Free and Low-Cost Tech Tools
List of free tech services and useful software tools
Many Internet businesses give away free services and useful software tools. These tools can be used to build and maintain our local communities.
The free resources below consist of only a limited sample of the vast resources available on the Internet:
Web Browsers
- Firefox (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Google Chrome (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Safari (Windows, Mac)
- Opera (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Edge (Windows)
Email Accounts
Personal Computer Security
Anti-Virus
Anti-Spyware
Home Wireless Networks
PDF Converters
Electronic Money Transfers
- PayPal
- Network for Good (For direct contributions to registered 501(c)(3) organizations)
- Go Fund Me (For online fundraising for individuals and organizations)
Fax Services
- faxZERO (sending only, free version puts an ad on cover page)
- GotFreeFax.com (sending only, no ads in free version)
- Send A Fax Free (sending only, free, no ads)
Document Sharing/Collaboration
Files and Documents
- Dropbox (Store, sync, & share files online)
- Google Drive (Create, edit, share, and collaborate on documents online)
- Zoho (Create, edit, share, discuss online and more)
- Microsoft One Drive
Wikis
A wiki (popularized by Wikipedia) is a website that anyone can edit.
Office Applications
Online Services
- Google Docs (Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations)
- Microsoft Office Live (Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations)
- Zoho (Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, wiki, planner, database, invoice)
Desktop Software
- Libre Office (Full office suite for Windows, Mac, Linux)
- AbiWord (Word processing only)
Talk Over the Internet
- Skype (Voice, video, text, call land and cell phones)
- Google Hangouts (Video, voice, text)
- WhatsApp (Voice, text)
Instant Messaging (IM)
- Google Hangouts
- Facebook Messenger (use with a Facebook account)
- Slack
- Discord
- Skype (For Windows & Mac)
- Pidgin (Chat client that lets you connect to multiple accounts at once. For Windows & Linux)
- Adium (Chat client that lets you connect to multiple accounts at once. For Mac)
Web Hosting
- Google Sites
- Tripod
- Free-Webhosts.com (database of organizations that offer free web hosting)
Software for Creating & Updating Websites
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get)
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) software allows you to directly create and edit the look and feel of your website without having to know any HTML or CSS.
Text Editors
- Visual Studio Code (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Notepad++ (Windows only)
FTP Clients
Image Creation/Manipulation
- GIMP (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Photopea (Online)
- pixlr.com (Online service)
- Photoshop.com (Online service)
Online Communities
Local Online Bulletin Boards
Feedback is anonymous.