Open source software: 84 apps that replace paid tools
Open source software publishes its code under an open license: free to use, including at work, and free to inspect and modify. Familiar examples: LibreOffice, GIMP, VLC, Firefox, 7-Zip, Blender.
GIMPThe longest-running open-source image editor, able to handle most Photoshop work.Design & photoOpen source
KritaAn open-source digital painting app built for illustration, comics and frame-by-frame animation.Design & photoOpen source
InkscapeAn open-source vector editor for logos, icons, posters and vinyl cutting.Design & photoOpen source
darktable13,408An open-source RAW photo manager and editor in the spirit of Lightroom.Design & photoOpen source
RawTherapee4,281An open-source RAW processor known for strong noise reduction, sharpening and color.Design & photoOpen source
digiKamAn open-source manager for large photo collections, with tagging, face recognition and duplicate finding.Design & photoOpen source
ScribusOpen-source desktop publishing for magazines, books, flyers and catalogs.Design & photoOpen source
Penpot62,175An open-source, browser-based tool for designing web and app interfaces, Figma-style.Design & photoOpen source
KdenliveAn open-source multi-track video editor with effects and transitions.Video & audioOpen source
Shotcut15,629A lightweight open-source video editor that opens most formats without converting them first.Video & audioOpen source
OpenShot6,754The easiest open-source video editor for beginners: drag and drop, trim, add titles and transitions.Video & audioOpen source
OBS Studio79,148The world's most widely used open-source app for screen recording and live streaming.Video & audioOpen source
ShareX40,798An open-source screen capture and recording tool for Windows.Video & audioOpen source
Audacity18,992An open-source audio recorder and editor for cutting, noise reduction, boosting voices and converting formats.Video & audioOpen source
Ardour5,414An open-source digital audio workstation (DAW) for multitrack recording, mixing, MIDI and VST/LV2 plugins.Video & audioOpen source
LMMS10,624An open-source music production app in the style of FL Studio.Video & audioOpen source
LibreCAD6,566Open-source 2D drafting software with commands and layers close to AutoCAD, working with DXF files.CAD, 3D & statisticsOpen source
FreeCAD35,243Open-source parametric 3D modeling for mechanical design, architecture (BIM) and 3D printing.CAD, 3D & statisticsOpen source
QCAD1,925A compact, easy-to-use 2D CAD app.CAD, 3D & statisticsOpen source
BlenderA complete open-source 3D suite: modeling, sculpting, animation, photorealistic rendering and video editing.CAD, 3D & statisticsOpen source
Sweet Home 3DOpen-source interior design software: draw a floor plan, drag in furniture and see it in 3D instantly.CAD, 3D & statisticsOpen source
JASP1,017Point-and-click open-source statistics software similar to SPSS.CAD, 3D & statisticsOpen source
jamovi800Open-source spreadsheet-style statistics built on R, with a point-and-click interface close to SPSS.CAD, 3D & statisticsOpen source
GNU PSPPOpen-source statistics software modeled on SPSS that also accepts familiar SPSS syntax.CAD, 3D & statisticsOpen source
R + RStudioThe R statistics language plus the RStudio Desktop editor, both free.CAD, 3D & statisticsOpen source
LibreOfficeOpen-source office suite that replaces Microsoft Office: Writer, Calc, Impress and Draw.Office & PDFOpen source
ONLYOFFICE Desktop5,705Open-source office suite with a ribbon interface like modern Office.Office & PDFOpen source
Sumatra PDF17,957Very lightweight open-source PDF reader for Windows.Office & PDFOpen source
PDFsam Basic4,661Open-source desktop tool to merge, split, rotate and extract PDF pages.Office & PDFOpen source
Stirling-PDF95,986Open-source PDF toolkit you host on your own server with Docker, with 50+ operations.Office & PDFOpen source
ThunderbirdOpen-source email client from Mozilla, the makers of Firefox.Office & PDFOpen source
Mailspring17,998Clean, open-source email client with fast search and a unified inbox for several accounts.Office & PDFOpen source
draw.io9,244Open-source diagramming tool for flowcharts, org charts, network diagrams, BPMN and UML.Office & PDFOpen source
Excalidraw135,319Open-source, hand-drawn style whiteboard that runs in the browser.Office & PDFOpen source
ProjectLibreOpen-source project planner similar to Microsoft Project, with Gantt charts and critical path.Office & PDFOpen source
GanttProject1,119Lightweight open-source Gantt chart tool, enough for small and mid-sized project plans.Office & PDFOpen source
LanguageTool15,236Open-source spelling and grammar checker for English and about 30 other languages.Office & PDFOpen source
AppFlowy78,427Open-source Notion-style app for notes, databases and task boards.Notes & teamworkOpen source
AFFiNE74,313Open-source workspace that combines documents, a freeform whiteboard and databases, with local-first storage.Notes & teamworkOpen source
Joplin57,074Open-source Evernote alternative with notebooks, tags, web clipper, to-dos and end-to-end encryption.Notes & teamworkOpen source
Logseq45,513Outliner-style note app with daily journals and two-way links, stored as files on your device.Notes & teamworkOpen source
Standard Notes6,706Open-source, end-to-end encrypted notes app with free sync across unlimited devices.Notes & teamworkOpen source
Wekan21,159Open-source, self-hosted Trello-style kanban board.Notes & teamworkOpen source
Kanboard9,947Very lightweight open-source kanban board written in PHP, with WIP limits and charts.Notes & teamworkOpen source
Plane62,140Open-source project management tool, an alternative to Jira, Linear and Trello.Notes & teamworkOpen source
OpenProject17,109Open-source project management for organizations, with Gantt charts and agile boards.Notes & teamworkOpen source
Redmine6,073Long-established open-source project management and issue tracker, widely used by software companies.Notes & teamworkOpen source
Taiga859Open-source agile project management with Scrum, Kanban, user stories and sprints.Notes & teamworkOpen source
Mattermost39,557Open-source, self-hosted Slack alternative with channels, direct messages, threads, voice calls and bots.Notes & teamworkOpen source
Rocket.Chat46,375Open-source team chat platform that also handles customer support.Notes & teamworkOpen source
Element13,640Open-source, end-to-end encrypted chat app built on the Matrix protocol.Notes & teamworkOpen source
Zulip26,190Open-source team chat that organizes messages by topic, so conversations don't get buried like in Slack.Notes & teamworkOpen source
Jitsi Meet30,210Open-source video meetings with no 40-minute cap: open a link and you're in.Notes & teamworkOpen source
BigBlueButton9,271Open-source virtual classroom with whiteboard, breakout rooms, polls and recording.Notes & teamworkOpen source
7-ZipThe best-known open-source archiver: extracts .rar, .zip, .7z, .iso and more, with AES-256 passwords.PC utilitiesOpen source
PeaZip8,094Open-source archiver with a clean interface that opens more than 200 formats, including on Mac.PC utilitiesOpen source
NanaZip16,185A 7-Zip fork rebuilt for Windows 11 that fits into the new right-click menu.PC utilitiesOpen source
AB Download Manager19,055A newer (2024) open-source download manager with a modern interface and multi-connection speed-up.PC utilitiesOpen source
Motrix57,964Open-source download manager built on aria2, handling HTTP, FTP, torrents and magnet links.PC utilitiesOpen source
RustDesk128,600Open-source remote desktop app and an alternative to TeamViewer and AnyDesk.PC utilitiesOpen source
Nextcloud37,441Self-hosted open-source cloud storage and an alternative to Google Drive and Dropbox.PC utilitiesOpen source
Seafile15,435Self-hosted open-source file sync and sharing, known for being fast and light with large libraries.PC utilitiesOpen source
Syncthing90,209Syncs folders directly between your own devices, with no cloud in between and encryption in transit.PC utilitiesOpen source
Bitwarden14,177Open-source password manager whose free plan stores unlimited passwords on unlimited devices.PC utilitiesOpen source
KeePassXC29,847Open-source password manager that keeps everything in one encrypted file on your computer, no cloud needed.PC utilitiesOpen source
Proton Pass816End-to-end encrypted password manager from Swiss company Proton.PC utilitiesOpen source
Vaultwarden70,410A lightweight rewrite of the Bitwarden server that you host for your family or company.PC utilitiesOpen source
Linux MintThe most Windows-like Linux distribution, with a browser, LibreOffice and media players preinstalled.PC utilitiesOpen source
UbuntuThe most popular Linux distribution for desktops and servers.PC utilitiesOpen source
Zorin OSLinux distribution made for people switching from Windows, with a Windows 11-style layout.PC utilitiesOpen source
Activepieces25,423Open-source (MIT) automation tool as easy to use as Zapier, with many integrations and AI steps.Web & online businessOpen source
Node-RED23,823Open-source visual programming tool for IoT and factories that links devices to web services and databases.Web & online businessOpen source
Matomo22,013Open-source Google Analytics alternative: pageviews, sources, goals and e-commerce.Web & online businessOpen source
Umami39,982Lean open-source web analytics without cookies, easier to read than Google Analytics.Web & online businessOpen source
Plausible29,793Privacy-friendly open-source web analytics, free to self-host as the Community Edition.Web & online businessOpen source
PostHog40,696Open-source product analytics suite: traffic, funnels, session replay, A/B tests and surveys.Web & online businessOpen source
listmonk24,194Very lightweight open-source newsletter tool that manages lists of up to millions of subscribers.Web & online businessOpen source
Mautic10,951Open-source marketing automation: email, segments, lead scoring and nurture campaigns.Web & online businessOpen source
WooCommerce10,582Open-source e-commerce plugin for WordPress that powers a large share of self-built online stores.Web & online businessOpen source
PrestaShop9,248French open-source e-commerce platform, strong at managing large, multilingual product catalogs.Web & online businessOpen source
Odoo Community55,631Open-source business suite: online store, point of sale, inventory, purchasing, CRM and basic accounting.Web & online businessOpen source
Medusa37,126Open-source commerce platform for developers (Node.js) with a separate admin and storefront.Web & online businessOpen source
Ollama186,318Runs open AI models (Llama, Qwen, Gemma, DeepSeek and more) on your own computer.AIOpen source
Jan45,578Open-source AI chat app that runs models locally and can also use vendor APIs when you need a stronger model.AIOpen source
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FAQ
What is open source software?
Software whose source code is published under an open license (GPL, MIT, Apache, MPL…). Anyone may use, study, modify and share it, including for business, without paying license fees.
How is open source different from freeware?
Freeware only costs nothing; the code stays closed and the vendor can change the terms at any time. Open source code is public, so the community can keep developing it even if the original team stops.
Can businesses use open source software legally?
Yes. Open source licenses allow commercial use. The main thing to watch is redistribution: if you modify GPL or AGPL code and distribute it (or, for AGPL, offer it as a network service), you must publish your changes.
Is open source software safe?
Public code means many people can review it. Download from the official website or your platform's app store, never from "modified" builds on unknown sites.