Free and Low-Cost Tech 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)

Operating Systems

Free and stable operating systems for your computer.

• Ubuntu (Very stable, easy to use and install)
• Kubuntu (Stable, great for slower/older machines)

Email Accounts

• GMail (Google)
• Yahoo! Mail
• Outlook Mail
• FastMail.fm

Personal Computer Security

Anti-Virus

• Microsoft Security Essentials
• AVG
• Avast!

Anti-Spyware

• Spy-Bot Search & Destroy
• Ad-Aware

Home Wireless Networks

• Guide to Securing Home Wireless Networks

PDF Converters

• CutePDF
• Icecream PDF Split and Merge
• PrimoPDF

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

• Wikidot
• DokuWiki
• MediaWiki

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)

• Kompozer

Text Editors

• Visual Studio Code (Windows, Mac, Linux) 
• Notepad++ (Windows only)

FTP Clients

• Filezilla (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• Cyberduck (Mac only)

Image Creation/Manipulation

• GIMP (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• Photopea (Online)
• pixlr.com (Online service)
• Photoshop.com (Online service)

Blogs and Journals

• Medium
• Tumblr
• Blogger
• WordPress
• Xanga

Online Communities

• Google Groups
• Discord
• Reddit
• Facebook

Local Online Bulletin Boards

• Craigslist St. Louis