🕊️ Software everyone can use freely
About To Be Free
To Be Free believes something simple: using software should not be a luxury. Too many good features hide behind subscriptions, ads, sign-up walls and data tracking. We built this place to hand-pick the tools that are genuinely free, genuinely usable, and genuinely burden-free — one at a time.
01 Hard requirements (all must be met)
- Genuinely free Core features are free forever — not a timed trial, not a crippled "free version".
- Completely ad-free No pop-ups, no promotions, no bundled third-party software.
- Burden-free No forced sign-up, no phone-number binding, no silent uploading of your data.
02 Bonus points (preferred, but open source not required)
Open source is reassuring, but closed-source yet truly burden-free gems like Everything and Obsidian deserve a place too. Rather than a blanket rule, we mark every trait with a badge so you can judge for yourself:
03 On links: official sources only, never self-hosted
We only link to a tool’s official website and official download page — we never host installers ourselves. That guarantees you always get the newest, most trustworthy official build, and avoids any bundling or security risk. For open-source projects, we add the source code link too.
04 This site itself
Built with Astro and hosted fully static on Cloudflare — no backend, no database, not a single line of tracking. It is what "burden-free" looks like. The site is open source; tool suggestions are welcome.
05 Frequently asked questions
- Are these tools really free?
- Yes. We only list tools whose core features are permanently free — not timed trials, not crippled "free versions". Tools marked "Free tier" are freemium: the free allowance is enough for everyday use and only advanced features are paid, which we always label clearly.
- Why are some not open source?
- Open source is a bonus, not a hard requirement. Closed-source but genuinely free, ad-free, burden-free gems like Everything and Obsidian deserve a place too. We mark whether each tool is open source with a badge so you can judge for yourself.
- Do you host downloads?
- No. We only link to each tool’s official website and official downloads page — we never host installers ourselves. That way you always get the newest, most trustworthy official build, with no bundling or security risk.
- How do I suggest a tool?
- Submit it on our GitHub repository. As long as it meets the "genuinely free, ad-free, burden-free" standard, it’s welcome.