476+ tools, reviewed by hand

Open source design tools

Free, hand-reviewed, and yours to keep. Every tool here publishes its source under a genuine open licence — no subscriptions, no lock-in, no vendor that can take it away.

97open-source tools
15different licences
€0to use any of them

Open source means the source code is public and licensed so anyone can use, study, modify and share it. For designers that translates into three practical things: no subscription, no licence audit, and no risk of the tool disappearing because a company was acquired or changed direction.

It also means trade-offs, and this page is honest about them. Open-source tools are frequently rougher around the edges, documentation is thinner, and support means a forum rather than a phone number. Every listing below states its drawbacks alongside its strengths — the same standard applied to every other tool in this directory.

Free alternatives to the tools you're paying for

Honest swaps — including where the open-source option genuinely falls short.

Instead ofAdobe Photoshop
TryGIMPorKrita

GIMP covers general photo editing; Krita is stronger for digital painting. Neither matches Photoshop's generative fill or ecosystem.

Instead ofAdobe Illustrator
TryInkscape

Inkscape handles most vector work well. Its weak point is CMYK print output, where Illustrator is still ahead.

Instead ofAdobe InDesign
TryScribus

Scribus does real press-ready output with CMYK and spot colour. The interface is dated, and there is no .indd import.

Instead ofFigma
TryPenpot

Penpot is the only credible open-source UI design tool, and it is self-hostable. Plugin ecosystem and real-time performance still trail Figma.

Instead ofSketch
TryPenpot

Penpot runs in the browser on any OS, which removes Sketch's macOS-only constraint entirely.

Instead ofAdobe Lightroom
TryDarktableorRawTherapee

Darktable is the closer workflow match with cataloguing; RawTherapee renders slightly better but has no asset management.

Instead ofAdobe After Effects
TryNatronorBlender

Natron is node-based compositing rather than layer-based. Blender covers motion graphics and 3D. Neither is a drop-in replacement.

Instead ofAdobe Premiere Pro
TryKdenliveorShotcut

Kdenlive is the more capable NLE; Shotcut is easier to learn. Colour grading is basic in both.

Instead ofCinema 4D
TryBlender

Blender is genuinely competitive here — used in commercial production, not just as a budget option.

Instead ofSolidWorks
TryFreeCAD

FreeCAD is parametric and capable, but its workflow is less polished and the topological naming problem still bites on complex models.

Instead ofAutoCAD
TryLibreCAD

LibreCAD is 2D only and reads DXF, not DWG. Fine for drafting; not a full AutoCAD substitute.

Instead ofMiro / FigJam
TryExcalidrawordraw.io (diagrams.net)

Excalidraw for quick sketching, draw.io for structured diagrams. Both weaker on live multiplayer than Miro.

Instead ofGlyphs / FontLab
TryFontForge

FontForge exports genuine production OpenType files. The interface is the hard part, not the capability.

Instead ofGoogle Analytics
TryPlausibleorUmamiorMatomo

All three are cookieless or self-hostable, which usually removes the consent-banner requirement in the EU.

Instead ofCalendly
TryCal.com

Feature parity is close. Self-hosting is the real differentiator if scheduling data matters to you.

Instead ofFirebase
TrySupabaseorAppwrite

Both are self-hostable, so you avoid the lock-in that makes leaving Firebase painful.

Instead ofToon Boom Harmony
TryOpenToonzorSynfig Studio

OpenToonz has genuine studio pedigree at Ghibli. Both are harder to learn than their price suggests.

Instead ofContentful / Storyblok
TryStrapiorPayload CMSorGhost

Strapi and Payload for structured content APIs; Ghost if publishing is the actual use case.

Instead ofLoom
TryOBS Studio

OBS records at higher quality with no time limits, but has no hosting or sharing layer — that part is on you.

Browse all open-source tools

Filter by discipline and pricing. The Open source toggle is already applied.

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476 tools

What the licences actually mean

“Open source” is not one thing. The licence determines what you can do with the tool’s output and, if you ever build on the code, what you owe back. For most designers this rarely matters — but it matters a great deal if you embed a tool in a product you sell.

LicenceIn plain termsWatch out for
MIT / ISC / BSDDo essentially anything, including using it commercially and in closed products. Just keep the copyright notice.Nothing significant. The most permissive category.
Apache-2.0Same freedoms as MIT, plus an explicit patent grant that protects you from patent claims by contributors.You must state what you changed if you distribute a modified version.
GPL-2.0 / GPL-3.0Free to use for any purpose, including commercial work. Anything you create with it is entirely yours.If you distribute modified versions of the software itself, that code must also be GPL.
LGPLA softer GPL. You can link it into closed software without opening your own code.Modifications to the library itself still have to be shared.
AGPL-3.0GPL extended to cover network use.The strictest here. If you run modified code as a hosted service, you must publish those changes.
MPL-2.0File-level copyleft. Modified files stay open; the rest of your project doesn’t have to be.A middle ground — less demanding than GPL, stricter than MIT.
CC0Effectively public domain. No conditions at all.Used for assets rather than code. Trademark law still applies to logos regardless of licence.

The short version for most designers: if you’re using these tools to produce design work — artwork, layouts, models, video — the licence places no restriction on what you make. Your output is yours in every case above. Licence obligations only begin when you redistribute or host the software itself.

One thing worth stating clearly: source-available is not the same as open source. Several well-known tools publish their code under licences that restrict commercial use or competition — Business Source Licence, Sustainable Use Licence and similar. Useful software, often free, but not open source. Those tools are listed elsewhere in this directory and deliberately excluded from this page.

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