The OpenLeaf Beta is Officially Here! What Does That Mean for You?

We’ve been quietly building OpenLeaf for a while now, and today we’re excited to share a big milestone: OpenLeaf has officially entered Beta!

This is a huge step for us and, we hope, for everyone who loves stories. Whether you’re an author looking for a home for your work, or a reader searching for your next favorite story, OpenLeaf is built to bring those worlds together.

We're actively looking for beta testers to help us refine the platform. Sign up today and leave as much feedback as you can to help us make OpenLeaf the best it can be!

What Do We Mean by Beta?

“Beta” is more than just a label. It means OpenLeaf is open and usable right now, but still very much a work in progress. All the core pieces are in place, and you can dive in today to start exploring, reading, and writing, but there’s plenty more to come.

We’re treating this beta as a collaborative stage. It’s not just us testing the platform behind the scenes—it’s an open invitation for you to test it alongside us. Think of it as joining us in the workshop. You can see how things are being built, and you get to help shape the direction they grow in.

Why We’re in Beta

Developing a platform like OpenLeaf takes time. We want to get things just right, creating a space where all kinds of books can thrive. To do that, we need to be getting feedback at every stage of the process, learning where we can improve some features and add other ones.

At present, we have the fundamentals. You can write and read books, leave reviews and bookmark your favourite reads. You can make and edit your profile although at time of writing that section of the site is still under construction.

While using the beta you may find features/buttons grayed out. These are here as placeholders and should be updated as features are constructed and implemented.

The On-Going Design Process

Of course, it’s possible that some features may be moved or even removed as the design process continues. This is always done with thought to improving the user experience and, ultimately, making the platform a stable, feature rich experience that’s easy to use.

So What’s Coming Next?

By its nature, development is always a bit of a messy process so we can’t say which features will appear when. That said, here are some features we’d love to see hit the site sooner rather than later:

• Profiles - Right now profiles are in a very basic form. You can update your picture and add a bio. The current profile page showcases some of the potential features we’d like to add such as reading goals and stats. Those features should hopefully be added soon, giving you one central hub for all your reading info.
• Monetisation - One of the core goals of our platform is to make sure writers are able to earn a living from their craft. We’re eager to add monetisation as soon as possible both in the form of ad revenue and by allowing writers to link their Patreon, PayPal, and Ko-Fi.
• Accessibility features - We believe strongly that reading should be accessible to everyone and we’re committed to making that happen. Whether that’s proper support for screen reading or a wider variety of colour and font options, these features are a high priority for us. If there are features you’d like the site to have that don’t currently exist, please get in touch at contact@openleaf.app.

But that’s just the start! The future of OpenLeaf is bright and there are plenty more features we’re excited to add along the way from text-to-speech for readers and writers to a wide suite of customisation options and even full audiobook support.

How You Can Help

We cannot stress enough that building something this big takes time—and more importantly, it takes feedback from real people actually using the platform. That’s why we’re in Beta now, instead of waiting until everything is “perfect.” Perfection doesn’t come from building in isolation. It comes from building together.

Sign up now and join a community of readers and writers building something new together. We’re thrilled to have you with us at this early stage, and we can’t wait to see the stories you’ll tell and the feedback you’ll share.