Paying for five subscriptions adds up fast. Open-source apps can replace some of them for free, and directories make them easy to find. This post gives you the directories, the best picks for the apps people ask about most, and an honest note on where free alternatives fall short.
What you need
A laptop or phone. Most picks below run on Windows, macOS and Linux.
No account for most tools. They are free to download.
For the local AI option, a computer with decent RAM. Bigger models need more.
Step by step
Search a directory first. These sites list open-source replacements for popular paid tools:
OpenAlternative: describes itself as a place to "discover top open source alternatives to popular proprietary software tools". It is curated by Piotr Kulpinski and its own code is on GitHub.
AlternativeTo: a large crowd-sourced directory. Not everything there is open source, so use its filters to narrow results.
CapCut alternatives (video editing).
OpenCut: an MIT-licensed project that calls itself "the open-source CapCut alternative". It runs in the browser at opencut.app. The team is rewriting it, so expect rough edges.
Kdenlive: a free and open-source desktop editor for Linux, Windows and macOS, built for non-linear editing.
Shotcut: another free, open-source desktop editor.
Claude or ChatGPT alternatives (AI chat). You can't get Claude itself for free beyond its free plan, but you can run open-weight models on your own computer:
Jan: an open-source desktop app for chatting with AI models offline. See its quickstart.
Ollama: downloads and runs open models locally on macOS, Windows and Linux. Its library includes models such as gpt-oss.
Once a model is running, try this prompt to see if it is good enough for your daily work:
You are my writing assistant. I will paste a rough draft.
1. Fix grammar and spelling.
2. Keep my tone and my words where possible.
3. List the 3 biggest changes you made, in one line each.
Here is the draft:
[paste your text]Spotify alternatives (music and podcasts). No open-source app gives you the full Spotify catalogue for free legally. Here is what open source does well:
Navidrome: a free, open-source (GPL v3) server you run yourself, even on a Raspberry Pi. It streams music you already own to a browser player and compatible iOS and Android apps.
AntennaPod: an open-source podcast manager for Android, built by volunteers, with no ads.
For a big streaming catalogue, use the free ad-supported tier of a licensed music app.
Netflix alternatives (movies and shows). Same rule. Open source can't give you Netflix's licensed shows for free.
Jellyfin: "The Free Software Media System". It organises and streams videos you own, like your own recordings or bought DRM-free files, to your TV and phone.
For new films and series, a paid or ad-supported licensed service is the only legal route.
Bonus swaps that save real money.
LibreOffice for Microsoft Office.
Bitwarden for paid password managers. It is open source and basic password management is free.
Check before you install. For any tool you find in a directory, look at three things on its GitHub page: when it was last updated, the licence, and whether the download link is on the official site. Download only from the official site or the project's own GitHub page.
Good to know
Free is not the same as equal. OpenCut and local AI models are useful, but they don't match every feature of CapCut or Claude. Local models also run slower on older laptops.
No piracy. Apps or sites that offer "free Netflix" or "free Spotify Premium" usually break the service's terms, and many carry malware. Nothing in this post helps you do that, on purpose.
Self-hosting takes effort. Navidrome and Jellyfin need a computer that stays on and some setup time.
Licences vary. "Open source" covers many licences. If you use a tool for client or company work, read its licence first.
We could not confirm which exact website the original reel showed, so this post lists the two best-known directories instead.
Sources
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