- 🤝 How to contribute
- Audio & Video
- BSD & illumos
- Debian & Ubuntu
- Disk & System Utilities
- DIY & Advanced
- Engineering (CAD/CAM/EDA)
- Enterprise Linux
- Graphics & Design
- Independent & Heritage
- Office & Productivity
- Other
- Password Managers
- Security & Privacy
A curated list of the best Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). For each program, there is a link to the official website and a detailed review on getfoss.org.
If you know a great open-source program that is not on the list:
- Fork this repository.
- Add the program to the appropriate category using the template:
* [**Name**](Official Site Link) — Short description. ([Review](Review Link)) - Submit a Pull Request.
If the software is truly FOSS, we will add it to the catalog and later publish a detailed review on getfoss.org!
- Ardour — Ardour is a Free and Open Source Software digital audio workstation (DAW) for Linux, macOS, and Windows, providing comprehensive tools for audio recording, MIDI editing, and mixing. (Review)
- Audacity — An expert look at Audacity, the free and open-source cross-platform audio editor. Covering system requirements, real-world usage, and FOSS benefits. (Review)
- CoreELEC — CoreELEC is a Linux distribution designed to run Kodi on Amlogic SoC devices, providing a minimal, Just Enough OS environment for media playback. (Review)
- Denemo — Denemo is a free and open source music notation editor that provides a graphical front-end for the LilyPond typesetter, supporting MIDI input, playback, and MusicXML interchange. (Review)
- Jellyfin — Jellyfin is a free and open-source media system that manages and streams audio and video to end-user devices, providing an alternative to proprietary platforms like Emby and Plex. (Review)
- Kodi — Kodi is a free, open-source media center application designed for managing and playing digital media on HTPCs, mobile devices, and embedded hardware. (Review)
- LibreELEC — LibreELEC is a lightweight, Just Enough OS Linux distribution designed to run Kodi media center software on embedded and x86_64 hardware. (Review)
- LilyPond — LilyPond is a free, open-source music engraving program that produces high-quality sheet music from text input, running on Linux, Windows, and macOS. (Review)
- LMMS — LMMS is a free, open-source digital audio workstation (DAW) for Windows, macOS, and Linux, offering music production, sequencing, and mixing capabilities. (Review)
- mpv — mpv is a free and open-source command-line media player that supports a wide variety of formats, codecs, and high-quality video rendering via GPU shaders. (Review)
- MuseScore Studio — MuseScore Studio is free and open source music notation software for composing, arranging, and engraving scores with playback and export capabilities across Windows, macOS, and Linux. (Review)
- OSMC — OSMC is a free and open-source media center operating system based on Debian, designed to run Kodi on Raspberry Pi, Apple TV, and custom Vero hardware. (Review)
- Qtractor — Qtractor is a non-destructive digital audio workstation (DAW) for Linux, designed for audio and MIDI recording, editing, and mixing using JACK and ALSA. (Review)
- Rosegarden — Rosegarden is a free, open-source MIDI sequencer and musical notation editor for Linux, featuring basic digital audio support and integration with ALSA and JACK. (Review)
- SMPlayer — SMPlayer is a free and open-source graphical front-end for MPlayer and mpv. It provides a Qt interface to play videos, DVDs, and VCDs, and includes a portable Windows edition. (Review)
- Tenacity — Tenacity is a free, open-source, cross-platform audio editor forked from Audacity, designed to provide audio editing without telemetry or cloud integrations. (Review)
- TuxGuitar — TuxGuitar is a free, open-source multitrack tablature editor and player for guitar and other instruments, running on Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD, and Android. (Review)
- VLC — VLC is a free and open-source multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files, DVDs, audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. (Review)
- FreeBSD — The open-source Unix powerhouse. (Review)
- OmniOS — OmniOS is a community-driven illumos-based operating system built for resilient storage, ZFS, and minimal downtime, offering stable and LTS releases with strict upgrade paths. (Review)
- OpenIndiana — OpenIndiana is a free, open source illumos operating system for servers and workstations. Escape vendor lock-in with ZFS, DTrace, and real Unix. (Review)
- SmartOS — SmartOS is a live Type 1 hypervisor based on illumos, designed to run entirely from memory while dedicating all local disks to ZFS-backed virtual machines. (Review)
- Debian — The rock-solid open-source OS foundation. (Review)
- Devuan — A Systemd-Free Debian Fork. (Review)
- Linux Mint — The open-source desktop OS alternative. (Review)
- Pop!_OS — The open-source desktop OS alternative. (Review)
- Ubuntu Desktop — The open-source desktop OS alternative. (Review)
- Ubuntu Server — The open-source infrastructure powerhouse. (Review)
- Zorin OS — The ultimate open-source Windows replacement. (Review)
- balenaEtcher — A practical look at balenaEtcher, the cross-platform open-source utility for flashing OS images to SD cards and USB drives safely and reliably. (Review)
- Clonezilla — The open-source disk cloning tool. (Review)
- Clonezilla Server Edition — Open-source mass cloning powerhouse. (Review)
- Cobbler — Open-source Linux provisioning powerhouse. (Review)
- dd — The open-source disk cloning alternative. (Review)
- ddrescue — Open-source data recovery powerhouse. (Review)
- Fedora Media Writer — The open-source boot USB tool. (Review)
- FOG Project — The open-source network cloning tool. (Review)
- Foxclone — Open-source disk imaging made easy. (Review)
- myrescue — A no-nonsense FOSS utility designed to pull data off dying hard drives by intelligently skipping bad blocks instead of hanging on them. (Review)
- Rescuezilla — The open-source disk cloning tool. (Review)
- Rufus — An open-source utility for formatting and creating bootable USB drives, featuring options to customize Windows installations and strip unwanted preinstalled software. (Review)
- safecopy — Open-source data recovery powerhouse. (Review)
- TestDisk — TestDisk is a free, open source data recovery utility designed to recover lost partitions and undelete files. Run it on DOS, Windows, Linux, and macOS to fix boot sectors and rescue data. (Review)
- Ventoy — Ventoy is an open-source tool that creates bootable USB drives for ISO, WIM, IMG, and VHD files without formatting the disk for each new image. (Review)
- Alpine Linux — The open-source lightweight OS alternative. (Review)
- Ansible — The open-source automation powerhouse. (Review)
- Arch Linux — The open-source DIY OS alternative. (Review)
- Artix Linux — The open-source systemd-free powerhouse. (Review)
- Batocera.linux — Batocera.linux is an open-source, dedicated retro gaming operating system that turns PCs, single-board computers, and handhelds into emulation consoles. (Review)
- blendOS — The open-source immutable OS alternative. (Review)
- Bottlerocket OS — Open-source container OS powerhouse. (Review)
- d77void GNU/Linux — The open-source DIY OS alternative. (Review)
- EndeavourOS — The open-source Arch powerhouse. (Review)
- Fedora Silverblue — The immutable open-source desktop. (Review)
- Flatcar Container Linux — Open-source container OS powerhouse. (Review)
- Foreman — Open-source infrastructure management powerhouse. (Review)
- Gentoo Linux — The ultimate open-source DIY OS. (Review)
- Lakka — Lakka is a lightweight Linux distribution that transforms standard hardware into a dedicated RetroArch emulation console. It is built on LibreELEC and supports various ARM boards and generic PCs. (Review)
- Manjaro Linux — Manjaro wraps the Arch ecosystem in a curated, beginner-accessible rolling-release distribution with multiple desktop editions and its own repository infrastructure. (Review)
- NixOS — The ultimate open-source declarative OS. (Review)
- OpenBalena — OpenBalena is an open-source platform for deploying and managing fleets of balenaOS-powered IoT devices on infrastructure you control, providing the core capabilities of balenaCloud without relying on a hosted service. (Review)
- Popsicle — Popsicle is a Rust-based utility designed to write images to multiple USB drives simultaneously, offering both a CLI and GTK interface. (Review)
- Talos Linux — The ultimate open-source Kubernetes OS. (Review)
- Vanilla OS — Open-source immutable desktop. (Review)
- Void Linux — The open-source independent OS alternative. (Review)
- Orca Slicer — The open-source 3D slicing alternative. (Review)
- PrusaSlicer — The open-source 3D slicing tool. (Review)
- SuperSlicer — The open-source 3D slicing alternative. (Review)
- UltiMaker Cura — The open-source 3D slicer. (Review)
- AlmaLinux OS — The free enterprise Linux powerhouse. (Review)
- Fedora Cloud — Open-source cloud computing base. (Review)
- Fedora CoreOS — Open-source container OS powerhouse. (Review)
- Fedora Server — Open-source infrastructure powerhouse. (Review)
- Fedora Workstation — The open-source cutting-edge OS. (Review)
- MAAS — Open-source bare-metal provisioning powerhouse. (Review)
- openSUSE Leap — The ultimate open-source enterprise OS. (Review)
- openSUSE MicroOS — The open-source container powerhouse. (Review)
- openSUSE Tumbleweed — The ultimate open-source rolling distro. (Review)
- Rocky Linux — The open-source enterprise powerhouse. (Review)
- Converseen — The open-source batch image converter. (Review)
- darktable — The open-source RAW photography powerhouse. (Review)
- digiKam — Open-source photo management powerhouse. (Review)
- Drawpile — Drawpile is a free and open-source collaborative drawing application that lets you host your own server, bypass vendor lock-in, and draw with others in real-time across any platform. (Review)
- GIMP — The ultimate open-source photo editing powerhouse. (Review)
- Krita — The open-source digital painting powerhouse. (Review)
- LightZone — LightZone is a free and open-source photo editor utilizing the Zone System for tonal adjustments. The v5.0.0 release introduces LibRaw support, Flatpak packaging, and performance enhancements. (Review)
- MyPaint — MyPaint is a FOSS digital painting application designed around a natural media brush engine, providing artists with a fast, distraction-free canvas and modular architecture. (Review)
- RawTherapee — RawTherapee is a free, open-source RAW image processor giving photographers granular control over their digital negatives without proprietary lock-in. (Review)
- Shotwell — The open-source photo organizer. (Review)
- Fedora Cinnamon — The open-source desktop powerhouse. (Review)
- Fedora Xfce — The open-source lightweight powerhouse. (Review)
- GNU Guix — The open-source functional OS powerhouse. (Review)
- MPlayer — MPlayer is a veteran free and open-source command-line media player known for its massive codec support and role as the predecessor to modern players like mpv. (Review)
- Apache OpenOffice — Apache OpenOffice is a free office productivity suite providing word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, and graphics using the OpenDocument Format. (Review)
- Calligra — A free and open source suite for office productivity and graphics management, offering stable and bleeding-edge versions for Linux, FreeBSD, and Windows. (Review)
- LibreOffice — An in-depth look at LibreOffice, the free and open-source office suite that provides document freedom, ODF compliance, and an escape from proprietary vendor lock-in. (Review)
- Fedora IoT — Secure open-source edge OS. (Review)
- Fedora KDE Plasma — Open-source desktop powerhouse. (Review)
- Recalbox — Recalbox is a free and open-source Linux-based emulation system that turns single-board computers and PCs into multi-console retro gaming machines, supporting dozens of classic game systems from the 1970s through the 2000s. (Review)
- RetroArch — RetroArch is a free and open-source frontend for emulators, game engines, and media players. It uses the libretro API to run classic games across a wide range of hardware. (Review)
- Bitwarden — Bitwarden is an open-core password manager with FOSS clients and a proprietary server. Full FOSS compliance requires self-hosting with the Vaultwarden server implementation. (Review)
- KeePass — Free, open-source offline password manager. KeePass stores credentials in a local encrypted database, ensuring full user control and freedom from cloud dependencies. (Review)
- KeePassXC — KeePassXC is a free and open-source password manager that stores credentials locally in an encrypted database. It offers cross-platform support, Auto-Type, browser integration, and Passkey management. (Review)
- KeeWeb — KeeWeb is an open-source password manager compatible with KeePass databases. It runs as a web application and a desktop client across Windows, macOS, and Linux. (Review)
- ArchStrike — Open-source Arch Linux pentesting distro. (Review)
- BackBox Linux — The open-source security OS alternative. (Review)
- BlackArch Linux — The open-source pentesting OS. (Review)
- Kali Linux — The open-source penetration testing OS. (Review)
- Parrot OS — The open-source security OS alternative. (Review)
- Passbolt — Passbolt is a team password manager with an AGPLv3 Community Edition server and clients. It uses OpenPGP for end-to-end encryption, offering a fully FOSS stack for self-hosted teams. (Review)
- Portwarden — Portwarden is a CLI tool that creates AES-encrypted backups of Bitwarden vaults, including attachments, and restores them to empty accounts. (Review)
- Qubes OS — The ultimate open-source security OS. (Review)
- Tails OS — Browse privately with open-source. (Review)
- Vaultwarden — Vaultwarden is a FOSS alternative implementation of the Bitwarden server API written in Rust. It provides a lightweight, self-hosted backend for official Bitwarden clients. (Review)
- Whonix — The ultimate open-source anonymity OS. (Review)
