definitive-opensource

A definitive list of the best of everything open source

Note

Submit or make changes by forking this repo, editing, commiting, and opening a pull-request. Please make sure you include a description of what have updated or added.

Important

For an open source project to be approved for submission, the repo should have over 5k stars - but this is flexible. If the app is extraordinary or does a task nothing else does, it will most likely be accepted. The app should also have relatively recent commits.

Caution

Star count last updated 10/15/2024. API retrieval system of stars currently being implemented for always up-to-date star counts.

Why another list?

There's plenty of awesome lists on GitHub, many focusing on open source specifically. However I've found them including many long-deprecated apps, cluttered with smaller projects on the verge of extinction, 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 5000 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.

Contents

• Terminal
• Code Editor
• IDE
• Terminal
• Browser
• Graphics
• File Manager
• Knowledge Base
• Note Taking
• Project Management
• Productivity
• AI Image GUI
• Screen Recording
• Games
• Chat
• Video Editing
• Password Manager
• Game Engine
• Remote Desktop
• Virtual Machine
• Office Suite
• Utilities
• Package Manager
• Video Player
• Mail
• Calendar
• Download Manager
• Other

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
CodeEdit	CodeEdit App for macOS – Elevate your code editing experience. Open source, free forever.	MacOS	21k

IDE

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
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
Siyuan	A privacy-first, self-hosted, fully open source personal knowledge management software, written in typescript and golang.	Cross-platform	19.5k

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

Markdown

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Zettlr	Your One-Stop Publication Workbench	Cross-platform	10.3k

The following also support markdown editing but have been placed in the knowledge base category.

• Logseq
• Anytype

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

Productivity

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Super Productivity	Super Productivity is an advanced todo list app with integrated Timeboxing and time tracking capabilities. It also comes with integrations for Jira, Gitlab, GitHub and Open Project.	Cross-platform	11.7k

TextEditor

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

AI-Image-GUI

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
DiffusionBee	Diffusion Bee is the easiest way to run Stable Diffusion locally on your M1 Mac. Comes with a one-click installer. No dependencies or technical knowledge needed.	MacOS	12.5k
Auto1111	Stable Diffusion web UI	Cross-platform	141k
Upscayl	🆙 Upscayl - #1 Free and Open Source AI Image Upscaler for Linux, MacOS and Windows.	Cross-platform	30.5k
ComfyUI	The most powerful and modular diffusion model GUI, api and backend with a graph/nodes interface.	Cross-platform	53.2k
InvokeAI	Invoke is a leading creative engine for Stable Diffusion models, empowering professionals, artists, and enthusiasts to generate and create visual media using the latest AI-driven technologies. The solution offers an industry leading WebUI, and serves as the foundation for multiple commercial products.	Cross-platform	23.4k
WebUI Forge	No description, website, or topics provided.	Cross-platform	8k
Fooocus	Focus on prompting and generating	Cross-platform	40.8k
StableSwarmUI	StableSwarmUI, A Modular Stable Diffusion Web-User-Interface, with an emphasis on making powertools easily accessible, high performance, and extensibility.	Cross-platform	4.5k
StabilityMatrix	Multi-Platform Package Manager for Stable Diffusion	Cross-platform	4.6k

Screen-recording

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
OBS Studio	OBS Studio - Free and open source software for live streaming and screen recording	Cross-platform	59.7k

Games

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Endless Sky	Space exploration, trading, and combat game.	Cross-platform	5.8k
Cataclysm DDA	Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead. A turn-based survival game set in a post-apocalyptic world.	Cross-platform	10.3k
Unciv	Open-source Android/Desktop remake of Civ V	Cross-platform	8.4k
Wesnoth	An open source, turn-based strategy game with a high fantasy theme.	Cross-platform	5.5k
Hyper	A terminal built on web technologies	Cross-platform	43.3k
Tabby	A terminal for a more modern age	Cross-platform	58.8k

Chat

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Signal	A private messenger.	Cross-platform	Total: 50k+

Video-Editing

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Kdenlive	Free and open source video editor, based on MLT Framework and KDE Frameworks	Cross-platform	3.1k
Shotcut	cross-platform (Qt), open-source (GPLv3) video editor	Cross-platform	10.9k
Olive	Free open-source non-linear video editor	Cross-platform	8.2k

Development

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Github Desktop	Focus on what matters instead of fighting with Git.	Cross-platform	19.7k

Password-Manager

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Bitwarden	Open source security solutions for individuals, teams, and business organizations. Explore Password Manager, Secrets Manager, and passkey innovations.	Cross-platform	Total: 30k+
Keepass	KeePassXC is a cross-platform community-driven port of the Windows application “Keepass Password Safe”.	Cross-platform	21k
Olive	Free open-source non-linear video editor	Cross-platform	8.2k

Game-Engine

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Godot	Godot Engine – Multi-platform 2D and 3D game engine	Cross-platform	90.2k

Remote-Desktop

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Rustdesk	An open-source remote desktop application designed for self-hosting, as an alternative to TeamViewer.	Cross-platform	74.2k

Virtual-Machine

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
UTM	Virtual machines for iOS and macOS	Cross-platform	26.6k

Office-Suite

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
OnlyOffice	An office suite that combines text, spreadsheet and presentation editors allowing to create, view and edit local documents	Cross-platform	2.8k
LibreOffice	No description provided.	Cross-platform	2.8k

Utilities

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Stats	macOS system monitor in your menu bar	MacOS	25.3k

Package-Manager

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Homebrew	macOS system monitor in your menu bar	MacOS	25.3k
Yarn	Yarn is a modern package manager split into various packages. Its novel architecture allows to do things currently impossible with existing solutions	Cross-platform	7.4k
PNPM	Fast, disk space efficient package manager	Cross-platform	29.5k
LibreOffice	No description provided.	Cross-platform	2.8k
LibreOffice	No description provided.	Cross-platform	2.8k

Video-Player

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
mpv	🎥 Command line video player	Cross-platform	28.2k
iina	The modern video player for macOS.	MacOS	38k
VLC	VLC is a libre and open source media player and multimedia engine, focused on playing everything, and running everywhere.	Cross-platform	14k

Mail

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Mailspring	💌 A beautiful, fast and fully open source mail client for Mac, Windows and Linux.	Cross-platform	15.5k

Calendar

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Cal	Scheduling infrastructure for absolutely everyone.	Cross-platform	31.9k

Download-Manager

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
GoPeed	A modern download manager that supports all platforms. Built with Golang and Flutter.	Cross-platform	16.3k
AB	A Download Manager that speeds up your downloads	Cross-platform	1.5k
Motrix	A full-featured download manager.	Cross-platform	45.4k
Persepolis	Persepolis is a download manager written in Python.	Cross-platform	6.3k
GoPeed	A modern download manager that supports all platforms. Built with Golang and Flutter.	Cross-platform	16.3k
AppLite	User-friendly GUI macOS application for Homebrew Casks	Cross-platform	3.9k

Other

Name/Link	Description	Platform	Stars
Cork	A fast GUI for Homebrew written in SwiftUI	Cross-platform	2.2k
AppLite	User-friendly GUI macOS application for Homebrew Casks	Cross-platform	3.9k