FreeInstead

Stop paying for software that has a free replacement.

Every tool below is open source, runs on your own laptop, and costs nothing — not a trial, not a freemium tier, not a watermark. We tell you which one to use, what you give up by switching, and exactly how to set it up.

No accounts. No email required. We take no money from any vendor, which is why we'll also tell you when the paid tool is genuinely still better.

AutoCAD LibreCAD LibreCAD for 2D drafting, FreeCAD for 3D modelling. Both free forever. The catch is DWG file exchange, not the software itself. GPL-2.0 · v2.2.1.5 · Windows, Mac, Linux · free Grammarly LanguageTool Grammar and style checking in 30+ languages, unlimited and fully offline. Needs about 20 minutes of setup to get the browser extension working free. LGPL-2.1 · v6.8 · Windows, Mac, Linux · free Adobe Lightroom darktable Non-destructive RAW editing and a real photo library, free forever. Harder to learn than Lightroom, and no cloud sync. GPL-3.0 · v5.6.1 · Windows, Mac, Linux · free

Straight comparisons

When two free tools both look right, this is which one to pick and why.

Guides

Whole categories, worked through — including which “free” options have strings attached.