7-Zip
File management
Free archiver that opens ZIP, RAR, 7z and more.
Open Source Editor's pick
Available for Windows, Linux
Free Linux software
High-quality Linux apps that cost nothing to use. Open-source apps publish their code for anyone to inspect; freemium apps have a genuinely useful free plan.
Want to see paid options as well? Browse all Linux software.
We link to official developer websites and app stores. We do not host third-party installers.
Bitwarden
Password managers
Open-source password manager with a generous free plan.
Open Source Editor's pick
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
Mozilla Firefox
Browsers
Independent, privacy-focused browser from the non-profit Mozilla.
Open Source Editor's pick
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
VLC media player
Media
Plays almost any video or audio file without extra codecs.
Open Source Editor's pick
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
Discord
Gaming
Voice, video and text chat for communities and friends.
Free
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
GIMP
Photo & video
Powerful free image editor and Photoshop alternative.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Google Chrome
Browsers
Fast, widely compatible web browser with sync across all your devices.
Free
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
OBS Studio
Photo & video
Record your screen and stream live.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Spotify
Media
Music and podcast streaming with a free tier.
Freemium
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
Steam
Gaming
The largest PC game store and launcher.
Free
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Ventoy
USB & ISO tools
Copy multiple ISO files to one USB and choose which to boot.
Open Source
Available for Windows, Linux
Visual Studio Code
Development
Lightweight, extensible code editor for almost any language.
Free
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Zoom
Productivity
Video meetings and webinars with screen sharing.
Freemium
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
HandBrake
Photo & video
Convert and compress video files.
Open Source Editor's pick
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
LibreOffice
Office
Full free office suite: documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
Open Source Editor's pick
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Aircrack-ng
Security & privacy
A suite for assessing Wi-Fi network security.
Open Source
Available for Windows, Linux
Alacritty
IT tools
A fast, GPU-accelerated terminal emulator.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Angry IP Scanner
Networking
A simple graphical network scanner.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Anki
Education
Flashcards with spaced repetition to remember anything.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
Ansible
Development
Agentless configuration management and automation.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
Apache HTTP Server
IT tools
A long-established web server.
Open Source
Available for Windows, Linux
Audacity
Media
Free audio recorder and editor.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Autopsy
Security & privacy
A graphical digital forensics platform.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
AWS CLI
Development
The command-line tool for Amazon Web Services.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Azure CLI
Development
The command-line tool for Microsoft Azure.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
balenaEtcher
USB & ISO tools
Simple, safe way to flash images to USB drives and SD cards.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Bash
IT tools
The GNU Bourne Again Shell.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
Blender
Photo & video
Free, open-source 3D creation suite.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
BorgBackup
Backup
Deduplicating, encrypted backups.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
Brave
Browsers
Chromium-based browser that blocks ads and trackers out of the box.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
Bruno
Development
An open-source, offline-first API client.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
btop
IT tools
A resource monitor with a detailed terminal interface.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
Burp Suite Community Edition
Security & privacy
A web security testing toolkit (free Community Edition).
Freemium
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Cisco Packet Tracer
Networking
Network simulation for learning networking.
Free
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Clonezilla
USB & ISO tools
Powerful bootable disk cloning and imaging for pros.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
darktable
Photo & video
Open-source photo workflow and RAW editing.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
DaVinci Resolve
Photo & video
Professional video editing and colour grading with a free version.
Freemium
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
DBeaver Community
Development
A universal database tool.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Déjà Dup Backups
Backup
Simple, scheduled desktop backups.
Open Source
Available for Linux
dig and nslookup (BIND utilities)
Networking
Command-line tools for querying DNS.
Open Source
Available for Linux
Docker Desktop
Development
Build and run containers locally with a desktop dashboard.
Freemium
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
draw.io Desktop
Productivity
Diagramming app for network, flow and architecture diagrams.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Dropbox
Cloud storage
Reliable file sync and sharing.
Freemium
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
FileZilla
File management
A graphical FTP and SFTP client.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
fish shell
IT tools
A user-friendly shell with smart suggestions.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
fping
Networking
Pings many hosts at once.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
FreeCAD
CAD & Engineering
Open-source parametric 3D CAD.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
FreeFileSync
Backup
Open-source folder comparison and synchronisation.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
GameMode
Gaming
Optimises system performance while a game runs.
Open Source
Available for Linux
GCC
Development
The GNU Compiler Collection.
Open Source
Available for Linux
GeoGebra
Education
Interactive maths for graphing, geometry and algebra.
Free
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
Git
Development
The standard version control system for code.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Glances
IT tools
A cross-platform system monitoring tool.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
GNOME Boxes
IT tools
A simple app for running virtual machines.
Open Source
Available for Linux
GNS3
Networking
Build virtual network labs.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
GNU Octave
Development
A free language for numerical computing, largely compatible with MATLAB.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
GNU Screen
IT tools
A long-established terminal multiplexer.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
Godot Engine
Development
A free, open-source game engine.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Google Cloud CLI
Development
Command-line tools for Google Cloud.
Free
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
GParted
USB & ISO tools
Partition editor, also available as a bootable live USB.
Open Source
Available for Linux
Grafana
IT tools
Dashboards and visualisation for metrics and logs.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Greenbone Community Edition (OpenVAS)
Security & privacy
An open-source vulnerability scanner.
Open Source
Available for Linux
Hashcat
Security & privacy
A GPU-accelerated password recovery and auditing tool.
Open Source
Available for Windows, Linux
Helm
Development
A package manager for Kubernetes.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Heroic Games Launcher
Gaming
An open-source launcher for Epic, GOG and Amazon games.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Homebrew
Development
Package manager that installs command-line tools and apps on Mac.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
htop
IT tools
An interactive process viewer.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
Inkscape
Photo & video
Vector graphics editor for logos, icons and illustrations.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
iperf3
Networking
Measures network bandwidth between two machines.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
JASP
Productivity
Free statistics with a friendly interface.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Jenkins
Development
An automation server for CI/CD.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
John the Ripper
Security & privacy
A password security auditing tool.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Joplin
Productivity
Open-source notes app with end-to-end encrypted sync.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
JupyterLab
Development
Interactive notebooks for code, data and visualisations.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Kdenlive
Photo & video
Open-source video editor with multi-track timeline.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
KeePassXC
Password managers
Offline password manager that stores your vault as a local file.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
KiCad
CAD & Engineering
Open-source electronics design: schematics and PCBs.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
kitty
IT tools
A fast, feature-rich terminal emulator.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
Krita
Photo & video
Professional painting and illustration app.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
kubectl
Development
The Kubernetes command-line tool.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
LMMS
Photo & video
Free, open-source music production.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
lnav
IT tools
A log file navigator for the terminal.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
Lutris
Gaming
A game launcher for Linux.
Open Source
Available for Linux
Lynis
Security & privacy
A security auditing tool for Linux and Unix systems.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
MangoHud
Gaming
An in-game overlay for frame rates and system stats.
Open Source
Available for Linux
Microsoft Teams
Productivity
Chat, meetings and file sharing for teams and schools.
Freemium
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
MTR
Networking
Combines ping and traceroute in one live view.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
MySQL Workbench
Development
Visual database design and administration for MySQL.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Neovim
Development
A modern, extensible fork of Vim.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Nginx
IT tools
A web server and reverse proxy.
Open Source
Available for Windows, Linux
Nmap
Networking
Network scanner that discovers hosts, ports and services.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Node.js
Development
A JavaScript runtime for servers and tools.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Obsidian
Productivity
Private note-taking app built on plain Markdown files you own.
Free
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
Ollama
Development
Run open AI models locally.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
ONLYOFFICE Desktop
Office
Free office editors with a familiar ribbon layout and strong .docx fidelity.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
OpenSSH
Networking
Secure remote login and file transfer over SSH.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
OpenTofu
Development
An open-source infrastructure-as-code tool.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
PeaZip
File management
Open-source archiver with a friendly interface.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
pgAdmin
Development
The administration and development tool for PostgreSQL.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
ping (iputils)
Networking
Checks whether a host is reachable and measures response time.
Open Source
Available for Linux
Podman
Development
A daemonless container engine.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Postman
Development
An API development and testing platform.
Freemium
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
PowerShell 7
IT tools
Microsoft's cross-platform shell and scripting language.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
ProcDump
IT tools
Creates crash dumps when a program misbehaves.
Free
Available for Windows, Linux
Prometheus
IT tools
A monitoring system and time-series database.
Open Source
Available for Linux
Proton VPN
Security & privacy
Swiss VPN with a genuinely free tier and a no-logs policy.
Freemium
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
PuTTY
Networking
Classic SSH and serial client for connecting to servers and switches.
Open Source
Available for Windows, Linux
Python
Development
Popular programming language for scripting, data and automation.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
QEMU
IT tools
A machine emulator and virtualiser.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
R
Development
A language and environment for statistics and graphics.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Remmina
Networking
A remote desktop client for Linux.
Open Source
Available for Linux
Rescuezilla
USB & ISO tools
Point-and-click disk imaging and recovery from a bootable USB.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
restic
Backup
Fast, encrypted backups to many storage backends.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
RStudio Desktop
Development
An IDE for R and data analysis.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
rsync
File management
Efficient file copying and synchronisation.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
RustDesk
IT tools
Open-source remote desktop and remote support.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Signal
Security & privacy
End-to-end encrypted messaging and calls, run by a non-profit.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
SpiderFoot
Security & privacy
An open-source intelligence (OSINT) automation tool.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Suricata
Security & privacy
A network threat detection engine.
Open Source
Available for Linux
Sysmon
Security & privacy
Logs detailed system activity to the Windows event log.
Free
Available for Windows, Linux
TablePlus
Development
A native database client for many database engines.
Freemium
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Tailscale
Networking
Private network that securely connects your devices anywhere.
Freemium
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone & iPad
tcpdump
Networking
A command-line packet capture tool.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
TeamViewer
IT tools
Remote support and remote access software.
Freemium
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Terraform
Development
Infrastructure as code for cloud and on-premises resources.
Free
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
TestDisk and PhotoRec
Backup
Tools for recovering lost partitions and files.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
The Sleuth Kit
Security & privacy
Command-line tools for disk and file system forensics.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
theHarvester
Security & privacy
Collects public information such as subdomains and hosts.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
Thunderbird
Office
Free desktop email, calendar and contacts from Mozilla.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
Timeshift
Backup
System snapshots for Linux, like Windows System Restore.
Open Source
Available for Linux
tmux
IT tools
A terminal multiplexer.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
traceroute
Networking
Shows the route packets take to a destination.
Open Source
Available for Linux
TShark
Networking
The command-line version of Wireshark.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Unity
Development
A widely used game engine.
Freemium
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Velociraptor
Security & privacy
Endpoint visibility and incident response.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Vim
Development
A powerful, keyboard-driven text editor.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Virtual Machine Manager
IT tools
A desktop app for managing KVM virtual machines.
Open Source
Available for Linux
VirtualBox
IT tools
A cross-platform desktop virtualisation app.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Wireshark
Networking
Network protocol analyser for capturing and inspecting traffic.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
ZAP
Security & privacy
An open-source web application security scanner.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux
Zeek
Security & privacy
A network security monitoring platform.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux
Zotero
Education
Collect, organise and cite research sources.
Open Source
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, iPhone & iPad
Zsh
IT tools
A powerful shell with extensive customisation.
Open Source
Available for macOS, Linux