Awesome Alternatives

This is the biggest list of alternatives for the most used programs, web services, games and operating systems ever, with a focus on free or open-source alternatives for proprietary/shareware/freeware programs and games.

(Most of the programs and games below can be found in most Linux distributions or in the Flathub and Snapcraft stores)

For more alternatives see the AlternativeTo website and the GNOME and KDE applications suite, or the Flathub and Snapcraft stores (or install a Linux distribution with GNOME or KDE Plasma included)

If you like this list consider to give a star on the repository, it will help more people to replace non-free programs or discover better programs

What is the difference between alternative and replacement?

A replacement aims to implement all features of some program or operating system, it can be on the same way or a different way.

While an alternative is a program that can implement some features of some program, but in a different way and not all features.

Thus keep this in mind to avoid direct comparisons (1:1).

Approval Criteria

• The program or game must be usable
• The program must have a license, even if the source code is available
• The program or game license must be approved by OSI

Why freeware programs and games aren't accepted?

Freeware programs and games don't provide the source code and the rights of usage are determined by the author, the terms can change anytime.

While in free and open-source licenses the rights/terms of usage don't change.

Template

This is the template used to add new items, you can easily copy and modify it.

| **Program** | **Alternative** | **Description** |
|-------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|  |  |  |

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Index

• Operating Systems
• System Administration
• System Services
• System Customization
• Web Browsers
• App Stores
• Video Platform
• Streaming
• Messaging
• Social Networks
• LAN
• VPNs
• Disk Encryption
• Data Recovery
• Search Engines
• Translation
• Internet Protocols
• Websites
• Source Code Hosting
• Anti-Malware
• Office
• Image Manipulation
• Animation
• Video Editors
• Media Players
• Music
• Sound Production
• Torrent
• File Sharing
• Game Engines
• Finance
• DJ Mixing
• Voice/Video Chats
• Android Keyboard
• File Compression
• File Manager
• Personal Assistant
• Graphics API
• Text Editor
• IDE
• Screen Capture
• Screen Recording
• Screen Sharing
• Terminal Remote Access
• Map Navigation
• Image Viewer
• Debugging
• Wine
• Emulators
• Games

Operating Systems

OS	Alternative	Description
Windows, MacOSX	Ubuntu, PopOS, Fedora, antiX Linux, Void Linux, GhostBSD, ReactOS, Haiku, Android-x86	The most used proprietary operating systems on desktops.
Android (AOSP, OEM versions and custom ROMs), iOS	postmarketOS, UBports	The most used mobile operating systems.
Linux (also known as GNU/Linux)	GhostBSD, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, ReactOS, Haiku, Android-x86	The most used operating system of the world, except on desktops. Created by Linus Torvalds and developed by the Linux developers.

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System Administration

Task/Program	Alternative	Description
Suspension/Hibernation	Nyrna	Most common methods to enable the idle/sleep state of the computer
Rufus	Ventoy	The most used USB flasher program on Windows

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System Services

Program	Alternative	Description
Google Play Services	microG	The proprietary service that provides some system APIs to apps

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System Customization

Program	Alternative	Description
Wallpaper Engine	Linux Wallpaper Engine, Wallpaper Engine for KDE, Hidamari, mpvpaper	The most used proprietary wallpaper customization tool

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Web Browsers

Program	Alternative	Description
Google Chrome, Opera, Microsoft Edge, Safari	Chromium, ungoogled-chromium, Bromite, Firefox, Zen Browser	The most used web browsers, some are proprietary and others are open-source with binary blobs
HTTP Browsers	Lagrange	The most used text protocol on the Internet

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App Stores

App Store	Alternative	Description
Google Play Store	F-Droid	The most used proprietary app store on Android

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Video Platform

Service	Alternative	Description
YouTube, VK, Rumble, Bitchute	PeerTube	The most used proprietary video platforms

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Streaming

Service	Alternative	Description
Twitch, YouTube	Owncast	The most used proprietary livestream platforms
StreamYard	VDO.Ninja	One of the most used YouTube streaming services

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Messaging

Service	Alternative	Description
WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord	Jami, Matrix, XMPP, Spacebar, Briar	The most used proprietary messengers

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Social Networks

Service	Alternative	Description
Facebook, Twitter	Mastodon, Nostr	The most used proprietary social networks

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LAN

Program	Alternative	Description
Hamachi	ZeroTier	A popular program to share your local network on the Internet

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VPNs

Service	Alternative	Description
Nord VPN, Proton VPN	Carburetor, Tor, I2P, Lokinet	The most used centralized VPNs

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Disk Encryption

Encryption	Alternative	Description
BitLocker	VeraCrypt, LUKS (Linux encryption)	The Microsoft Windows disk encryption technology

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Data Recovery

Program	Alternative	Description
Recuva	TestDisk	A popular proprietary data recovery program

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Search Engines

Service	Alternative	Description
Google, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, Bing, Yandex	Mojeek	The most used proprietary search engines

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Translation

Service	Alternative	Description
Google Translate	Argos Translate	The most used translation service

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Internet Protocols

Protocol	Alternative	Description
World Wide Web	Gemini, Tor, Lokinet, TON Sites	The most used website protocol

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Websites

Program	Alternative	Description
Apache HTTP Server, nginx	Static Web Server	The most used HTTP web servers

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Source Code Hosting

Service	Alternative	Description
GitHub	Codeberg, NotABug, GitLab, Gitea, Radicle	The most used Git hosting service

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Anti-Malware

Program	Alternative	Description
Norton, McAfee, AVG, Avast, Windows Defender, Malwarebytes	ClamAV	The most used proprietary anti-malware programs

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Office

Program	Alternative	Description
Microsoft Office	LibreOffice	The most used office suite
Adobe Acrobat	Scribus, Evince, Okular	The most used proprietary PDF document viewer and editor

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Image Manipulation

Program	Alternative	Description
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator	GIMP, Krita, Inkscape	The most used proprietary image manipulation programs
Canvas	Sly	A popular image editor for web browsers
GIMP, Inkscape	Graphite	The most used image manipulation programs on Linux

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Animation

Program	Alternative	Description
Adobe Animate	Pencil2D, OpenToonz	The most used proprietary animation editor
Adobe Flash Player	Ruffle	The most used proprietary animation player of 2000s

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Video Editors

Program	Alternative	Description
Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere	Kdenlive, OpenShot, Flowblade, Shotcut, Pitivi, Blender	The most used proprietary video editors

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Media Players

Program	Alternative	Description
Windows Media Player	VLC, Festival, Pragha, Quod Libet, Rhythmbox, Parole, Exaile	The default Windows media player

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Music

Program	Alternative	Description
Shazam	Mousai	The most used program for music recognition

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Sound Production

Program	Alternative	Description
FL Studio, Ableton Live, Reaper, Hammer	LMMS, Ardour	The most used proprietary digital audio workstations

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Torrent

Program	Alternative	Description
BitTorrent, uTorrent	Transmission, KTorrent, Deluge, WebTorrent	The most used proprietary torrent clients

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File Sharing

Service	Alternative	Description
Google Drive, MEGA, OneDrive, Dropbox	Wormhole, Winden, Warp, TrebleShot, Rymdport, Wormhole Android	The most used services for file sharing

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Game Engines

Engine	Alternative	Description
Unity, Unreal Engine, Game Maker	Godot Engine, GDevelop, Love2D, Pygame, MonoGame, Piston, Fyrox	The most used proprietary game engines

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Finance

Service	Alternative	Description
Banking	Bitcoin, Monero	The most used payment service

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DJ Mixing

Program	Alternative	Description
VirtualDJ	Mixxx	Popular proprietary DJ mixing program

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Voice/Video Chats

Program	Alternative	Description
Microsoft Teams, Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts	Jami, Jitsi Meet, VDO.Ninja	The most used proprietary voice/video chat programs

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Android Keyboard

Keyboard	Alternative	Description
GBoard	OpenBoard	The proprietary Google keyboard

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File Compression

Program	Alternative	Description
WinRAR	7-Zip, KDE Ark, GNOME File Roller, Engrampa	A popular proprietary archive program

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File Manager

Program	Alternative	Description
Windows Explorer	KDE Dolphin, GNOME Files, Xfe, Thunar, Caja	The Windows file manager

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Personal Assistant

Game	Alternative	Description
Google Assistant, Google Now	Dicio	The most used personal assistant on Android

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Graphics API

API	Alternative	Description
Direct3D, Metal	Vulkan, OpenGL	The most used graphics APIs

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Text Editor

Game	Alternative	Description
Windows Notepad	KWrite, GNOME Text Editor, Pluma, Mousepad	The most used proprietary text editor

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IDE

Program	Alternative	Description
Visual Studio Code, Atom	KDevelop, Apache NetBeans, Kate, Geany, Graviton, Eclipse, Emacs	One of the most used IDEs
Emacs, Vim	Helix	The most used IDEs on Linux

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Screen Capture

Program	Alternative	Description
Windows Screenshot?	Flameshot, KDE Spectacle, GNOME Screenshot	The most used screenshot program

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Screen Recording

Program	Alternative	Description
Bandicamp, Fraps	OBS	One of the most used proprietary screen recorders
NVIDIA Shadowplay	GPU Screen Recorder	A popular screen recording program that uses GPU for encoding

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Screen Sharing

Program	Alternative	Description
Team Viewer	Sanzu, Remmina	The most popular proprietary screen sharing program

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Terminal Remote Access

Program	Alternative	Description
OpenSSH	Mosh, sshx	The most used SSH client

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Map Navigation

Program	Alternative	Description
Google Maps	OpenStreetMap	The most used proprietary map navigation service
Google Earth	KDE Marble	The most used proprietary 3D map navigation

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Image Viewer

Program	Alternative	Description
Windows Image Viewer	Loupe, Gwenview, Ristretto, Eye of MATE	The most used proprietary image viewer

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Debugging

Program	Alternative	Description
GNU Debugger, rr-debugger	pwatch	The most used free and open-source debuggers

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Wine

Program	Alternative	Description
Bottles, Lutris	brie	The most used Wine launchers

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Emulators

Emulator	Alternative	Description
ePSXe, pSX	DuckStation, PCSX-ReARMed	Popular freeware PS1 emulators
PCSX2	Play!	The most popular and advanced PS2 emulator

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Games

Game	Alternative	Description
Ace Of Spades	OpenSpades, ZeroSpades	A popular voxel combat game
Factorio	Mindustry	A popular proprietary tower defense game
Half-Life	Xash3D FWGS	The most popular proprietary FPS game
Counter Strike 1.6	FreeCS	One of the most popular proprietary FPS games
VRChat	Overte	The most popular proprietary virtual reality game
Guitar Hero	YARG, Performous	The most popular proprietary guitar game
Just Dance	Performous, StepMania	the most popular proprietary dance game
Minecraft	Minetest (Luanti now), ClassiCube	The most popular proprietary voxel sandbox game
Cube World	Veloren	A popular abandoned proprietary voxel RPG game
STALKER (All games)	OpenXRay	A popular proprietary science-fiction FPS game

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