definitive-opensource

A definitive list of the best open source applications

Note

A more efficient submission method is currently in development.

Caution

Star count last updated 10/15/2024. API retrieval system of stars currently in development.

Why another list?

There's plenty of awesome lists on GitHub, many focusing on open source specifically. However I've found them to be either far too cluttered with long-deprecated apps or missing a lot of modern open source projects.

This list aims to be highly curated including only the best open source projects. This is, to some extent guaged with popularity. Only projects with over 10,000 stars are generally included, however there can be exceptions. There's plenty of extraordinary projects with just a couple thousand stars. Guaging the quality of software based on popularity alone is not the best way, I do admit, but to keep this list functioning at scale it is the most reliable method.

Other Information

There's an additional section at the end to shout out several closed-source applications that deserve a spot on this list despite being proprietary. Although a rare occurance, there are some app categories in which a proprietary application is truly the best of what's out there.

Terminal
Code-editor
Terminal
Browser
Graphics
File Manager
Knowledge Base
Note Taking
Project Management

Applications

Terminal

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Kitty	Cross-platform, fast, feature-rich, GPU based terminal	Cross-platform	24.2k
Wezterm	A GPU-accelerated cross-platform terminal emulator and multiplexer written by @wez and implemented in Rust	Cross-platform	17.2k
Waveterm	An open-source, cross-platform terminal for seamless workflows	Cross-platform	4.2k
Alacritty	A cross-platform, OpenGL terminal emulator.	Cross-platform	56k
Hyper	A terminal built on web technologies	Cross-platform	43.3k
Tabby	A terminal for a more modern age	Cross-platform	58.8k

Code-editor

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Zed	Code at the speed of thought – Zed is a high-performance, multiplayer code editor from the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter.	MacOS	48.4k
Helix	A post-modern modal text editor.	Cross-platform	33.4k
Lapce	Lightning-fast and Powerful Code Editor written in Rust	Cross-platform	34.4k
Vim	The official Vim repository	Cross-platform	36.4k
Neovim	Vim-fork focused on extensibility and usability	Cross-platform	82.5k
Lunarvim	🌙 LunarVim is an IDE layer for Neovim. Completely free and community driven.	Cross-platform	18.2k
Spacevim	A modular Vim/Neovim configuration	Cross-platform	20.3k
Nvchad	Blazing fast Neovim config providing solid defaults and a beautiful UI, enhancing your neovim experience.	Cross-platform	24.6k
VSCode	Visual Studio Code	Cross-platform	163k
VSCodium	binary releases of VS Code without MS branding/telemetry/licensing	Cross-platform	25.2k
IntelliJ Community	IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition & IntelliJ Platform	Cross-platform	17.2k

LLM-Gui

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Open-webui	User-friendly AI Interface (Supports Ollama, OpenAI API, ...)	Cross-platform	42.9k
gpt4all	GPT4All: Run Local LLMs on Any Device. Open-source and available for commercial use.	Cross-platform	70k
Jan	Jan is an open source alternative to ChatGPT that runs 100% offline on your computer. Multiple engine support (llama.cpp, TensorRT-LLM)	MacOS, Linux	22.7k
Lobe-chat	🤯 Lobe Chat - an open-source, modern-design AI chat framework. Supports Multi AI Providers( OpenAI / Claude 3 / Gemini / Ollama / Azure / DeepSeek), Knowledge Base (file upload / knowledge management / RAG ), Multi-Modals (Vision/TTS) and plugin system. One-click FREE deployment of your private ChatGPT/ Claude application.	Cross-platform	42.8k
Chatbox	User-friendly Desktop Client App for AI Models/LLMs (GPT, Claude, Gemini, Ollama...)	Cross-platform	21.2k
Text Generation WebUI	A Gradio web UI for Large Language Models.	Cross-platform	40.1k

Browser

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Zen	🌀 Experience tranquillity while browsing the web without people tracking you!	Cross-platform	14.9k
Brave	Brave browser for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows.	Cross-platform	17.7k
Ladybird	Truly independent web browser	Pre-Alpha	21k

Graphics

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Graphite	2D vector & raster editor that melds traditional layers & tools with a modern node-based, non-destructive, procedural workflow.	Browser	7.9k
FreeCAD	This is the official source code of FreeCAD, a free and opensource multiplatform 3D parametric modeler.	Cross-platform	19.5k
Blender	Official mirror of Blender	Cross-platform	13k

File-Manager

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Spacedrive	Spacedrive is an open source cross-platform file explorer, powered by a virtual distributed filesystem written in Rust.	Cross-platform	32k
Files	A modern file manager that helps users organize their files and folders.	Windows	34.2k
nnn	n³ The unorthodox terminal file manager	Linux, Android	19.2k
Yazi	💥 Blazing fast terminal file manager written in Rust, based on async I/O.	Cross-platform	15.6k
Ranger	A VIM-inspired filemanager for the console	Cross-platform	15.5k
Electerm	📻Terminal/ssh/telnet/serialport/RDP/VNC/sftp client(linux, mac, win)	Cross-platform	11.1k
If	Terminal file manager	Cross-platform	7.7k
Superfile	Pretty fancy and modern terminal file manager	Cross-platform	5.8k

KnowledgeBase

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Logseq	A privacy-first, open-source platform for knowledge management and collaboration.	Cross-platform	32.5k
Anytype	Official Anytype client for MacOS, Linux, and Windows	Cross-platform	4.3k
AppFlowy	Bring projects, wikis, and teams together with AI. AppFlowy is an AI collaborative workspace where you achieve more without losing control of your data. The best open source alternative to Notion.	Cross-platform	59.6k
Affine	There can be more than Notion and Miro. AFFiNE(pronounced [ə‘fain]) is a next-gen knowledge base that brings planning, sorting and creating all together. Privacy first, open-source, customizable and ready to use.	Cross-platform	41.3k
Outline	The fastest knowledge base for growing teams. Beautiful, realtime collaborative, feature packed, and markdown compatible.	Cross-platform	27.8k

NoteTaking

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Joplin	Joplin - the privacy-focused note taking app with sync capabilities for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.	Cross-platform	45.5k
Notesnook	A fully open source & end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote.	Cross-platform	9.7k
Trilium	Build your personal knowledge base with Trilium Notes	Cross-platform	27.1k

ProjectManagement

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Plane	🔥 🔥 🔥 Open Source JIRA, Linear, Monday, and Asana Alternative. Plane helps you track your issues, epics, and product roadmaps in the simplest way possible.	Cross-platform	29.8k
Focalboard	Focalboard is an open source, self-hosted alternative to Trello, Notion, and Asana.	Cross-platform	21.6k
Huly	Huly — All-in-One Project Management Platform (alternative to Linear, Jira, Slack, Notion, Motion)	Cross-platform	14.6k
Openproject	OpenProject is the leading open source project management software.	Cross-platform	9.3k

TextEditor

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Quill	Quill is a modern WYSIWYG editor built for compatibility and extensibility	Cross-platform	43.5k

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