In this article, we are going to list top open-source software in 2020.
Our entire world is now digital, surrounded by a myriad of apps, and software and services. We’ve become so prone to gadgets and devices that we firmly believe we cannot live without them even for a day. (Yes, it’s true) From ordering food online to watching our favorite movies and TV shows, we certainly are dependent on technology.
Let’s get started.
List Of 21 Best Open Source Software in 2020
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List of Contents
1. VLC Media Player
Yes, we’ve all heard of this one for sure! VLC Media Player is one of the best open source software used by a mass audience around the globe. Agree or not, but there’s a sense of comfort in VLC’s environment that nothing won’t ever go wrong by using it. The VLC media player supports almost all video file formats, and is undoubtedly one of the most popular cross-platform (Windows, macOS, iOS and Android) media players one can rely upon. Every now and then, VLC Media player keeps on offering new updates and performance improvements, which makes this media player best from the rest.
2. Audacity
Next on our list comes Audacity, which is an open-source digital audio editor available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and other Unix based operators. Audacity is initially developed by a bunch of teen volunteers, and the software comes loaded with all advanced features and tools needed for multi-track audio editing. Audacity supports almost all major audio file formats, including MP3, WAV, FLAC, MP2, and more. So, whether you want to record live audio, make changes to an existing soundtrack, Audacity open-source editor can get the job done for you effortlessly.
3. Avidemux
Avidemux is a light-weighted video editing tool that is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. It is one of the best open-source tools for video editing supporting a variety of file formats, including AVI, DVD, MPEG, MP4, and many more. So, whether you’re newly stepping into the image or video editing or if you’re a professional editor, Avidemux can be your ideal companion.
4. GIMP
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is next to pop on our open source software list. GIMP is a popular image editing platform that comes loaded with a bunch of advanced editing toolset. If you’re looking for a decent Adobe Photoshop alternative, GIMP can be your pick. Whether you are a graphic designer, photographer, illustrator, or scientist, GIMP is equally ideal for beginners as well as creative professionals from any background.
5. Amarok
Rediscovering new music with Amarok is a whole new experience. Amarok is a powerful open-source audio editing tool where you can not just play or edit audio tracks but also explore new music of different genres. Amarok is more like an iTunes alternative available for Windows, Linux, and macOS platforms.
6. TOR Web Browser
Looking for an open-source web browser? Well, TOR is the first name that will strike your mind. TOR is an intuitive web browser that keeps your privacy intact and allows you to surf the Internet without being tracked. As more and more cybercriminal cases are occurring around us, using the TOR web browser can help you in keeping your identity concealed from hackers. TOR offers multi-layer encryption that strictly prevents you against any kind of surveillance and tracking, so you got nothing to worry about.
7. Apache OpenOffice
Apache OpenOffice is a free and open-source office productivity package that offers you various programs, including Writer like MS Word, Calc like MS Excel. Impress like MS PowerPoint and many other productivity tools. Apache OpenOffice can serve as an MS Office alternative and is used by a majority of users worldwide, not just because it comes free of cost but because it includes an advanced set of tools, features, and functions.
8. LibreOffice
Almost similar to MS Office and Apache OpenOffice, LibreOffice is another open-source office utility tool available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. LibreOffice has a huge user community who are continually working on it to make this product better with each new update. LibreOffice includes all basic and additional features and extensions that are a must in any office suite utility.
9. Inkscape
Inkscape is an open-source professional vector graphics editor available for Windows, macOS, and Linux OS. If you’re looking for an Adobe Illustrator alternative, Inkscape can be your fresh change of choice. Inkscape offers you a bunch of flexible drawing tools, supports a majority of file formats, powerful and advanced image editing tools, and many other useful features that are suitable for both beginners and professionals.
10. Blender Graphics Tool
Blender is an amazing 3D creation tool that supports modeling, rendering, motion tracking, compositing, and all possible tasks that can be tagged under the 3D pipeline. If you’ve heard of Autodesk Maya, then Blender Graphics tool can compete as a strong contender alternative for 3D animation. On Blender, you can easily create full-length animation films to VFX effects, all for free.
11. KeePass
KeePass is a decent open-source password manager pick that is not just easy to use but keeps your security on utmost priority. KeePass comes free of cost, and you can easily rely on this tool for trusting with your passwords. KeePass carefully binds all your passwords in one safe place. So, now you just have to remember one password (master password) to access KeePass. Cool, isn’t it?
12. 7-Zip
We’ve all used WinZip at some point in our lives or other, right? Well, if you’re bored of WinZip or looking for a decent alternative, then 7-Zip can impress you with its sharp features and compression tools. 7-Zip is a cross-platform compression tool available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
13. Mozilla Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird is one of the best open source software which serves as an email client for users. Mozilla Thunderbird can act as an Outlook alternative and comes loaded with a bunch of useful features. On Mozilla Thunderbird, you can manage your entire inbox, chat with your clients, receive RSS feeds, and more. Thunderbird is highly secure and keeps all your emails preserved so that you can have peace of mind.
14. ClamWin
Looking for a free open-source antivirus security tool for Windows? Well, you’ll be pleased to download ClamWin on your system. ClamWin is an open-source anti-virus utility tool for Windows that can keep your machine safe from viruses and malware of any kind. ClamWin regularly offers new updates that protect your system for any kind of spyware or viruses.
15. Clonezilla
Clonezilla is a free open-source disk cloning and data recovery utility tool available for Windows and Linux OS. Clonezilla can easily get you through with system backup and restore disk cloning, image restoring, and more. Also, to secure all your data backup and restore sessions, Clonezilla uses AES-256 encryption as a security measure.
16. BRL-CAD
Yes, you guessed that right. BRL-CAD is an AutoCAD alternative available for Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms. BRL-CAD is a powerful application development tool that supports high-performance ray tracing, rendering, geometry editing, and other interactive features that you find on AutoCAD.
17. Bluefish
Next on our open-source software list comes Bluefish that is an ultimate website creation tool for both beginners and professionals. Bluefish is used by a majority of web developers around the world for writing pieces of code and scripts. Bluefish is available for Linux, FreeBSD, macOS, Windows, OpenBSD, and Solaris.
18. NixNote
Taking notes is something that we love to do, whether it’s about creating a grocery list, penning down an important phone number, or any piece of information. Well, NixNote is a light-weighted open-source note-taking tool for Windows and Linux, which you can use for creating and managing your day to day notes. On NixNote, you can not only create notes but also save pictures, documents, audio tracks in a well-organized space.
19. Bleach Bit
We’re all aware what CCleaner does, right? Well, Bleach Bit is an open-source alternative almost similar to CC cleaner that quickly scans your system and frees up disk space by deleting junk files, temp files, cleaning browsing history, cached data and more to optimize your system’s performance.
20. Octave
Octave is an open-source educational tool available for Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems. It allows you to perform numeric computations in an easy to use, the interactive platform just like MATLAB.
21. PDF Creator
PDF creator is an ideal PDF creation and reader tool for Windows that comes loaded with exceptional features and tools. On PDF creator, you can compress and resize images, encrypt your PDF docs with AES security, customize and tighten security settings, and more.
What is Open source Software?
So, what is open-source software? And how is it different from “closed source software” or any other software? You can think of open-source software as a collaborative initiative where anyone can make changes in the code to make it better.
Unlike a closed or proprietary software where only the owners are exclusively allowed to make changes in the source code, open-source can be easily altered by anyone. When an open source software is designed, the authors or developers make the code available to anyone where people can use it to enhance the existing software, study it, or use it; however, they like.
Whether you want to use a media player, create a document, edit a soundtrack or video, there’s an open source software available for almost anything. Using an open-source tool has numerous benefits, which include better control over the code, collaboration, stability for initiating long-term projects, and more. Open source software can be of any type, including open source software for Windows, open-source web browser, open source software for Android, or for any platform or requirement.
So is open source Software Free of Cost?
Well, that entirely depends on the author or initial developers of the program whether they want to roll out the product on a free of cost basis or if they want to charge users for the usage. But yes, a majority of people have a false impression of thinking that all open-source tools are free of charge, and that’s not true.
Some of the most common open source software include VLC Player, Libre Office, Audacity, and more. Open-source tools are available for various platforms, including Windows, Android, iOS, Linux, and more. So, in this post, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best open source software of 2020 that can make our lives simpler.
Also Read: Don’t forget to check out the 8 best open-source apps for Android that are worth your attention.
So, fellas, this wraps our open source software list of 2020. Here were some of the best open source software of various categories and genres. And yes, do let us know which one is your most favorite open-source tool from this list. We’d be more than happy to hear from you.
Writing a book is hard. I’ve written seven books and at some point during each one I had the thought, “There has to be a tool, a piece of book writing software, that would make this easier.”
Bad news/good news: writing a book will always be hard, and the best piece of writing software in the world won’t write your book for you. But the good news is there is book writing software that can make the process a little easier.
In this post, we will cover the ten best pieces of software for writing a book and look at the pros and cons of each.
FREE eBOOK: Every professional has a set of tools at their disposal that not only makes their job possible, but makes them better at doing it. Writing is no different, and while the right software is important, it’s just one of the many tools you need as a writer. That’s why we published this free 22-page eBook, 7 Tools to Help You Write a Novel. You can download it for free here. Enjoy!
Click the links below to get our review on the best writing software.
Best Writing Software: Contents
Worst Pieces of Software for Writing a Book
First, though, let’s cover software you should avoid, at least while you’re writing a book:
- Video Games. Especially World of Warcraft (always always always!) but also Solitaire, Sudoku, Angry Birds, and, for me right now, Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes.
- Facebook, Twitter, and Other Social Media Software. Do I really need to say more? Fortunately there’s a piece of book writing software for avoiding this very distracting software (see Freedom below).
- Other Productive Software Not Directly Associated With Your Writing. Yes, it’s good to reconcile your bank account on Quickbooks or make sure you’re up to date on your calendar app, but responsible, well-meaning work can easily be an excuse for a quick distraction that turns into a major distraction from writing your book.
Set aside time for your writing every day and then stay focused!
If you need a game, make writing your daily word count your game.
If you want more “likes” on social media, imagine how great getting five-star reviews on your book will be.
If you need to check your bank balance several times a day, think about what your bank balance will be when you stop checking it constantly, finish your book, and become a successful author.
The 10 Best Pieces of Book Writing Software
No piece of writing software will write your book for you, but these ten will help. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each.
1. Scrivener (Word Processor)
Scrivener is the premier book writing software. It is made by writers for writers. Scrivener’s “binder” view allows you to break up your book into chapters and sections and easily reorganize it. Project targets let you create word count goals and then track your progress daily. Its composition mode can help you stay focused by removing all the clutter. Plus, it allows you to format for publishing (e.g. on Amazon or Barnes & Noble).
There are some problems with Scrivener. Formatting is more complicated than it needs to be and collaborating isn’t easy, meaning it loses its effectiveness as soon as you bring on an editor. But it more than makes up for that by being so helpful in the early stages of the writing process.
In fact, we believe in Scrivener so much, we published a book about how creative writers can write more, faster using it. It’s called Scrivener Superpowers. If you’re using Scrivener or want to save yourself time as you learn how to use it for your creative writing, you can get Scrivener Superpowers here. The next edition comes out on Tuesday!
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Cost: $49 for Mac, $45 for Windows
You can get a copy of Scrivener here, or learn more about how to use the software with one of these resources:
- Scrivener Superpowers by M.G. Herron
2. Google Docs (Word Processor)
While Scrivener is the best book writing software, once you get to editing and getting feedback, it begins to fall short.
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That’s why Google Docs has become my second go-to piece of book writing software. It’s free, very easy to use, and requires no backups since everything is in the cloud.
Best of all are its collaboration abilities, which allow you to invite your editor to the document and then watch as he or she makes changes, tracked in suggestion mode, and leave comments on your story (see screenshot below).
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Cost: Free!
Where to find it: Get started with Google Docs here
3. Google Sheets (Spreadsheet)
If you’d told me when I was first trying to become a writer that one of my most-used tools in my book writing software toolkit would be a spreadsheet, I would have told you I didn’t major in English to have to use a spreadsheet.
But now, as I’m finishing my twelth book, I realize that I’m using spreadsheets almost daily.
Spreadsheets allow you to get a sense of the elements of your book at a glance, and when you’re working on a 300-page document, distilling it down to useable information becomes very necessary.
You might use spreadsheets for:
- Character tracking
- Scene lists
- Outlines
Google Sheets is perfect for this because it’s free and you can quickly share your documents with your writing partners, editors, or beta readers to get feedback. Microsoft Excel is another great option, but for writers, I suggest Google Sheets.
Cost: Free!
Where to find it?Get started with Google Sheets here
4. Vellum (Book Formatting/Word Processor)
If you want to turn your book into an eBook, it’s not that hard. Scrivener, Word, Pages, they all can make eBooks. But that doesn’t mean they’ll look good. In fact, it takes a lot of skill and effort to make an eBook look good on any of those word processors. That’s why I love Vellum so much.
Vellum makes beautiful eBooks.
Vellum picks up where Scrivener, Word, and Pages leave off, giving you a tool to make great looking eBooks every time.
The most important part of this is the previewer (see the image below), which lets you see how each formatting change or book edit you make will appear on Kindle, Fire, iPhone, Nook, and other eReaders.
It also has stripped-down, option-based formatting, which is perfect for designing eBooks.
I really love this app!
UPDATE: Vellum recently expanded into formatting for paperback books! I haven’t tried it yet but it looks awesome!
Cost: $199 for eBook generation, $249 for Paperback Formatting
5. Freedom (Productivity App)
One question writers always ask me is, “How can I stay focused enough to finish what I write?”
I have too many thoughts on this for this article, but as far as writing software to encourage focus, I recommend Freedom.
Freedom allows you to block your biggest distractions online, including both websites and mobile apps, for a set period of time. So when you mindlessly escape your book to scroll through Facebook, you’ll find the site won’t load.
You can also schedule recurring sessions, so that at a scheduled time (e.g. Mondays from 6 am to 10 am), you won’t be able to access the sites on your blocklist, even if you try.
There are other apps like this that we’ve written about before, notably Self-Control for Mac and StayFocused for Windows. But Freedom goes further, allowing you to block sites on both your computer and your phone, and enabling recurring sessions.
You can learn more about how writers can get the most out of Freedom on our review here.
Cost: $29 / year for Pro version, which I use and recommend (Free trial available)
Where to find it:Get started with Freedom here
6. Microsoft Word (Word Processor)
Again: no piece of book writing software is going to write your book for you. If you’re looking for the next “shiny new toy” to help you write your book, it might be an excuse to avoid doing the hard work of writing.
Most of us learned how to use computers by using Microsoft Word, or a program like it. Word gets the job done. Sure, Scrivener is a little better for books, but I wrote my first book on Word and it’s fine.
I wrote a long review of the pros and cons of using Word to write books—the main problem is that as your document grows, it becomes more and more difficult to work with, whereas with Scrivener, it becomes easier—but the point is, if Word is what you have, don’t let that stop you from finishing your book.
As Jeff Elkins said in his review of Word, “If you aren’t already putting in the hard work to be the kind of writer you want to be, it doesn’t matter what new writing software you invest in. It is not going to help.”
Cost: $69 / year from Amazon (includes Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, and other Microsoft software)
7. Ulysses (Word Processor)
When I’m writing for a long time, I like to get up and go for a walk. Sometimes, I wish I could continue writing while I walk. Other times, I come up with an idea while I’m walking, type it up on my phone, and then want to easily move what I wrote to my laptop without having to go through the hassle of emailing it back and forth to myself.
That’s where Ulysses comes in.
Ulysses is a word processor for Mac that allows you to sync between all your devices, so you have what you need wherever you are. Scrivener recently released their iOS app which allows you to do this as well, but the process is clunky and requires you to purchase both the desktop and iOS apps. Ulysses’ sync makes the process much more seamless.
Like Scrivener, it has a binder-like sidebar that allows you to move documents around. Ulysses is not designed specifically for books so it takes a little configuring to make it work for you, but once you have it set up the way you want it’s very intuitive.
And while I hate Markdown, I actually like the paired-down formatting options Ulysses gives. Overall, I’m not going to convert from Scrivener to Ulysses any time soon, but I think it’s a great option for most writers.
Cost: $45
Where to find it: App store, or here (Mac only)
8. Microsoft Excel (Spreadsheets)
As Jeff Elkins says in his review of Microsoft Excel, it’s great, but “it’s a little like bringing a bazooka to a knife fight. You will need only a small fraction of its capability.”
If you have Excel and love it, great. Otherwise, use Google Sheets, especially if you’re sharing your sheet with a collaborator or editor.
Cost: $69 / year from Amazon (includes Word, Powerpoint, Outlook, and other Microsoft software)
9. ProWritingAid (Grammar/Spell Check)
Can book writing software replace an editor?
Definitely not. But if you ask Alice Sudlow, our in-house editor, she’s tell you, “If you don’t have access to an editor (or if you do, but you don’t want to hire them to edit your emails or Facebook posts), grammar checking software like ProWritingAid is an accessible, affordable alternative.
If you struggle with grammar, sentence structure, spelling, or even writing style, ProwritingAid can help. It goes far beyond your built-in spell-check.
You should still learn grammar skills, but ProWritingAid can help you start to see the patterns and grow as a writer.
There’s a free version that’s very good. It can even be installed into your browser or Word processor, so you can check your grammar wherever you write. The paid version, just $60 a year (less than half of what Grammarly costs), gives you additional support on sentence structure, style, and vocabulary.
Learn more about how writers can get the most out of ProWritingAid here.
Cost: Free! (Premium version is $60 / year)
Where to find it: Get started with ProWritingAid here
10. Hemingway App (Grammar/Style Checker)
Most writers think their sentences are easier to read than they are. You think you’re coming across clearly, that your writing makes sense, but then someone reads it and comes away with something totally different.
Hemingway App helps with that.
Hemingway App is a free website that checks readability. You can copy and paste your writing into the website’s input box. Then it will grade your writing based on your used of adverbs, passive voice, and sentences as units.
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Hemingway App is useful, but even the best book writing software can’t replace a good editor.
Cost: Free!
The 7 Tools Every Writer Needs
Every professional has a set of tools at their disposal that not only makes their job possible, but makes them better at doing it. Writing is no different, and while the right software is important, it’s just one of the many tools you need as a writer.
That’s why we published a free 22-page eBook, 7 Tools to Help You Write a Novel. In this short guide, we’ll cover some of the basic tools that form the foundation of a writing life.
You can download it for free here. Enjoy!
The Most Essential Book Writing Software
Imagine it’s three thousand years ago. You’re sitting around a campfire with some of your family and friends, tired from the day’s work. You begin to tell a story. It’s one you’ve told before, told a hundred times. You can see faces around the fire, the children with their eyes wide, the men and women who have heard the story before but still enjoy it because it brings meaning to their lives.
Storytellers—writers—have existed since the beginning of humanity. They didn’t always have book writing software. They didn’t have the printing press or the internet. They didn’t always even have the alphabet to write their stories down.
Instead, storytellers had their imaginations, their voices, and a rapt audience.
You don’t need book writing software to write a great story. Book writing software can make the process a little faster or easier, but the truth is great stories will always exist, no matter what kind of software we have.
The only three things essential to writing a great book:
- Your imagination
- Your words
- A desire to tell your story
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That’s all you need. Do you want to write your book? If you do, then do it. Write it. Nothing is stopping you except you. So go get writing.
What pieces of book writing software do you use? Let us know in the comments.
PRACTICE
The world is full of powerful software to help you write your book. In the end, though, all these tools are just that—tools. The stories you imagine and your discipline to put the words on the page are far more important.
So for this practice, set aside all the fancy software. Eliminate all the bells and whistles and open up your computer’s native text editor (TextEdit for Mac or Notepad for Windows). Take fifteen minutes to write without any distractions. Continue your work in progress, or start a new story based on this prompt:
A student discovers one of their teachers is not what they appear to be.
When you’re done, share your writing practice in the comments. And if you share, be sure to leave feedback for your fellow writers!
Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris, a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. You can follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).