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🔒 Free & Open-Source Tools

The genuinely-free software we actually use — open-source apps and honest freemium tiers, ranked best-first. 16 products reviewed and ranked.

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All Free & Open-Source Tools reviews

Top Pick — Best Overall

uBlock Origin: The Best Free Ad Blocker

★★★★★ 9.8/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

uBlock Origin is a free, open-source, wide-spectrum content blocker for Chrome, Firefox and Edge. Honest review and setup notes.

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#2 Pick

Signal: The Best Free Encrypted Messenger

★★★★★ 9.6/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

Signal is a free, open-source, end-to-end encrypted messaging app run by a non-profit. Honest review.

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#3 Pick

Bitwarden: The Best Free Password Manager

★★★★★ 9.5/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

Bitwarden is an open-source password manager with a genuinely usable free tier and an audited, transparent codebase.

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#4 Pick

Blender: The Best Free 3D Software

★★★★★ 9.4/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

Blender is a free, open-source 3D creation suite used in real film and game production. Honest review.

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#5 Pick

MIT OpenCourseWare: Free MIT Courses

★★★★★ 9.3/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

MIT OpenCourseWare publishes nearly all MIT course materials online for free. Honest look at how to use it.

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#6 Pick

Khan Academy: The Best Free Learning Platform

★★★★★ 9.2/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

Khan Academy offers free courses from K-12 through early college, run by a non-profit. Honest review.

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#7 Pick

Proton VPN: The Best Free VPN With No Data Cap

★★★★★ 9.1/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

Proton VPN is the only reputable VPN with a genuinely unlimited free tier. Honest review of the free vs paid plans.

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#8 Pick

Krita: The Best Free Digital Painting App

★★★★☆ 9.0/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

Krita is a free, open-source painting program built for illustrators and concept artists. Honest review.

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#9 Pick

Proton Mail: The Best Free Private Email

★★★★☆ 9.0/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

Proton Mail is a free, encrypted email service from a Swiss privacy company. Honest review of the free vs paid plans.

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#10 Pick

Syncthing: The Best Free File Sync Tool

★★★★☆ 8.9/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

Syncthing is a free, open-source, peer-to-peer file synchronisation tool -- a self-hosted Dropbox alternative. Honest review.

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#11 Pick

Nextcloud: The Best Free Self-Hosted Cloud

★★★★☆ 8.8/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

Nextcloud is a free, open-source self-hosted file, calendar and collaboration platform -- a private Google Workspace. Honest review.

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#12 Pick

Unsplash: The Best Free Stock Photos

★★★★☆ 8.8/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

Unsplash offers high-quality photos free for commercial and personal use under its own licence. Honest review.

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#13 Pick

GIMP: The Best Free Photoshop Alternative

★★★★☆ 8.7/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

GIMP is a free, open-source raster image editor. Honest look at what it does well and where it still trails Photoshop.

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#14 Pick

Inkscape: The Best Free Vector Editor

★★★★☆ 8.6/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

Inkscape is a free, open-source vector graphics editor -- an Illustrator alternative. Honest review.

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#15 Pick

VSCodium: VS Code Without the Telemetry

★★★★☆ 8.5/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

VSCodium is a free, open-source build of VS Code with Microsoft telemetry and branding removed. Honest review.

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#16 Pick

Oracle Cloud Free Tier: The Best Free VPS

★★★★☆ 8.2/10 Free Free & Open-Source Tools

Oracle Cloud's Always-Free tier offers genuinely capable free virtual machines. Honest review and the catches to know.

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