Why I built et al.

I built et al. because I read a lot online and kept wishing I could save the parts I wanted to reference later. A lot of that reading happened while I was working on my PhD, going through article after article. I do most of my reading in Safari on my Mac, and I could never find a tool that worked reliably there — there are options for other browsers, but in my experience they tend to be hit or miss. The ones I tried did more than I needed, asked me to create an account, or kept my notes on their own servers. I just wanted to highlight a passage, write a quick note, and find it again, with my highlights and notes staying under my control. So I decided to make it myself.

The name comes from academic citations. et al. means and others. Writers use it when a citation does not spell out every author’s name. It felt right for a tool about writing in the margins of what you read.

et al. is made by et al Labs, a small independent studio I run in Baltimore. I have a PhD in human-centered computing and over ten years of experience in UX design, research, and product management, so I think a lot about how software should feel to use. et al. is the tool I use every day, and I built it for the kind of careful reading that matters to me.

If what you read is worth coming back to, et al. is for you. I made it with researchers, students, and writers in mind, but anyone who likes to save what they read will find it helpful.

A few things I built in from the start: there’s no account to create, I don’t collect anything about you, and your highlights and notes stay on your devices by default. et al. is free to use, including the complete highlighting and organizing workflow. If the Pro features are useful to you, a $9.99 one-time purchase unlocks them on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. There are no subscriptions. If you write to me, you’ll hear back from me.

et al. is about saving what you read online and coming back to it. Your Library stays on your devices by default. The words and others matter here, too. With et al Labs, I want to make research tools that more people can access and use without giving up their privacy. et al. is the first one.