- There are hundreds of freeware sites already. What does this one offer?
- How about games?
- Some of the alternatives listed don't have all the functions of the commercial program I searched for. Why not?
- There is this great program I use. Your website can't find an alternative for it. What should I do?
- I know a great free program and it's missing on your website. Can you add it?
- I see a lot of free alternatives. Which should I choose?
- Are the free programs checked for viruses or spyware?
- What do the different licenses mean?
- For what operating system are these programs?
- Can I find shareware programs here, or demo versions?
- In what language are the programs on this site?
- The list of free programs includes programs in a language I don't know?
- Can I submit programs only available in a language different from English?
- What's the purpose of the "All languages" checkbox on the main page?
- Some programs have "<missing>" as "short description" or "author's description". What does that mean?
- Why should I use free software if I can crack commercial software?
- Isn't free software of low quality?
Questions about this site
- There are hundreds of freeware sites already. What does this one offer?
It's true that there are tons of freeware sites on the internet. Most of these contain long lists of free programs, often sorted by category. That's where this site differs from all those freeware sites. The possibility to search for a name or category exists here as well, but here you can also search for commercial programs. This site will show a list of equivalent freeware programs that can replace the commercial program.
Back to top
- How about games?
Games are difficult to search alternatives for. However, I've tried to add alternatives to games as well. Unfortunately, as games have a very specific story, these alternatives may not be exactly the same as the commercial ones.
Back to top
- Some of the alternatives listed don't have all the functions of the commercial program I searched for. Why not?
A lot of programs nowadays have a lot of functionalities. The alternatives listed may not have all the functionalities. However, it could be possible to replace a commercial program with a lot of functions with several free programs. That's the reason some alternatives are listed even though they do not have the same functionalities as the commercial programs.
Also, you may want to ask yourself if you really need all the functionality a program provides. With the abundance of functionalities most programs provide, it's very likely that you don't use all of it.
Back to top
- There is this great program I use. Your website can't find an alternative for it. What should I do?
First of all try to relax your search criteria. For instance, search for only a part of the program's name instead of the entire name and omit version numbers. If that still doesn't work, submit the program as a commercial program, so I will search for an alternative for it.
Back to top
- I know a great free program and it's missing on your website. Can you add it?
Sure. Just submit the program and I will add it to the website.
Back to top
- I see a lot of free alternatives. Which should I choose?
Unfortunately, the number of available free programs and my limited time prevents me from testing every program. So, you will have to visit the websites of the programs and read the description there to find out which program would serve your need best.
Besides, it wouldn't be possible for me to tell what program is the best. The program that suites my needs the best doesn't necessarily suites the needs of everyone the best.
Sometimes I use a program myself. In that case I have added my opinion (like feature-rich or easy to use) in the description. In most case, however, the description is based on the description on the website and/or on a review of the program.
Back to top
- Are the free programs checked for viruses or spyware?
Unfortunately, because of the number of programs and my limited time I'm not able to check every program for viruses or spyware. Plus, such a check would have to be repeated every time a new version of a program is released.
So, I recommend checking every downloaded program with a virus scanner and spyware scanner before using it.
Back to top
- What do the different licenses mean?
There are hundreds of different licenses. It's impossible to list them all, so I have restricted the possible licenses to: Commercial, Freeware, Free for non-commercial use, GPL, LGPL, BSD and other.
- Commercial means that you have to pay for the program.
- Freeware means that the program can be downloaded for free by everyone.
- Free for non-commercial use means that it can be downloaded for free by home users who won't use it for a commercial purpose.
Please note that the definition of commercial use differs between authors. Some authors consider educational use and/or use in non-profit organizations, as commercial use. So, if you want to use a program that's free for non-commercial use in an organization, please read the license on the author's website to see if that's allowed.
- GPL (General Public License) means that the source code is available and can be modified, redistributed and used in other programs provided that any redistributions have the source code available as well.
- LGPL (Lesser General Public License) is a lighter version of the GPL. It's basically the same except that you don't have to make the source code of any program in which you use parts of the code of a LGPL program open.
- BSD also means that the source code is available, but allows you to do with it whatever you want, even use it in a commercial program.
- Other, is any other license that will allow you to use the program free of charge.
Please note that if a program is licensed under the GPL or LGPL license it doesn't necessarily mean it's free of charge. However, as 99.99% of all (L)GPL programs are free of charge it's usually considered to mean free of charge as well.
Back to top
- For what operating system are these programs?
All the programs here, unless otherwise specified, should run on Windows XP. As that is currently the most popular operating system for desktop PCs.
Back to top
- Can I find shareware programs here, or demo versions?
All the programs here can be used for free. Shareware versions can only be used for free for a short time. Even if the program doesn't expire, you're not allowed to use the program longer than a certain time. So, you won't find shareware programs on this site.
Demo versions are a different case. Most demo versions can be used for free for an unlimited time, but the program is lacking some features the paid version has. In such a case the demo version can be found here. However, the sheer amount of demo versions makes it impossible to add them all to this site.
Back to top
- In what language are the programs on this site?
The programs you see in the list are in English or in a language set in your browser. Your browser automatically sends a list of preferred languages. This site uses that list to provide programs in English and in the languages in that list.
If you want to see the list of preferred languages as it is sent by your browser, click here.
Back to top
- The list of free programs includes programs in a language I don't know?
This means that you've found a bug on this site or that the languages set in your browser are wrong. Please click here to check the list of languages set in your browser. If this problem still occurs after checking your browser settings, please, inform me of the problem by clicking here.
Back to top
- Can I submit programs only available in any language?
Yes. As this site automatically determines the languages set in the browser I include non-English programs as well. If you submit such a program you should also submit a short description (one or two sentences) of the program. Also, please, mention the language of the program.
Back to top
- What's the purpose of the "All languages" checkbox on the main page?
Some programs are only available in one language. By default, this website only searches for programs available in English and the languages set in your browser. Checking the "All languages" checkbox lets this website search for programs in any language. This may increase the number of results, but it might result in results in a language you don't know.
Back to top
- Some programs have "<missing>" as "short description" or "author's description". What does that mean?
If the program has "<missing>" as "short description", it can mean two things. Either I don't understand the program and, therefore, can't give a short description of the program. Or the program is only available in a language I don't know, so I can't provide a short description in that language.
If the program has "<missing>" as "author's description", it means that I haven't been able to find a suitable description of the program on the author's website.
If you can provide a description for such a a program, please let me know by contacting me, or, preferably, by using the form next to the program. Select "other" in the drop-down box next to the program and enter a description or the link to a description on the author's website in the text box that has appeared.
Back to top
Questions about free programs in general
- Why should I use free software if I can crack commercial software?
There are a couple of reasons why someone would choose for free software instead of pirated software.
First of all free software can be downloaded from "official" sites. The chance of getting infected by a computer virus is a lot smaller at those sites compared to the websites that contain pirated software.
Second, it won't cause problems with your conscience if you know that you're allowed to use the software you're using for free.
Third, even though the chance of getting caught is very small, there is a chance. The penalties for software piracy are high.
Back to top
- Isn't free software of low quality?
Not necessarily. For instance, the majority of the websites runs on the Apache web server. This is free software, yet it is of very high quality. That's why it's so widely used.
As with every software, there is a huge difference in quality between the programs. Off course there is free software that's inferior to commercial software, however that's not necessarily the case. In fact there's plenty of free software that's equivalent or even superior to commercial software. Plus, being free of charge it's safe to try several free programs to see which is the best.
Back to top