I started building Leaf for my partner.
He loves books. He picks them up, reads a few chapters, enjoys them. And then life gets in the way. The book sits on the nightstand. A month later he starts a new one.
He didn't need more book recommendations. He didn't need a social reading platform or a full library manager. He needed something focused on one thing: showing up every day and reading a few pages.
So I built one.
The idea is simple: you decide what a realistic reading day looks like. Ten pages? Fine. Twenty? Great. Leaf reminds you, tracks your streak, and tells you when you'll finish at your current pace.
When I pitched the idea to my family, my brother immediately said: "I'd use that, but I don't need a habit. I need to finish a book by a specific date for my studies."
That conversation turned into a second mode. You give Leaf a deadline, and it works backwards. It tells you exactly how many pages to read each day to finish on time. Fall behind, it recalculates. Get ahead, it lets you know.
I'd always wanted to build my own apps rather than putting my skills to work for someone else. Just never had the right moment.
When I left my job, I decided to go all in. Not to build something big or complicated. Just something genuinely useful for the people around me.
The name comes from the idea that a reading habit, like a plant, starts small and grows stronger the more you tend to it.
Leaf is for people who already read and want more structure, and for people who want to read more but haven't found something that sticks. Either way, it's about showing up, not perfection.
Even if your streak breaks, what you've built stays yours. Missing a day doesn't erase your progress. Because guilt is what kills habits, not a skipped page.
— Vincent, maker of Leaf