player to AIM, Club Penguin and Google Reader, plus a random-grave button for wandering.
Alternatives directory: community-vetted successors, each with a spirit-match rating.
Executioners and chambers: browse by who discontinued the software, or by category such as developer tools, chat, gaming and operating systems.
Deathwatch and deaths by year: follow what is being sunset and when.
Post-Mortem Chronicles: long-form essays on software ownership, user agency and what we lose when tools disappear.
Candles and nominations: light a candle on any grave, or nominate software for the archive; submissions are reviewed by a curator before publishing.

Why I built it

When a loved tool is shut down, a whole way of working disappears with it. This project remembers those tools and helps people find worthy successors.

Visit

Explore the archive at deadsofts.com. Want a content-rich archive or directory built for your own topic? See my web platform and custom CMS service.