“Free” covers several very different business models. Knowing which one you are using tells you what can change later, who owns your data, and what happens if the company behind the product disappears.
Open source
Open-source software publishes its source code under a licence that lets anyone use, study, modify and share it. Well-known examples include LibreOffice, Blender, GIMP, Inkscape, VLC, Firefox and Audacity.
What you get: no licence fees, the ability to keep using a version forever, and often a community that maintains it independently of any one company.
What to watch: support comes from documentation and forums unless you pay a vendor. Some open-source products are run by companies that offer a free self-hosted version and a paid hosted version.
Free and source-available
Some software is free to use but not open source, such as Visual Studio Code’s official build or Obsidian for personal use. You can use it at no cost, but the terms are set by the company and can change.
Freemium
A freemium product has a permanent free tier with limits, and paid tiers that remove them. Most SaaS tools work this way.
What you get: a useful product with no time limit, as long as you stay within the limits.
What to watch: limits tend to bite as you grow (projects, storage, seats, history). Free tiers can also be reduced later. Keep an export of your data.
Ad-supported
The product is free because advertising pays for it, as with many mobile games and some web tools.
What you get: full or nearly full features at no cost.
What to watch: ads, tracking and sometimes a paid option to remove them. Check privacy settings.
Free trial
A trial gives full access for a limited time, then requires payment. It is a sales tool, not a free product. Use it deliberately: see how to use free trials without getting charged.
Free through someone else
Many people can use paid software at no cost through an organisation: a school, employer, library or nonprofit programme. Library apps such as Libby, Kanopy and hoopla give free access to books, audiobooks and films with a library card. Students, educators, startups and nonprofits have their own programmes; see our deals and perks.
Which should you choose?
| Your situation | Best fit |
|---|---|
| Long-term personal use, want control | Open source |
| Small team, want zero set-up | Freemium hosted tool |
| Occasional use | Free web tool, or freemium within limits |
| Professional work with deadlines | Paid tool or paid support for an open-source tool |
| Learning | Student programme or open source |
Switching costs are the real price
The cost of software is not just its price, but how hard it would be to leave. Before committing your work to any tool, free or paid, check that you can export everything in a standard format. Open formats (such as ODF documents, SVG, Markdown or CSV) keep your options open.
Find a free or open-source replacement for almost any paid app on our free alternatives page.