You don't have to pay for professional software to complete simple tasks. Here are our favorite free software programs for getting work done.

Note that these are not all FOSS.

  • Photo Editing:

  • Video Editing:

    • DaVinci Resolve
    • CapCut
    • Shotcut

  • Audio Editing:

    • Audacity
    • Cakewalk
    • GarageBand

  • 3D Graphics:

    • Blender
    • Spline
    • Rumba

  • Office Software:

    • LibreOffice
    • Microsoft 365 Free Apps
    • WPS Office

  • Antivirus Software:

    • Windows Security
    • Avast Free Antivirus
    • Malwarebytes

  • Productivity Tools:

    • Bitwarden
    • VSCodium
    • PDF-XChange Editor
    • 7-Zip
    • OBS Studio
    • LanguageTool
  • andrew_bidlawEnglish
    7•6 months ago

    Audio editing is still shit. GarageBsnd is on Mac, Audacity has a stupid interface, Cakewalk is the first time I hear that name. On Linux, video editing tools are probably the only way to edit audio, and it’s obviously lacking.

    edit: Now I have stuff to try, thank you guys.

    • @[email protected]English
      12•6 months ago

      Cakewalk has been around for decades. It was a popular paid daw in the late 90s and 2000s. It became free a few years ago. Haven’t used it lately. But, used it a lot many years ago. It was a top daw back in its day. I hear it’s still pretty good.

      • Zos_KiaEnglish
        4•6 months ago

        Agreed, I’ve had to mix an entire live show recently and Ardour + a few open source VSTs did the job wonderfully. Took me maybe an hour to get my bearings but it is very well done.

    • @[email protected]English
      5•6 months ago

      Fairlight, which is part of Da Vinci Resolve, is pretty powerful. I don’t use Audacity because it’s mostly a destructive workflow.