Free Alternatives for Expensive Software
Almost all of this software is open-source and have taken me a while to cherry-pick the list. So, I would just categorize them according to the use case and it would be easy to pick your favorite.
Media Encoding and Streaming Software
1. Handbrake
I work in a media house and often have to send large videos files for reviews. Obviously, sending over GBs of video for review doesn’t really make sense. I needed a good video encoder and the Google Search mostly landed me on paid ones. So, I came across Handbrake which is not only free & open-source but works perfectly for my need. It lets me export in 4k. Also supports latest video codecs like H.265, H.264, AVC, etc, so if you have mkv files that you can’t play on your Mac, Handbrake will convert that into a supported format. And if all of this sounds confusing to you, don’t worry there are inbuilt presets which let you export videos compatible for Android, iPhone and iPad. Platform: Windows, Linux, macOS. Download Handbrake
Read: 8 Best Live Streaming Apps for Android and iOS
2. OBS Studio
OBS Studio is a screencasting freeware that lets you record your screen or stream it over YouTube/ Facebook/ Twitter. While most free screen streaming software limit the screen recording to 1080 30p, OBS Studio lets you go 4k 60p in case you have a 4k display. On top of that, you can also add overlays, mix your sound and all the features you get with a pro streaming software. Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux. Download OBS Studio
Video, Image and Audio Editing
3. DaVinci Resolve
While Adobe is been moving more towards a cloud-based ecosystem, Blackmagic is doing interesting things with DaVinci Resolve. It has recently started adding Fairlight and Fusion to increase the utility of DaVinci Resolve. It is far from being just a color grading tool to full-fledged editing software. It’s not the easiest to understand and would take a while to figure out basic tools. But, if you are ready to invest your time in it, it is a seriously amazing editing tool. The best thing about it is the optimization and playback speed on mediocre machines. While Premiere has a hard time running on my Intel i5, things are smoother with DaVinci Resolve. The official website has lots of training material and a forum which you can make use of. Platform: Windows, Linux, macOS. Download DaVinci Resolve
4. Audacity
We use Audacity all the time to remove noise from our YouTube videos. Audacity is free open-source software like every other software in this list. Audacity might not be as good an audio editor like Adobe Audition but certainly better than what you get with your video editor. Audacity does most of the basic audio correction like noise cancellation, pitch correction, hard limiter, etc. You can do your occasional voice-overs within the app. But once you have the hang of the software, go ahead with 6-band equalizers and all the advanced tools. Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux Download Audacity
5. GIMP
Photoshop is a whole world of an editor for faster and even vector images. But the frequently used features are either Layers, color correction or HSL tab, and even face retouching, masking, annotations, stamping, etc. Now all these tools are present under GIMP and much more. But, the problem is the UI and intuitiveness of the software. Even though I know Photoshop, I had a hard time discovering the basic tools. But, hey that’s better than $20/monthly bill. Platform: Windows, Linux, macOS, etc. Download GIMP
Vector Graphics & 3D Animation
6. Inkscape
Inkscape is an open-source vector graphics editor similar to Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Freehand, etc. I have done a few basic things in Inkscape like freehand drawing, scaling, moving, rotation or skewing. If you work on basic stuff in Corel Draw or Illustrator, it would be easy to switch to Inkscape. It also lets you import your files from Illustrator and Corel Draw as it supports multiple file formats like AI, CDR, SVG, etc. Another important thing is you cannot create web pages in Inkscape. But you can use it for creating mockups, banners or logos for the website. Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux. Download Inkscape
7. Blender 3D
As the name would suggest, Blender is an open-source tool for 3D model creation. But it is far from what the name suggests, it’s not only a 3D rendering tool but you can also create 3D Animation, edit your videos, etc. Looking at the vast amount of features it has to offer, it’s hard to believe that it is free. It’s not gonna be like the industry-standard Maya but meanwhile, when you are trying to the learn 3D Animation, Blender is a good choice. And since, it has 3D camera tracking, keyframe animation, I would prefer to do my small video animations in Maya then After Effects ($20/month). Platform: Windows, Linux, macOS. Download Blender 3D
Messaging & Office Collaboration Software
8. Station
I have been using the paid version of Franz which is quite a good all-in-one messaging tool. However, the $5 monthly subscription adds on real quick. So, after searching for Franz alternatives, I moved on to Station, although, not open source, it’s free. Firstly, you get 150+ apps to start with. Next up, you have the quick toggle and notifications. You can also silence notifications for a while, kind of like DND to avoid unnecessary distractions. My most favorite feature is the Quick Switch which lets you switch back and forth into the conversation using hotkeys. You can also hover over the icons to get a quick switch menu and directly dive into a chat or document. Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux. Download Station
Read: Best Open Source Video Editors for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS
9, Libre Office
Office 360 is great enterprise-level package but like every other app in this list is kind of overkill for an individual. G Suite for cloud is a great alternative but the interoperability between the documents is the real issue. Libre is a great alternative and the best thing is support for Microsoft Office files. I can readily double click the Word file I have received on email and then edit it in Libre Writer. Well, the names are quite confusing in Libre Office but the UI and shortcuts are almost the same. Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux. Download LibreOffice
10. Clockify
There are times when you need to hurry up on work and finish before the deadline. In such scenarios, writing the time on a sticky note doesn’t really help, you need proper time-tracking software. Clockify is a free alternative to the paid time tracking software like Toggl or Harvest. You can collaborate with your team, assign them work and deadlines. It’s also a quick way to track progress as just a quick glance at the Dashboard would let me know the pending end of the work. Now, we don’t do Billable tasks so that’s one feature I haven’t tested. But, if you do work for a client, it would be an awesome way to keep track of the budget and billing. Platform: Web App. Visit Clockify
11. Xtreme Download Manager
Xtreme Download Manager is a powerful alternative to Internet Download Manager since it is paid. As the name suggests, it is basically a download manager. It lets you save streaming videos from YouTube, DailyMotion, Facebook, Vimeo, Google Video, etc. It also seamlessly integrates with any chromium or Firefox-based browser. XDM also has a built-in video converter which lets you convert your video to a smartphone compatible format. XDM also provides a significant boost to the download speed by downloading files from multiple sources. The best about a download manager is that it lets you resume a download from a failed point which most of the time web browsers cannot. Platform: Windows, Linux, macOS. Download Xtreme Download Manager
Wrapping Up
So, these were the best free open-source alternatives for expensive software. If you use one of these or something that’s way apart from this list, do let me in the comments. We can go ahead and create a list of many software so it’s a better way for people on the web to know about it. For any issues or queries, comment and below and let’s start the discussion. Also Read: Best Windows Utilities You Should Be Using In 2019.
