Looking for software but don’t want to spend a ton of money (or any)? Here you will find the best free software (many multi-platform) for pretty much every purpose – including some very essential applications that will simplify your life and save you a few bucks.
All of the software listed here is 100% free and incredibly full featured (some even better than paid software). No catch!
Anti-virus
avast! Free Antivirus – Expect great all-around protection against viruses and trojans. Download
AntiVir Free Version – Lightweight and solid. Good ratings. Worth looking into. Download
Microsoft Security Essentials – Simple, effective and lightweight protection suite. Download
AVG Antivirus Free Edition – Not as good as Avast or Avira but with considerably less bloat. The most popular free antivirus. Download
Antirun – Protects your PC by blocking viruses and malware from infected USB thumbsticks and flash drives. Download
Malware Removal
Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware – Easy-to-use, simple, and very effective anti-malware application. Download
Spybot S&D – Detects and removes spyware. Compliments anti-virus apps. Has a very good reputation. Download
Superantispyware – Lightweight scanner to detect and remove spyware, adware, trojans, and other threats. Download
Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool – A free tool for the removal of a variety of different viruses and malware, presented alongside virus-specific tools. Download
Firewall Apps
Comodo Firewall (standalone) – Long been considered one of the best free firewall tools available. Download
ZoneAlarm Free Firewall – Provides the best overall firewall protection for advanced users. Download
Ashampoo FireWall Free – Very easy to use and navigate. For intermediate users. Download
File Recovery
Recuva – Very effective in restoring deleted files. Extremely popular. Download
FreeUndelete – No frills, just focused on the zen of file recovery. Download
Uninstallers
Revo Uninstaller Free – Fast and very effective at uninstalling just about anything. Popular choice for the purpose. Download
IObit Uninstaller – Relatively new application that is gaining popularity. Boasts a bunch of features not found on other uninstallers. Download
Absolute Uninstaller – Less popular than the other two but probably the simplest to use one. Download
Backup Apps
Mozy – Incredibly smart, highly secure, set-it-and-forget-it backup solution. Backups data to web. Download
Clonezilla – Live CD to completely clone your hard drive. Download
SyncBack Freeware – Selective synchronization, local and remote backup to an FTP server. Download
FreeFileSync – Open source folder comparison and sync tool. Optimized for speed and usability. Download
CopyTo Synchronizer – Wide set of options for backing up, updating, and synchronizing files. Download
DriveImage XML – Easily backup or copy entire disks block-for-block directly to another drive without the need to reboot your computer to run the cloning process. Download
Cobian Backup – A backup program that supports scheduling on both local and networked machines. Download
SugarSync – A multi-platform syncing tool that features 5GB of free space and mobile compatibility. Download
ToolWiz Time Freeze – A tool for creating cloned restore points for testing changes without risking your own system. Download
Todo Backup – Able to backup the entire operating system, program settings, browser data, emails and other data. Download
Also see the Files/Drives section for cloud services that could be useful when backing up.
PC Maintenance
CCleaner – Scores high points all around. The most popular choice at the moment. Download
Soluto – Speed up Windows boot time by removing unnecessary apps from startup. Very effective. Download
Glary Utilities – Includes over 15 useful system maintenance tools. Download
Secunia Personal Software Inspector – A free utility that scans your PC for outdated programs in need of updates. Download
CPU-Z – A simple tool for detecting a huge range of hardware information about your PC and the components inside it. Download
GPU-Z – Get detailed information about your graphics card including memory type and speed, software versions and temperatures. Download
Process Explorer – An advanced version of Windows Task Manager from Microsoft for a more detailed look at what’s running on your PC. Download
WinDirStat – A free tool for visualising your disk space usage. Download
Speccy – A complete system information tool for your Windows PC, Speccy tells you exactly what hardware you’ve got under the hood. Download
ToolWiz Care – A complete maintenance program for Windows, with a ton of features for optimizing and cleaning up your PC. Download
SlimDrivers – SlimDrivers not only detects when a driver needs updating, but also identifies the proper executable for your system and initiates the driver install automatically. – Note: Individual Driver updates are free. The Plus version called DriverUpdate allows for “Download All” and advanced automation functionality. Download
Browsers
Google Chrome – The fastest, minimal design browser (from Google) now with extension support. Growing in popularity extremely fast. Download
Firefox – More than 6,000 add-ons for every possible feature. The most customisable browser to date. Download
AdBlock Plus – Not a browser, but a very useful add-on for one. Adblock Plus blocks all annoying ads on the web by default: video ads on YouTube, Facebook ads, flashy banners, pop-ups, pop-unders and much more. Download
Communication
Skype – The most popular cross-platform VoIP application. Must-have for everyone online. Download
Pidgin – Easy-to-use, cross-platform, multi-protocol chat client. Supports all major chat programs. Download
Digsby – An alternative multi-protocol instant messaging app. Cross-platform. Extremely popular. Download
Trillian Astra – Popular multi-protocol instant messaging client. Download
Raptr – A social network and messaging service for gamers to keep in touch. Download
Google+ Hangouts – Google’s standalone Hangouts client for Windows is a simple yet effective tool. (Replaced GTalk) Download
TeamSpeak – Built with the gamer in mind, TeamSpeak is a popular VoIP solution that works across a range of desktop and mobile devices. It also provides the option to run your own VOIP chat server from your PC. Download
Mumble – Intended for use with your favorite multi-player game, Mumble is a great open source cross-platform low-latency VoIP client. Download
Dolby Axon – A free VoIP program for gamers from Dolby, allowing for a unique surround-sound setup – a must try! Download
Free Video Call Recorder for Skype – Just like the name says a free tool for recording video and audio conversations on Skype, Windows 8 ready. Download
Picture/Image Tools
IrfanView – The Swiss Army knife of image viewers/editors. Extremely popular. Download
Google Picasa – Powerful photo manager software from Google. Includes 1-click photo retouching features. Easy online photo sharing. Download
GIMP – Very capable graphic editor with Photoshop-like features. Often labeled as free Photoshop alternative. Download
XnConvert – Easily batch convert, resize and apply effects to images with this open source software. Download
Zoner Photo Studio Free – Tweak, fix, manage and share your precious memories with Zoner, software that rivals some paid software. Download
Audio Tools
foobar2000 – Advanced audio player for Windows with highly customizable user interface. Download
Songbird – A popular music player based on Mozilla’s code. Includes some really useful plugins. Download
Audacity – Very popular open source software for recording and editing audio tracks and sounds. Download
iTunes – Music player and video library organizer. Home to the iTunes Store. Download
MediaMonkey – Full-featured music player and music collection organizer – a great alternative to iTunes. Download
Winamp – Well-known, lightweight, small-footprint media player. Download
TagScanner – A multi-function program for organizing and managing your music collection. Download
AIMP – Another full-featured audio player expandable with skins and plugins. Download
VirtualDJ – Designed for home DJs, VirtualDJ Home includes nearly all the features of VirtualDJ Pro, with only a few limitations (not being able to use DJ hardware like mixers and turntables for example) Download
Video Tools
VLC Media Player – Extremely popular cross-platform video player that can play almost any video file. Highly recommended. Download
Handbrake – Open source, cross-platform, video converter that can convert video files between many video formats. Download
PS3 Media Server – A DLNA-compliant UPnP Media Server originally written to support streaming media the PlayStation 3 but now supports a wide variety of devices. Download
VirtualDub – Open-source and portable video editor. Download
Media Player Classic – Replica of Windows Media Player. Includes only the most basic controls but can play pretty much any video. Download
Freemake – Free video converter & DVD burner that’s easy to use. Download
Format Factory – Multifunctional audi and video converter. Supports MP4, AVI, WMV, FLV, SWF, RMVB and lots more. Download
CamStudio – A high quality freeware screen capture utility with support for lossless video output. Download
XBMC – A powerful, open source media center app that rocks. Download
Plex – A great looking media center solution that also works remotely and with mobile devices. Download
UMPlayer – A light video player with some great features and over 270 in-built codecs. Download
Freemake Video Converter – Convert over 200 filetypes to formats that work on a plethora of mobile, media and gaming devices and the web via Flash and HTML5. Download
Video Codecs – These applications enable you to play all popular formats of video on your PC. They are sorted by operating system:
Adobe Flash Player – We all know Flash Player, well here it is. This plugin allows video playback on web pages with Flash formatted video. Download
Adobe Shockwave – Displays Web content that has been created by Adobe Director – including 3D games and entertainment, interactive product demonstrations, and online learning applications. Download
Apple QuickTime – Media player with primary support for Quicktime .mov format playback. Download
Files and Drives
FileMenu Tools – Customize the right-click context menu of Windows Explorer. Adds lots of useful functions and utilities. Download
FreeCommander – Free file browser and Windows Explorer replacement. Two-pane browsing, secure file deletion and more. Download
EASEUS Partition Master – All-in-one, easy to use disk partition manager. Create, resize and merge partitions. Download
Unlocker – Can’t delete a folder or a file? Getting an error that it’s being used by another program? Unlocker can easily delete it. Download
TreeSize Free – Shows you where your precious hard drive space has gone to. Easily view how much space is being used by each folder. Download
Free Opener – An easy way to quickly open over 80 types of file types using one tiny program. Download
SyncToy – Free application that synchronizes files and folders between locations. Download
Filezilla – A free, lightweight and robust FTP client for transferring files to and from the web. Download
MultiCommander – A feature-packed alternative file manager to Windows Explorer that uses a dual-panel layout. Download
Google Drive – The evolution of Google Docs keeps your documents synced between the cloud and your PC. Download
Skydrive – Microsoft’s cloud storage solution comes with 7GB of space for storing documents and images. Download
Dropbox – Must-have for everyone. Sync folder with docs and files to web or other PCs / Macs. Share documents and other files. Download
Box – Get 5 GB free and organize all your files into folders, store all kinds of files online, then arrange them into folders just like on your desktop. Download
LogMeIn Cubby – 5GB free cloud storage with an interface that provides a few business inspired file management services. Download
Documents
Apache OpenOffice – The leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. Download
LibreOffice – Microsoft Office alternative. Open source professional productivity and office suite. Download
Notepad++ – Popular open source text editor. Favored by many, including programmers. Download
FoxIt Reader – Really light alternative to Adobe Reader. Open PDF files. Download
doPDF – Easily convert documents and pictures to PDF files from any Windows program with two clicks. Download
PrimoPDF – Convert almost any kind of file into a 100% industry-standard PDF file with one click. Download
Nitro PDF Reader – Read PDFs, create PDFs. Extract content, annotate and fill PDF forms. Download
VIM Text Editor – Highly configurable text editor. Download
PDFsam – Easily split and merge PDF files. Download
Adobe Reader – Use Adobe Reader to view, search, digitally sign, verify, print, and collaborate on Adobe PDF files. Download
Kindle – Amazon’s Kindle app lets you read and manage your eBook collection from your Windows PC. Download
Productivity
Rainlendar – Very easy to use and lightweight calendar for your Windows desktop. Download
Evernote – Save your ideas on the go and instantly take notes. Access notes from anywhere. Highly recommended! Download
Launchy – A powerful keystroke based program launcher that lets you open program and files really quickly. Download
Send to Toys – Enhances the right-click ‘Send To’ system menu. Personalize and configure the Send To menu content. Download
ClipX – Tiny, free clipboard history manager. Access up to 1024 items in your clipboard’s history. Download
Wunderlist – A multi-platform list syncing app for keeping track of your todo lists from any device. Download
Archive Managers
7-zip – Takes care of most of your archive extracting/compression needs. Supports ZIP, RAR and many others formats. Pretty much all you’ll ever need for this purpose. Download
Optical & Disc Image Tools
ImgBurn – CD/DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-ray burning tool. Also, lets you easily create image files from CDs and DVDs. Download
CDBurnerXP – The most popular free alternative to Nero Burning ROM. Burn CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. Download
bitRipper – Back-up your DVDs as AVI files or MPEG to your hard drive. Excellent backup tool for DVDs. Download
CDex – Open-source digital audio CD extractor. Saves CD tracks as MP3′s. Download
Virtual CloneDrive – Mount a virtual drive to open and playback ISO image files (CD/DVD images). Download
DVDShrink – The easiest and one of the better free DVD ripping and backup tools. Download
Exact Audio Copy – The most accurate and error-free audio CD extractor. Can extract MP3s from a CD. Download
DVD Flick – Easy-to-use DVD creation software. Allows adding subtitles and making DVD menus as well. Download
WinCDEmu – Mount ISO, CUE, NRG, MDS/MDF, CCD, IMG images by simply clicking on them in Windows Explorer. Download
DVDFab HD Decrypter – One of the only free tools that supports the decrypting of Blu-Ray discs. Download
DaemonTools Lite – Lightweight and free disk virtualization software for installing virtual drives and mounting disk images. Download
Note: All applications listed in this section are for DVD and CD backup purposes ONLY.
Others
LastPass – Secure plugin to store and synchronize login passwords across browsers. Comes with auto-login and form filler. Download
TrueCrypt – Free open-source, cross-platform disk and data encryption tool. Encrypt and hide sensitive files. Download
TeamViewer – Request remote technical assistance. Connect to remote computer. Zero setup required. Download
PortableApps Suite – A collection of useful portable apps that can be stored on USB stick. Carry the apps with you wherever you go on a thumbdrive. Download
KeePass – Free, open source, lightweight and easy-to-use password manager. Download
XAMPP – Easy to install Apache distribution with MySQL, PHP and Perl. No manual setup required! Download
Calibre – Free open source eBook management software with support for conversion and syncing. Download
Rainmeter – A desktop customization tool with support for functional skins. Download
Rocketdock – An elegant dock solution for Windows with support for add-ons. Download
VirtualBox – Free virtualization software for creating and running virtual machines. Download
VMWare Player – Run virtual PCs with ease using VMWare Player, simple virtualization software that is free for personal use. Download
f.lux – This small program adapts your PC’s display to the time of day in order to reduce eye strain and fatigue. Download
Classic Shell – Upgraded to Windows 8 but missing the Start Menu? Classic Shell is the freeware software you’ve been looking for. Download
IOBit Start Menu 8 – This smart tool brings back both the start button and Windows Start Menu, and offers the option to skip Metro start page, allowing users who only work on desktop to boot to Windows 8 desktop directly. Download
ObjectDock – Like the Mac OS X dock but using Windows? ObjectDock is free for personal use. Download
SpeedFan – A free utility for checking the speed of fans, as well as system temperatures. Download
Java – Allows you to play online games, chat with people around the world, calculate your mortgage interest, and view images in 3D, just to name a few. It’s also integral to the intranet applications and other e-business solutions that are the foundation of corporate computing. Download
Disclaimer: All applications and links listed here were thoroughly reviewed. Appel Technology Solutions is not responsible for any damage and/or data loss that might result from use of any of the above mentioned applications.
Did I miss something? This definitely isn’t everything out there – leave your suggestions in the comments!
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