Being a student typically means living a frugal lifestyle and pinching the pennies wherever you can. While you might need to spring for a new laptop or smartphone, paying for software is one expense you can dodge by opting for free and open-source alternatives.
Thankfully, there’s a whole world of apps out there to help you with your studies that don’t cost a thing.
LibreOffice
LibreOfficeis the go-to free and open-source alternative to Microsoft Office. It’s comprised of a whole suite of apps that will help you throw together documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and more. The suite maintains excellent compatibility with Office, and really shines when used alone as a true alternative.
Highlights include Writer, a word processor that can handle anything from a brief outline to a whole book’s worth of content; spreadsheet app Calc with a vast range of advanced functions, ready to roll templates, and collaborative features; and the Math formula editor which integrates with other apps in the suite where you need mathematical and scientific formulas.
There’s also the Impress presentation app, an app called Draw for designing diagrams, database app Base, and graphing add-in Charts. Visit theLibreOffice Extensions, Documentation and Templates repositoryto further expand what is possible with plugins. If all you want is a simple office suite for turning in school projects, this is it. Get it for Windows, macOS, and Linux, with a limited Android version also available.
Zotero
Zoterobills itself as a “personal research assistant” that makes it easy to collate all of your research in one place. Use the Zotero browser extension to automatically add resources to your collection, then organize them however you see fit. You can then call upon your gathered resources in word processors like LibreOffice Writer (among others), and Zotero will format them for you with support for more than 9,000 different styles.
You can also share your body of research or collaborate with others on projects, with Zotero keeping all relevant parties in sync. If you need to produce assignments that cite published studies on a regular basis, Zotero is a game-changer. Get it for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.
Zettlr
Zettlris an open-source solution that can take an idea from the early stages of note gathering to a published submission or even a book manuscript. It relies on the versatile and easy-to-learnmarkdown formatting standard, which makes exporting to one of the many supported formats incredibly easy. This helps the app remain lightweight and nimble, even if you’re dealing with heavy word counts or flipping between lots of open projects.
The app uses a tabbed interface so that you’re able to keep multiple projects open at once, with everything organized into workspaces. These files remain offline unless you decide to sync them, which is in line with the app’s privacy-first approach to academic writing. In addition to providing a unique canvas for getting papers published (or simply writing your next essay), Zettlr sorts out citations for you and even integrates nicely with Zotero.
A few more nice-to-have features include code highlighting, a dark mode, split-view for working on two things at once, and a neat little writing statistics panel that gives you some interesting numbers at a glance. Get it for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Logseq
Note-taking app Obsidian is oftenlauded for its “tangled-web” approach to organizing your scribbles, but the app is closed-source freeware. If you’re looking for a real open-source alternative, you should giveLogseqa shot. A self-described “knowledge management” platform, Logseq is an incredibly powerful tool for organizing your study materials and broader life.
Create journals, pages, and whiteboards to organize your thoughts and notes. Turn these into flashcards to help you revise for exams and learn new concepts using a simple tag. See your entire collection and the links that exist between them on a graph view, Obsidian-style. You can also write in markdown and expand Logseq with a range ofplugins and themes. Get it for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.
Anki
Flashcards can be an invaluable element in the learning experience. Whether you’re learning a language, studying for an exam, or mastering a musical instrument; flashcards are worth a try.Ankiis an open-source tool for creating and utilizing flashcards, and it’s available completely free of charge. The app supports sync between devices, is highly customizable, and includes the ability to add media to your flashcards (like audio, videos, images, and markup).
Organize your cards into decks based on subjects, projects, or any system of your choosing. Review your cards and rate your recall to identify areas that require further study. Share your decks with others and expand Anki withAdd-Ons. The software can handle massive decks, and you can even access your flashcards online via a web browser usingAnkiWeb, or download ready-to-go packs ofShared Decks.
Get Anki for Windows, macOS, and Linux, with companion mobile apps AnkiDroid for Android and AnkiMobile for iPhone and iPad (that last one is a paid app that supports the development of the core project).
Simplenote
Everyone needs an everyday note-taking app, andSimplenoteis exactly that. As the name suggests, this is an aggressively straightforward note-taking app. Store text, organize with tags, sync between your devices, and export things as and when you need them. Notes can be written in markdown, with version control, so you may revert to previous versions if ever you need to.
Simplenote includes collaborative features, and syncing is free between different versions of the app. The obvious limitation here is that you can’t use Simplenote to store media attachments like images or PDF files. However, if all you want to do is make some simple lists and organize your non-academic thoughts, it’s the perfect free and fast note-taking app.
The Simplenote apps wentopen source in 2016, with versions available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS (all free of charge).
Thunderbird
Not everyone needs a desktop email app, with webmail solutions like Gmail offering serious power in a browser-based package. That said, some are more comfortable working offline, which is where apps likeMozilla Thunderbirdcome in. Thunderbird is arguably the best open-source alternative to Microsoft Outlook, offering a simple, old-school approach to managing your mail and schedule. This isn’t just an email client, it’s also an organizer.
Thunderbird is incredibly easy to use, but also highly extensible. A richlibrary of add-onslets you turn the app into whatever you like. Add features like delayed sending, text expansion, and mail merge, or augment what’s already there with grammar and spellcheckers, templates, and tools for importing, exporting, and extracting messages and attachments.
Thunderbird is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android.
Bitwarden
Password management is incredibly important, which is where an app likeBitwardencomes in. This is an open-source password manager that can store and generate passwords, completely free of charge. Since the source is open, the code can be freely audited, and this transparency guarantees an element of security that many premium solutions don’t have. Unlike these paid apps, Bitwarden includes syncing between devices free of charge (with no limits on the number of devices you may use).
Other free perks include passkey management, two-step login, and collaboration for sharing credentials. you may upgrade to get more features like an in-app authenticator, priority support, and 1GB of secure file storage. Get Bitwarden for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS; plus browser extensions for Safari, Chrome, Firefox (and others), plus command-line integration.
Alternatively, use whatever you have available. While an open source and free app is nice, what’s most important is that you’re using unique passwords in a method you can easily manage. For example, if you have a whole family of Apple devices you can do far worse than sticking withApple Passwords.
Nextcloud
While you’ve probably got a few gigabytes of free cloud storage at your disposal from the likes of Google and Microsoft, costs can quickly rack up when you start to take up some serious space. That’s whereNextcloudcomes in, a roll-your-own cloud storage solution that lives on a local server and syncs across your devices.
Nextcloud isthe perfect app for anyone with a homelab, since you’re able to install and configure it and then just leave it chugging away in the background. You could do this on your main desktop PC, a cheap mini PC, asecond-hand bargain like a Mac mini, a NAS drive, and more. In addition to saving money, you’ll also get the privacy benefits that come with hosting your own solution.
Kdenlive
If you find yourself in need of a free video editor, you can do far worse than open-source appKdenlive. Arguablythe best of all the open-source editors, Kdenlive lets you splice together video in a non-linear fashion with a range of additional tools at your disposal. I’m particularly fond of the interface, which can be tailored to various video editing tasks, including simple editing, colorization, and effects work.
Whether you’re chipping away at personal projects or find yourself needing to throw together recordings you’ve made for class as part of a distance learning module, Kdenlive has the basics covered. There’s also a good number of advanced features like chromakeying and VR or 360-degree workflows, plus a render workflow that lets you export to a vast array of formats and standards.
There are many more open-source apps that could be useful to anyone who is still studying. Check outour favorite open-source apps for Windows, and someopen-source must-haves for Mactoo. For RAW photo editing,take a look at the excellent darktable; for simple image edits, thenGIMPis a must; and if you want an alternative to LibreOffice or Zettlr for writing, there’sJoplintoo.
