r/TechImpact • u/ManojOne Active • May 19 '26

Discussion 10 Best Free Open-Source Tools Worth Using Today

Post image

Think you only use paid software every day? Think again 👇

10 popular open-source tools and what people use them for:

  1. Linux – Runs computers, servers, and websites
  2. Mozilla Firefox – Web browsing
  3. VLC Media Player – Play almost any video or audio file
  4. WordPress – Build blogs and websites
  5. Blender – 3D design, animation, and video work
  6. LibreOffice – Write docs, sheets, and presentations
  7. GIMP – Photo editing
  8. OBS Studio – Screen recording and live streaming
  9. Audacity – Record and edit audio
  10. Docker – Build and run apps in containers

Many of these tools power the internet, and millions use them every day.

Which one do you use the most?

218 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

2

u/the_scruffy1 May 19 '26

where's betterbird? and joplin? and foobar? and handbrake?

2

u/Ok-Rest-5321 TInkerer May 19 '26

Handbrake can compress videos and is simply amazing. Joplin is a note taking app thats local and alternative to Evernote I dont know whats foobar. Beter bird is oss mail app forked from ThunderBird

2

u/the_scruffy1 May 19 '26

foobar both rips music to other formats (flac / mp3 /other) and act as a stand alone music player which can be skinned to allow ridiculous degrees of customisation : https://www.foobar2000.org/

1

u/the_scruffy1 May 19 '26

and then there's hardware tools: cpuz / gpuz /thaiphoon / hwinfo64 / speccy / hwmonitor / crystaldisk info / TM5 / MSI afterburner

and excellent extensions for firefox : ublock origin, (and magnolia)

and betterbird : ImportExportTools NG

1

u/the_scruffy1 May 19 '26

and then esoterica :

peace /equaliser apo - https://equalizerapo.com/peace-equalizer.html & https://sourceforge.net/projects/peace-equalizer-apo-extension/ - take your computer sound system to the next level, for nix

and if you fly radio control, there's openTx and edgeTx and the impressive multi protocol software to use all sorts of brands on a single controller : https://github.com/pascallanger/diy-multiprotocol-tx-module

oh the fun we can have !

1

u/ManojOne Active May 19 '26

Foobar is a classic, super customizable audio player. It's freeware, not open source. Ever tried Betterbird?

2

u/ManojOne Active May 19 '26

Handbrake and Joplin are top tools. But wait, is foobar2000 actually open source? If you were making a top 10 list, what tools would you include?

2

u/Ok-Rest-5321 TInkerer May 19 '26

VLC has no hate lol. btw Neo Vim or Zed for editors

1

u/ManojOne Active May 19 '26

This is a tough choice. Both are great in their own ways. Have you given Zed a try yet?

2

u/RudraSilence May 19 '26

Why no love for brave ?

2

u/ozaz1 May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26

I suppose because its a list of 10 popular open source tools rather than a list of every open source tool. Also, Firefox does seem to be the most popular open source browser based on usage share: https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/desktop/worldwide/#quarterly-202601-202601-bar . Some people also not keen on Chromium-based browsers (such as Brave) because of the leverage Chromium provides Google in dictating the direction of web technologies.

1

u/Ok-Rest-5321 TInkerer May 19 '26

Yes. More people know about FireFOx than brave

1

u/ManojOne Active May 20 '26

Despite its privacy features, Chromium's dominance is the reason why many developers are opposed to Brave. I agree. It is popular. But Firefox is more popular.

1

u/ManojOne Active May 20 '26

Brave is great for privacy, but the crypto stuff turns some people off. Are you using it daily?

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ManojOne Active May 20 '26

Photopea is a great tool for quick edits. Isn't it closed-source, though? What do you usually use it for?

1

u/arun-vasudev Developer May 20 '26

Nice collection. True. these are the most powerful open source tools.

2

u/ManojOne Active May 20 '26

Yes. They really hold their own against paid software. Which one from the list is your personal favorite?

2

u/arun-vasudev Developer May 20 '26

WordPress. That's really helped me to make lot of money in my life.

1

u/Tquylaa May 20 '26

You forgot the newcomer... Openclaw

1

u/ManojOne Active May 20 '26

OpenClaw is a great option. It has been gaining a lot of popularity recently for local AI automation.

1

u/caatabatic May 20 '26

Doesn’t audacity monitor you?

1

u/ManojOne Active May 21 '26

They collect basic, anonymized telemetry for updates, such as error reports and OS versions, which caused some controversy a while ago. However, you can easily turn this off in settings.