Popular Open-Source Alternatives to paid software
Compiled by Soumadip Das
This article is a part of the Debugged Magazine released by Coding Club of Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. To read the entire magazine click here
1. Amarok
Link: https://amarok.kde.org/
Open-source alternative to: iTunes
There are many open-source software for music playback and Amarok is one of them which combines music discovery features with an attractive, easy-to-use audio player. Key features include integration with multiple Web audio services, dynamic playlists, bookmarks, scripting, context view and more.
2. BRL-CAD
Link: https://brlcad.org/
Open-source alternative to: AutoCAD ($4,195 and up)
BRL-CAD is a powerful open-source cross-platform solid modelling system that includes interactive geometry editing, high-performance ray-tracing for rendering and geometric analysis, a system performance analysis benchmark suite, geometry libraries for application developers, and more than 30 years of active development.
3. Gimp
Link: https://www.gimp.org/
Open-source alternative to: Photoshop ($19.99 per user per month)
Gimp makes it easy to edit photos and other images — just like you would with Photoshop. Suitable for professionals, it includes features like layers, gradients, photo enhancement, color manipulation, digital retouching, and much more.
4. Inkscape
Link: https://inkscape.org/en/
Open-source alternative to: IllustrOpen-source9 per user per month), CorelDraw ($429)
A vector drawing program, Inkscape offers professional-quality features (markers, clones, alpha blending, etc.) for graphic designers. The site now also features an open clip art gallery that you can use in your drawings.
5. Dia
Link: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Dia
Open-source alternative to: Visio Professional ($589.99)
Dia creates diagrams — for flowcharts, org charts, and more. It doesn’t have as many options for artwork and styles of boxes as Visio, but it’s good enough for most casual users.
6. OpenOffice
Link: https://www.openoffice.org/
Open-source alternative to: Microsoft Office ($71.88 per user per year and up)
Apache OpenOffice includes Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (graphics), Math (mathematical equations) and Base (database). It can open, edit and export to Microsoft file formats, and it features a very intuitive interface.
7. LibreOffice
Link: https://www.libreoffice.org/
Open-source alternative to: Microsoft Office ($71.88 per user per year and up)
Forked from OpenOffice, LibreOffice offers the same types of software as its predecessor with some additional features and extensions. There’s a helpful chart on its website that compares it with Microsoft Office.
9. PDFCreator
Link: http://en.pdfforge.org/pdfcreator
Open source alternative to: Adobe AOpen-source1.65)
PDFCreator creates a PDF file from any application that can print. It also includes the digital signature and encryption capabilities, but it lacks some of Acrobat’s form creating capabilities.
10. Blender
Link: https://www.blender.org/
Open-source alternative to: AutoDesk Maya ($3,675)
3D animation software can be prohibitively expensive for amateurs and home users, but Blender is completely free and has been used to create full-length animated films. It boasts photorealistic rendering, fast modelling, realistic materials, fast rigging, sculpting, an animation toolset, full compositor and more.
11. Cinelerra
Link: http://www.heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php
Open-source alternative to: Adobe Premiere Pro ($19.99 per user per month), Avid Media Composer
Cinelerra — This video editor describes itself as “useful and fast” but acknowledges that it doesn’t have quite as many features as modern professional tools. There’s a community-based fork with very similar functionality and community support at Cinelerra.org.
12. Avidemux
Link: http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/
Open-source alternative to: Adobe Premiere Pro ($19.99 per user per month), Avid Media Composer
Avidemux can handle many simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks, but isn’t as full-featured as some other video editors. It does have some automation, scripting and batch processing capabilities.
13. Bluefish
Link: http://bluefish.openoffice.nl/index.html
Open-source alternative to: Adobe Dreamweaver ($19.99 per user per month)
While it’s not quite as user-friendly as its commercial competitors or the other open-source options listed here, Bluefish offers a very fast WYSIWYG HTML editor that doesn’t use a lot of system resources. Aimed at coders more than designers, it also includes support for a number of other programming languages.
14. KeePass
Link: https://keepass.info/index.html
Open source alternative to: RoboForm, LastPass
KeePass is a free open-source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords securely. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key file. So, you only have to remember one single master password or select the key file to unlock the whole database. The databases are encrypted using the best and most secure encryption algorithms currently known (AES and Twofish).
15. ClamWin
Link: https://www.clamwin.com/
Open-source alternative to: Kaspersky Anti-Virus, McAfee AntiVirus Plus
ClamWin Free Antivirus is used by more than 600,000 users worldwide on a daily basis. It comes with an easy installer and open-source code. You may download and use it absolutely free of charge. It features high detection rates for viruses and spyware; Scanning Scheduler; Automatic downloads of regularly updated Virus Database; Standalone virus scanner and right-click menu integration to Microsoft Windows Explorer; Addin to Microsoft Outlook to remove virus-infected attachments automatically.
