Ultimate Free Stuff Compendium
What is this?
The Ultimate Free Stuff Compendium (UFSC) is a compilation of products (primarily software) that are available for free. It will be updated as new products are discovered by me or submitted at the source code repo. Open source/source available products are preferred.
Key
- Open source. The source code is readily available or distributed with the product, and modification and redistribution is allowed.
- Source available. The source code is readily available or distributed with the product, but does not allow modification or redistribution.
- Closed source. The source code is not available.
- Contains features locked behind in-app payments, or subscriptions which add extra features or extend existing ones. Does not include software which is free for personal use but requires a license for commercial use.
Games
Sonic Robo Blast 2
— free 3D Sonic the Hedgehog fangame built on the Doom engine. Features a lively 25+ year old community and robust modding support.
Homepage
Source code
Cave Story
— iconic 2D side-scrolling platformer. Kept alive by a dedicated community.
Homepage
Cave Story Multiplayer
— online multiplayer version of the above game.
Homepage
TETR.IO
— modern yet familiar Tetris-esque online stacker game with a strong competitive scene.
Homepage
Toontown Rewritten
— fan-made revival of the iconic MMO Toontown Online.
Homepage
Productivity software
LibreOffice
— free suite of office programs, including Writer, Calc, Base, and Impress. Good as an alternative to Microsoft 365 AKA Microsoft Office.
Homepage
Source code
Obsidian
— Markdown-based note recording app. Connections between notes and documents can be visualised as a spider diagram. Notes are saved locally, with a syncing service provided for a monthly charge.
Homepage
Claws Mail
— lightweight email client with extra functionalities such as RSS aggregation.
Homepage
Sources
Manuskript
— open source tool for writers and worldbuilders to manage written creative projects.
Homepage
Source code
Sumatra PDF
— lightweight document reader supporting formats such as PDF and EPUB.
Homepage
Sources
Image manipulation
Paint.NET
— Windows-exclusive image editing program designed with an intuitive yet powerful interface.
Homepage
Microsoft Store
GNU Image Manipulation Program or GIMP
— robust image editor suitable for a range of activities. Can be extended through plugins.
Homepage
Source code
Art, animation, and graphics
Krita
— FOSS digital art and 2D animation program. Sports a highly customisable GUI and advanced features such as colour profile management and plugins.
Homepage
Source code
Aseprite
— industry standard pixel art and animation tool.
Homepage
Source code
Piskell
— web-based pixel art editor that can be downloaded and used offline. Specialised for animation.
Homepage
Source code
Pixelorama
— pixel art editor powered by Godot.
Homepage
Source code
Blender
— 3D creative software. Covers the entire pipeline: modelling, rigging, animating, physics simulation, etc.
Homepage
Source code (mirror)
FireAlpaca
— digital art software with features such as comic panel layout and perspective guidelines.
Homepage
Inkscape
— powerful and easy to approach vector image editor.
Homepage
Source code (mirror)
Motion Canvas
— TypeScript-based vector animation tool, allowing for animations to be programmed and previewed in an editor.
Homepage
Source code
FontForge
— simple vector font editing utility.
Homepage
Source code
DAWs & audio editors
OpenMPT
— music tracker software for creating music in .MOD and related formats.
Homepage
Source code
Furnace
— another music tracker software with support for over 50 sound chips and counting.
Source code
LMMS
— FOSS sequencer and composition tool.
Homepage
Source code
Audacity
— simple and lightweight audio editor.
Homepage
Source code
Media viewers & processors/Audio players
VLC
— video and audio player with support for a wide range of formats including online radios, digital camcorder, and teletext.
Homepage
Source code
foobar2000
— plays music.
Homepage
LosslessCut
— fast GUI video and audio editor based on FFmpeg.
Source code
HandBrake
— convert videos to and from a wide range of codecs.
Homepage
Source code
MusicBrainz Picard
— software for organsing and tagging audio in a range of formats.
Homepage
Source code
Power user utilities
Microsoft PowerToys
— free collection of plugins to enhance the Windows 10/11 experience. Targeted towards power users.
Documentation
Source code
yt-dlp
— updated version of youtube-dl, a command line program for downloading videos from YouTube and a ton of other sites that has now become inactive.
Source code
NirSoft
— a free software compendium in its own right. All developed by one man.
Homepage
Bulk Crap Uninstaller
— fully automate the process of uninstalling programs en masse. Minimises required user input.
Homepage
Source code
O&O ShutUp10++
— anti-bloatware and anti-spyware tool for Windows 10 and 11.
Homepage
Rclone
— command-line program to sync files with various cloud storage services.
Homepage
Source code
LFTP
— command-line file transfer program supporting a range of protocols.
Homepage
Source code
Miscellaneous
Graphviz
— open source graph visualisation software.
Homepage
Source code
KeePassXC
— securely store your passwords and auto-fill them into various apps.
Homepage
Source code
Notepad++
— lightweight text and code editor. Can be considered a more feature-complete version of Windows Notepad.
Homepage
Source code
Visual Studio Code
— IDE from Microsoft. Supports many languages.
Homepage
Source code
OBS Studio
— app for recording and streaming your screen. Widely used by many streamers.
Homepage
Source code
Rainmeter
— display highly customisable widgets on your desktop.
Homepage
Source code
OpenStax
— collection of free textbooks and learning resources.
Homepage
Neocities
— free personal website host, reminiscent of Geocities.
Homepage
Source code