Glitch

Glitch is a service that shutting down project hosting and user profiles 2025-07-08. It allowed you to quickly prototype web applications in a complete IDE with built in version control, sharing, custom domain support, and more.

• 2025-05-22 Anil Dash: Important Changes are Coming to Glitch (archived)

It works similar to a CodePen or Gist but it allows you to write a Node.js-based server to complement the front end.

It's made by Glitch Inc, formerly known as Fog Creek Software.

IndieWeb Examples

• Sven Knebel made the authorship algorithm testing tool https://sturdy-backbone.glitch.me/ using Glitch
• Marty McGuire made several projects using Glitch
  • A standalone IndieAuth authorization endpoint, ported from selfauth. (Archived source code). 2018-03-12 announcement.
  • A Micropub endpoint that can create posts on NeoCities sites. (Archived source code). 2018-03-12 announcement.
  • Kapowski, a micropub client for posting animated GIFs. Kapowski has been ported to PHP and moved from Glitch. Archived Glitch code
  • 🕸💍, an IndieWeb webring. Ported to PHP and moved from Glitch. (Archived Glitch code).

Other Uses

Glitch is a common enough word that it has been used to mean other things:

• Glitch game by makers of Slack
• HTML slideshow a poorly responsive slidedeck, not recommended for use

Retrospectives

• 2025-05-28 Pirijan Keth: Saying Bye to Glitch (archived) - from a co-creator of Glitch, after the shut-down was announced
• So long, Glitch, and thanks for all the apps
• The End of Glitch (Even Though They Say It Isn't)
• on 'important changes coming to glitch'
• RIP Glitch
• Glitched out

See Also

• wikipedia:Glitch,_Inc.
• CEO Anil Dash dogfoods Glitch himself with his personal site: https://twitter.com/anildash/status/1101212350403751936
  • "I've been running http://anildash.com on there for a long time!  :) https://medium.com/glitch/add-a-custom-domain-to-your-glitch-project-9a455eab2baf" @anildash February 28, 2019
• possible plagiarism vulnerability: https://twitter.com/notwaldorf/status/1132320907727319046
  • "Good morning to everyone except this asshat on Glitch who
    - took all of my projects with dashes in the name
    - remixed them to add his personal information
    - renamed them to the dash-free name so that typos go to his project
    
    Open source is the gift that keeps on giving. 🤦‍♀️" @notwaldorf May 25, 2019
• https://glitch.com/glimmer/post/building-your-own-website-once-and-for-all
• Criticisms: https://twitter.com/nancy_hawa/status/1263858543448424449, thread: https://threader.app/thread/1263858543448424449, archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20200523195041/https://threader.app/thread/1263858543448424449
  • "Shortly after Anil Dash started as the CEO of Fog Creek, he announced internally that we’d be making salaries transparent and had the website changed to claim we already had. Now, 3.5 years later @glitch has laid off staff members without ever honoring the promise." @nancy_hawa May 22, 2020
• History and renaming HyperWeb / HyperDev / Gomix / Glitch : https://support.glitch.com/t/glitch-and-gomix/30145/17