I have no problem with paying for software when it is useful and I’m going to need to do something repeatedly,but what if you need to do something as a one-off or just plain can’t afford the mega-bucks “pro tool”such as Photoshop? Help is now at hand thanks to alternativeto.net. The site has a list of all sorts of software on Windows,Mac and Linux and will suggest alternatives to most genres of app. So for example if you click on Photoshop it gives a brief overview of the product and then goes on to list alternatives such as GIMP and Paint.Net. The listings show whether the alternative is free or commercial,which OS it runs on or if it is an online app.
As with most things Web 2.0 the site is also user generated and apps can be marked as “liked”if it is something you recommend. The most liked apps appear at the top of the list for any given genre. Obviously lists can be narrowed down to particular OS or licence type to help for those areas that have apps galore.
