Are you tired of monthly software subscriptions eating up your budget? Wondering if free alternatives can actually match paid tools? Here are three underrated open-source apps that helped me cancel my subscriptions to TickTick, Trello, Google Drive, and Mailchimp.
Super productivity: from to-do lists to Kanban boards in one free app
Super Productivity is one of the most complete free and open-source (FOSS) productivity tools I’ve ever used, and it pains me that more people don’t know about it. In fact, for me it has effectively replaced paid tools like TickTick, Trello and Clockify.
At its core, it provides a to-do list-based task management system. You can quickly capture tasks using common shortcuts, create subtasks, attach reference files, and even track how much time you spend on each task. You can also set an estimated time to complete a task and compare it to how long it actually took, allowing you to better gauge your overall productivity.
The app also bundles several useful features designed to keep you productive. My favorite is Domina mode, which uses text-to-speech to express words of encouragement at regular intervals. There are also tools to help prevent burnout, including break reminders to ensure you don’t overwork, and habit tracking counters that can help you keep track of how often you get up or drink coffee, for example. You are free to add additional counters if necessary.
What really sets Super Productivity apart, however, is its multiple visualization modes. If you add due dates to your tasks, you can view them in a calendar format and drag and drop tasks to reorganize deadlines. There’s also a Kanban board to visualize task progress, along with an Eisenhower matrix to help you prioritize what’s most important.
You can download Super Productivity from the official website.
Mailspring: Professional email tracking without the enterprise price tag
Mailspring is one of the cleanest yet most feature-rich email clients I’ve come across in a long time. Like any good email client, it is compatible with all major email service providers (Gmail, Outlook and others) and also lets you set up custom domains using IMAP or POP3. I’ve used both methods and they work flawlessly. It also supports a unified inbox, which saves you from having to juggle multiple accounts, something you still have to do with Microsoft’s new Outlook client.
That said, what really makes Mailspring unique are its marketing-focused features. You can embed pixel trackers directly into your emails, meaning you’ll receive notifications when someone opens an email or clicks a link. I’ve only come across similar features in professional email marketing tools like Mailchimp. That said, it can be useful for casual users, especially for freelancers who send invoices to their clients or for clients who send support requests to companies.
To complement these tracking features, Mailspring also offers detailed analytics that show how many emails sent were opened, your total number of emails sent and received during a specific time frame, the times of day when you receive the most emails, and even which email templates or subject lines perform best. Speaking of which, yes, you can create custom email templates with Mailspring.
Now, Mailspring follows a freemium model, as some advanced features like read receipts and link tracking require their own servers. The free plan offers limited access to these features, but I found it sufficient for personal use. For unlimited access to all Mailspring features, you’ll need to pay $8 per month.
In the EU, email tracking is illegal under the GDPR (and in a few other regions) without the recipient’s explicit consent. Only use tracking features if you have obtained the necessary consent.
You can download Mailspring from the official website.
Syncthing: The replacement for cloud storage that works over Wi-Fi and data
Syncthing is a peer-to-peer file synchronization application that has completely replaced cloud storage providers for me. It’s a fast and efficient way to sync files and folders across multiple devices. The app is officially available on Windows, Linux, macOS and even FreeBSD and OpenBSD. On Android, there’s a popular third-party wrapper called Syncthing-Fork, while iOS and iPadOS users can use Möbius Sync Pro (a one-time purchase of $4.99).
All you have to do is install Syncthing (or the third-party implementations) on your devices, create one or more folders to sync, and link a folder on one device to a folder on another device. Once set up, when you add, edit, or delete a file or folder on one device, the changes will automatically sync across all your other devices. Best of all, it works over both Wi-Fi And mobile data.
Of course, you can use Syncthing to wirelessly share images or videos between devices. However, I find it most useful for syncing data between local-first applications. Since many of the apps I rely on (like Obsidian and Super Productivity) don’t send data to the cloud and store everything locally, Syncthing lets me keep that data in sync across all my devices. As a result, my notes and tasks stay in sync without having to rely on a cloud provider.
You can download Syncthing from the official website.
The open source ecosystem has matured dramatically, delivering professional tools without subscription fees. Tools like Super Productivity, Mailspring and Syncthing prove that something free can be even better than something with a price tag.
