Headway
Replaceable in one session with an AI coding agent.
Changelog as a service with an editor, a public page and a notification widget, aimed at teams who want release notes without touching their own site.
Build a changelog a non-developer can publish to. STACK - Astro with a Node adapter, SQLite, one admin page WRITING - A simple editor storing Markdown, with a preview that renders exactly what publishes - Draft, scheduled and published states; a scheduled entry appears by a cron pass, never by someone remembering THE PUBLIC PAGE - Newest first, tag filters, an RSS and a JSON feed - Cached hard and invalidated on publish, so the page costs nothing to serve THE WIDGET - Under 3KB, reads the JSON feed, shows an unread badge from a date in localStorage - Opens a dialog element; keyboard accessible; closes on Escape WHO READ IT - One row per widget open and per entry expanded, with no visitor identity beyond a daily-rotating hash Include the schema, the scheduler and the widget.
What you lose
- A web editor so marketing can publish a release note without a pull request
- A hosted page, a widget and analytics on who read what
- Scheduled publishing, so a note goes out with the release rather than before it
If you would rather not build
- A static changelog in your repository
- Changefeed, for the hosted version
- GitHub releases with a feed
The escape hatch
open source · no votes, no paid placement
Astro
$0Content collections plus a Node adapter cover both the page and the admin.
withastro/astrofree · open source
Ghost
$0Overkill for a changelog, but gives a non-developer an editor immediately.
TryGhost/Ghostfree · open source
Why this verdict
our own opinion · changed only by a person
90/100
Verdict yes at 90. The one design decision is scheduled publishing by cron rather than by a person; everything else is a list and a feed.
History
tracked since 10 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten
Nothing recorded yet. This chart fills in once the page has visitors, votes or prompt copies — it will not draw a flat line to look busy.
Questions about Headway
answered from the record above
Is Headway free?
No — the plan we track is $29 a month. Around $29/month billed monthly for the standard plan with a custom domain.
Can you replace Headway by building your own?
YES. Replaceable in one session with an AI coding agent. Replacement score 90 out of 100, build time one session. Read what you lose before you decide.
How much does Headway cost?
$29 a month on Standard — $348 a year. Recorded 10 Aug 2026.
What do you lose by replacing Headway?
A web editor so marketing can publish a release note without a pull request; A hosted page, a widget and analytics on who read what; Scheduled publishing, so a note goes out with the release rather than before it. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Headway?
Yes: Astro, Ghost. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.
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