Why TakeyMakey?

If you know how to code, some tools on this site may seem trivial. But knowing how to code is an incredible thing. Some even describe it as a superpower. It is a skill that most people have not learned.

TakeyMakey helps people who do know how to code empower those people. Write whatever business logic you need to solve their problems, and let us take care of the UI. Build tools that eliminate the mundane and put an end to frustrating, error-prone tasks. Alongside each tool is an integrated, real-time editor where you can make any changes you want, or even create a tool from scratch. The tools we create together may even inspire a few more people to learn to code.

So if you have to write the code, what does TakeyMakey bring to the table? Four things make TakeyMakey a little bit different.

Ergonomics. A few lines of configuration get you a thoughtfully crafted UI. Usability affordances, keyboard navigation, sandboxes, validation, error-handling, accessibility — all done for you.

Performance. We do our best to get the best out of the browser. Web workers, offscreen canvas, intelligent caching, but all with graceful fallbacks when these aren’t available.

Portability. Run in the browser, share via URL. No more compiling executables or setting up environments.

Flexibility. With an integrated code editor, you can do anything the web platform can do. Direct access to the code means no limit on your creativity.

What about privacy?

TakeyMakey tools run client-side in the browser. None of your form data is uploaded to our servers. That’s the way we like it. This slight limitation means that once tools are loaded, you can run them offline, knowing no prying eyes are spying on you.

What about lock-in?

Tools are written in plain old JavaScript. Make functions can run anywhere. Take definitions don’t need to be complicated, and map quite closely to native HTML form elements, making them portable. But you will have to code the UI from scratch. Takeymakey saves you the trouble.

In the future, TakeyMakey may offer exclusive features to paying customers, like user dashboards or private access to tools. When we do, we will be do our best to make sure we don’t compromise on portability.