Open-source alternatives to tools You pay for

In plain words

This is a curated directory of open-source software alternatives to paid tools, compiled from Product Hunt winners, top DevHunt entries, active GitHub projects, and tools frequently mentioned online as alternatives. It helps developers and makers find free, open-source replacements for commercial software they currently use. The list is based on popularity, recent activity, and community recognition across multiple platforms.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

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  OpenSource alternatives to tools you Pay2023 · osssoftware.org · ▲68

  Winners of PH, DevHunt, HackerNews, GitHub & viral/trending

• OS
  Open-source alternatives to tools you pay for2025 · alternativeoss.com · ▲24

  I got tired of collecting open source projects in my chrome bookmarks so I decided to compile a curated list of: - Recently active projects on GitHub - Mostly dev tools (but also productivity, analytics) - Projects which are "Alternative to X software" My bookmarks are finally empty:D If you have a great open source tool you use, I'd be glad to hear your suggestions. Also, any feedback is greatly appreciated.

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  DevHunt2023 · devhunt.org · ▲945

  Open source Product Hunt for dev tools

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  Open Source Alternatives2021 · btw.so · ▲804

  200+ open source alternatives to popular B2B tools

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  Open Source Alternative To2022 · opensourcealternative.to · ▲377

  Discover open source alternatives to your proprietary SaaS

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  Opensource Builders2020 · opensource.builders · ▲491

  Hey everyone, A couple years ago, I got into programming and fell down the rabbit hole of open-source software. I started realizing a lot of the commercial software I used had open-source alternatives. In 2020, those alternatives were good but not perfect replacements. With LLMs entering the scene, there are even more open-source alternatives now and they're narrowing the gap between proprietary options. LLMs also got me thinking: will people continue using proprietary or opensource applications in the future when they can build their own personal application tailored specifically for their…

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  /dev/null▲490

  a social network for devs

  Dev tools · 4d ago · dev-null.sh

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  Whiteboard (YC W26) – an open-source IDE for thoughtful software design▲423

  open-source IDE for thoughtful software design. Contribute to devdotfast/whiteboard development by creating an account on GitHub.

  Dev tools · 28d ago · github.com

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  Reladraw – A diagram language where you decide where to place things▲411

  Contribute to reladraw/reladraw development by creating an account on GitHub.

  Dev tools · 26d ago · github.com

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  OpenBot▲362

  Grok Bot alternative: free, local, open-source, multiplayer

  Dev tools · 24d ago · openbot.run

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  Run full iOS 16.5 firmware on Android Devices▲355

  Contribute to oosexgang/hackios-xnu-kernel development by creating an account on GitHub.

  Dev tools · 13h ago · github.com

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  Talanoa▲346

  Hi HN, I’m a fullstack developer, and honestly, I’ve lost count of how many side projects I’ve worked on over the years. But one idea kept coming back to me: a different kind of email client. It first came to me in 2014: “What if we could handle emails more like conversations?” Every year, I’d revisit this concept in my “Build Notes.” Ten years later, no one had built exactly what I had in mind — so I finally decided to do it myself. That’s how Talanoa was born. I wanted something focused on people, not timelines. I was tired of marking messages as unread just to remember to reply later, or…

  Dev tools · 21d ago · talanoa.email

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  Beeper Mini – iMessage client for Android▲1,521

  Hi HN! I’m proud to share that we have built a real 3rd party iMessage client for Android. We did it by reverse engineering the iMessage protocol and encryption system. It's available to download today (no waitlist): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.beeper.ima and there's a technical writeup here: https://blog.beeper.com/p/how-beeper-mini-works. Unlike every other attempt to build an iMessage app for Android (including our first gen app), Beeper Mini does not use a Mac server relay in the cloud. The app connects directly to Apple…

  Work · 2023 · beeper.com

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  Heynote – A dedicated scratchpad for developers▲1,063

  Hey! I made Heynote entirely for my own use case. For many years, I always had an Emacs instance running with the scratch buffer open, even long after I had abandoned Emacs as my programming editor in favor of more recent IDE:s. The simplicity of having just one big scratch buffer appeals to me, but I still want to separate the different things I jot down somehow (without using tabs or similar). Previously, my solution was to insert a bunch of blank lines between the notes, but hitting C-A would still select the entire buffer. That's why I came up with the concept of "blocks", which turned…

  Work · 2023 · heynote.com

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  LogoFast▲988

  Make beautiful logos with AI, fast & free

  AI · 2023 · logofa.st

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  FuseBase▲939

  Client collaboration platform for professional services

  Dev tools · 2023 · thefusebase.com

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  Beep! 2.0▲871

  Fastest tool to assign and share visual tasks with your team

  Work · 2023 · justbeepit.com

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  Inbox Zero▲821

  Clean Up Your Inbox In Minutes Newsletter management, AI automation, and email analytics. Inbox Zero is the open-source email app that puts you back in control of your inbox.

  AI · 2023 · getinboxzero.com