FAQ
How To
Add a new application
After you sign up on AlternativeTo, you can add your software by using the option "Suggest new application" that you can find clicking on the User icon in the top right corner. Then you have to fill the fields Platforms, License, Descriptions, Tags, etc. and click the button "Submit the application".
Your app will be verified and approved as soon as possible :)
Add alternatives to an existing entry
In order to add an app as an alternative to other ones just go to the main app page, click the button "Contribute to this page" and the option "Suggest Alternatives".
In the new page displayed, you can "Search for existing applications" that are already on AlternativeTo inserting the name of the app to add as alternative in the first field and click "Suggest as alternative and select among its alternatives".
Or you can Add a new app as alternative by clicking the option "Add a new application as a new alternative" and filling the fields Platforms, License, Descriptions, Tags, etc.
Your actions will be verified and approved as soon as possible :)
Edit an application
To edit an entry on AlternativeTo, just go to its app page, click the button "Contribute to this page" and the option "Edit / Update Information". Then you can modify the fields Platforms, License, Description, Tags, etc., and click the button "Submit your changes".
Your changes will be verified and approved as soon as possible :)
Set an application as Discontinued or Dangerous
In order to set a Discontinued or Warning message to an app just go to the main app page, click the button "Contribute to this page" and the option "Report something wrong".
Then pick a reason why you want to report that app from the dropdown menu and write your explanation.
Your report will be verified and approved as soon as possible :)
Report incorrect info on the app page
In order to report incorrect info, like wrong price, platform or URL, click the "Contribute to this page" button on the app page and the option "Report something wrong": there you can pick a reason why you want to report that app from the dropdown menu and write your explanation.
Your report will be verified and approved as soon as possible by our admins :)
Download a software
We list several programs and games on AlternativeTo, but we don't host downloads for them on our website: we provide links to their Official websites where you can download or buy them.
You can reach them by clicking the blue button under the screenshots on the right of the app page or the direct links to the app stores.
If a link is not working or if you aren't able to access their website, let us know using the option "Report something wrong" in "Contribute to this page" menu of the app page.
Account / Login
Can you help me to get access to my account?
The first thing to try is to use the "Forgot password" feature on the Login page: if you signed up with email + password, you can insert your email address on that page and you will receive a password reset link to your inbox.
If you didn't register with an email, you can use the Recover user info feature on the "Forgot password" page. Insert your username or your email address in the displayed field and you'll get an email with more info about what login method you used when creating your account.
If nothing works you can always email us on support@alternativeto.net and we'll see if we can do anything to help you.
How do I reset/change my password?
If you signed up with email + password, after you login
you can change the password using the option "Manage Account" that you can find clicking on the User icon in the top right corner and clicking the button "Send password-reset email". You will receive a message with a link to your inbox.
I want to change my username, is that possible?
At the moment it's not possible. The main reason is that we use your nickname for the URL to your user profile. If you have a good reason to change username let us know via e-mail (support@alternativeto.net) and we may help you.
I want to delete my user account, how can I do that?
You can delete your user account easily: click on your username in the top right corner of the website, then "Profile", "Edit your Profile" and you will find the option "Remove my account" at the bottom of the page.
Anyway, if you have any problems, just let us know by e-mail on support@alternativeto.net. We will reply and help you as soon as possible.
Login via X / Twitter doesn't work. How can i login?
Changes to X / Twitter's API have affected the reliability of our "Login with X / Twitter" feature, prompting us to discontinue its use. However, we are still committed to assisting you with your account. Send a Direct message to our user @alternativeto on Twitter from the account you used to login to AlternativeTo and we'll help you ASAP.
Login via Facebook doesn't work. How can i login?
Changes to Facebook Login feature have affected the reliability of our "Login with Facebook" feature, prompting us to discontinue its use. However, we are still committed to assisting you with your account. Send a Direct message to our Facebook Page from the account you used to login to AlternativeTo or send us a mail at support@alternativeto.net and we'll help you ASAP.
User Profiles
What are the points that are shown in my profile?
The points are mostly for fun but it's also a way for us to say thanks and give some credits to active users. You get points for contributing to the site in various ways, like posting a comment, adding a new app or just liking an existing app. We have plans to improve this system later with achievements, etc.
What are the various titles like "User", "Contributor" and so on?
These are different levels a user can have. If you have submitted a lot of applications or contributed to the site in various ways you will be promoted to "Contributor". Other titles are given manually.
Can I use my user profile to advertise my product?
Using user profiles to advertise products or software is not allowed. Accounts used for this purpose will be blocked for spam. If you want to create a page for your software on AlternativeTo, you need to use the option Add a new application. Your app will be verified and approved as soon as possible. More info at https://alternativeto.net/faq/#add-a-new-application
Submitting Applications
Can you add my software to AlternativeTo?
You can add it yourself :) Just sign up for an account, it's super simple.
When you're registered, you just have to click the "Suggest new application" that you can find clicking on the User icon in the top right corner. If you want to suggest your application to be added as an alternative to any other one, then just search for that app, click the button "Contribute to this page" and the option "Suggest Alternatives".
How long will it take for an app I submitted to be approved?
Usually, it takes between a couple of days and up to a week. We have limited resources but we always try our best to approve apps as fast as possible.
I'm the developer or owner of an application you list, how can I update its info?
Just create an AlternativeTo account and then email us at support@alternativeto.net and tell us what username you're using. Also provide us with info about what application you want to get admin rights for and some kind of proof that you own the application. For example, you can send the email from a domain that is used by the application.
What languages are allowed?
English is the only language used on AlternativeTo at the moment. All applications added to the database must also support the English language. We think it will be really messy for the majority of our users if we allow apps in other languages since it will be very hard to manage.
We also want to make clear that we are not native English speaking here at AlternativeTo. The founders of the site are from Sweden and most of our admins and contributors are from non-native english speaking countries. We are sorry to shut out apps that might help our users, but at the moment it wouldn't work very well to allow other languages than English.
We might build features to support other languages in the future.
Can I add multiple versions of an application, like a pro and a free version?
In general, the answer is no.
On AlternativeTo, we don't add all the editions of a product separately, we think it's much easier for the user if we only list one entry with the generic name of the product, but you could speak of the editions in the description. If there is a free/lite version that is fully functional for the main purpose of the app, it should be added as "Free With Limited Functionality", or "Freemium". If the free version is more like a trial and only usable for a limited time or has some other major limitations, then only the pro version should be added and it should be listed as "Commercial". If there are two versions of the app, and both are commercial but still provide the same basic functionality, we also only want one version of the app listed.
This also makes it easier to get a good number of "likes". The only exception we can think of is if the difference between the two apps is so big that the pro and free version are an alternative to totally different apps.
I want to add an application with the same name as an existing app, how can I do that?
Our recommendation is to add some relevant extra data to the name. One example is the application "Mercury" that is a Reader extension for Chrome and a chat client for Windows. Adding it as "Mercury Reader" or "Mercury Chat" could be a good solution. We do not have exact guidelines for these situations but use your imagination and common sense and it will probably be fine.
What are the recommended image specifications for the icon on the app page?
A squared PNG or SVG image, 280x280 or bigger, with transparent background is suggested. Smaller sizes, WebP, JPG and GIF files are also supported, but the quality is not the best.
How do I extract icons from Windows and Mac applications?
To extract icons and screenshots from the Apple, Microsoft or Google Play Store, you can use a browser extension like Imageye. In order to extract icons from a Mac or Windows application that you have on your computer, you can follow these guides for Mac and Windows.
What are your policies about XXX / Nudity / Porn?
We do not allow porn sites to be listed. Apps about sex in other ways with no hardcore stuff are of course ok, but no images are allowed for them.
Can I add Hardware to AlternativeTo?
In general, we do not accept hardware. We can however add an hardware device as a platform if it becomes popular.
Can I add not released apps / websites / software to the site?
If the app is in closed beta or just announced, we do not accept it. If the app is in open beta or "kind of easy" to get access to, we will probably accept it.
Can I put links in the description?
To avoid spam abuse, software descriptions must not contain addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and website links.
The system already provides URL fields for the Official and Creator websites, the app stores' links and social links (actually only Facebook and Twitter, but more are planned).
However, in some rare cases, we could add URLs in the description if it's really necessary.
Why do I necessarily have to wait for admin approval when I change an app name or an official website link?
In order to avoid spam or abuses, changes are blocked and need verification when the name of an app or its official website is edited. All the changes for those fields, made by any user, even with developer access, must be verified by admins first, then approved or denied.
I'm a developer. Can I add UTM tags to the Official Website link of my product to track the traffic from AlternativeTo?
In general, the answer is no: many of our users are against tracking and want to see a clean official URL only.
We suggest to developers that they check the "HTTP referer" field in the header section of HTTP request to track the traffic from AlternativeTo to their website.
What's your policy about apps restricted to geographical areas?
US and Europe are our primary markets; we usually do not accept apps and services only available in single nations or in other geographical areas. We may add market specific filters to allow them in the future, but it would be too much for us right now.
Why wasn't my software / app approved?
It could be many reasons. Either it could be one of the clearly stated rules in this FAQ like nudity, non english apps or something similar. It could also be that we just don't think the app would provide any value to our users. In general we do not approve apps from small websites and local newspapers made with automated tools, companies that provide a custom-made service, personal websites or blogs, books or magazines, independent radio stations, collections of sounds, ringtones, wallpapers, screensavers, video playlists, local and domestic apps. Nowadays we have quite high standards for mobile games due to the high number of low quality games submitted, so if your game wasn't approved it likely means that we didn't think it lived up to the quality we expect of games listed on the site.
We are also declining a lot of apps that are basically the same app but bundled in different ways, like apps to convert various file formats and so on.
The approval of user submissions is at admins' discretion.
Alternatives
Why is not X an alternative to Y when X can do things that Y can?
Some programs like Outlook, iTunes and Opera have huge feature sets and can do a lot of different things. You could argue that Opera should be an alternative to µTorrent and other torrent application because Opera has a perfectly fine torrent client. The problem is that a lot of people might like Opera but the reason most of them like it is not because of its capabilities to download torrent files. They like it because it is a good web browser that happens to have a torrent client built-in and people who are searching for “alternatives to Opera” are definitely not looking for a new torrent client.
Recently, we've introduced a new App Type functionality that could solve this 'partial alternative' issue in the future.
Application X is really bad, why is it an alternative to Y?
Even if you consider an application to be bad, and therefore not a good alternative to another application, it is still an alternative. Other people might disagree with your opinion and as long as the two applications share the same main functionality and focus, they are alternatives to each other.
One of the main ideas with AlternativeTo is to help people find cross-platform alternatives so applications on different platforms can be alternatives to each other. You can filter by platform to avoid listing applications on platforms you're not interested in.
If an application is discontinued or malicious, we have systems to handle that. You can report these applications as not being alternatives and our admins will flag them with a warning or as discontinued. It is still important to list alternatives to a discontinued or malicious application but they should not be listed as alternatives to other applications.
What should be an alternative to what?
An application is an alternative to another application if its main “task” and “focus” is the same. Example: iTunes is an alternative to Windows Media Player because their main task and focus is to consume and organize media. Spotify is not an alternative to iTunes and Windows Media Player because its main focus is to stream music and that’s what it is known for. Even though Spotify has the capabilities to play local files and it’s a music player.
The main rule is to try to imagine what a person searching for “alternatives to X” really is looking for. If you're looking for an alternative to Notepad, then you're probably on the hunt for a simple text editor and not a full-fledged word processing app like Microsoft Word. We are aware that in some cases it can be hard to make the distinction but keeping this in mind really helps a lot.
Why is app X ranked higher than app Y, when X has less likes?
We want our users to find the best alternatives possible to apps. Therefore we do not only rank apps based on likes since that doesn't say everything. We use a lot of different factors and just as everyone else that tries to rank stuff on the internet, we can't be 100% open with exactly how we do it. But in general, we can say that the more organic the like is, the better it is. So the best way of attracting likes is just to make a good app and try to tell as many people as possible about it. And it's not a good idea to hire 1000 guys to write bogus reviews and stuff like that (see May I ask people to upvote for my product?: https://alternativeto.net/faq/#may-i-ask-people-to-upvote-for-my-product- )
Browsing Applications
What is "rank" that applications are sorted by?
Rank is our own algorithm for determining how good an app is. It consists of several different parameters. Number of likes is one of the most important parameters, but a lot of other factors also come into play. Unfortunately, spammers try to take advantage of sites like AlternativeTo, so we need to keep most of the algorithm logic to ourselves.
Please let us know if you think that our ranking doesn't seem to work well somewhere.
Why can I only filter by Free / Open Source and Commercial?
We have chosen to combine all of our various free licenses to one grouped "Free" option that also includes Open Source. We think that most users just don't want to pay for an app and therefore this is the most convenient option. We will probably improve this and make it possible to filter by more license types. We do not have a time frame for this change yet though.
What is the difference between features and tags?
There's a subtle difference between them: basically Features describe some options or supports that a program has, Tags are more generic and can detail what a program is.
For example, a program can have "video-converter" as a tag and "Support for HD videos" as a feature.
Anyway, our system is quite automatic, so tags that are actually features are automatically converted and the other way around.
What are Lists and how do they work?
Lists are collections of apps grouped by a common purpose or context.
You can use them to list "Best Applications for..." something or simply apps you want to try later.
Lists can be personal or public:
- personal lists are private and only you can see them;
- public lists are visible to everyone on the website and they can be shared on social media. Also they are checked by admins and the best ones are published at https://alternativeto.net/lists/
Please note that different uses of the Lists will be considered spam and removed, like promoting apps that are not on AlternativeTo yet.
Use the option "Suggest new application" for that purpose: https://alternativeto.net/faq/#add-a-new-application
How to create a List?
It is possible to create a list of programs:
- from the “Contribute to this page” button that you can find on any app page, by clicking on the "Add to a list" option;
- from the User menu clicking your profile picture in the top-right corner of the page by choosing the option “Create a custom list”;
- from an alternatives list clicking the button that appears beside the Likes.
Why do you still list discontinued apps and apps that have malware etc?
We usually don't remove this kind of apps.
AlternativeTo is all about finding alternatives to applications, so if an application is discontinued, obsolete or has malware/spyware, then there is a good reason to keep that application in our database and list alternatives to it.
Moreover, we keep apps with Discontinued tag in alternative list if those software are still available and working.
Some apps with Warning tag are still in alternative list because there are disputable behaviors by those software and choosing them as alternative is at users' discretion.
Don't worry: of course we will no longer list dead projects and evident dangerous software as alternatives to other apps.
Commenting & Voting
I think that X1 is an alternative to Y and X2 is not? How can I report it?
In alternative list you can vote for good or bad alternatives clicking the option "Good Alternative? Yes No" you can find next to the name of an alternative and explain your vote adding an opinion comment.
Choosing Yes you are suggesting that software is a real alternative to the main app; you can vote for your best alternative too.
Choosing No you are suggesting that software is not a real alternative to the main app because they are "Not similar enough" or for other problems.
When an app receives many votes No, this is automatically reported to administrators that will consider to remove the app from the list of the alternatives.
What's the difference between comments and opinion comments?
In alternative list you can find "alternative comments", also called opinion comments, left by users when they vote an app as good alternative or not: they can better describe what is in common between the main app and the alternative.
Instead, comments and reviews for an app are made to ask questions, describe what you like of the app or what you dislike.
I want to add a comment, but I get a "review" page. Is there something wrong?
We use the same page for comments and reviews: if you write the post and don't set any star rating, the post is added to the app page as a simple comment, otherwise it is set as a review.
I have posted a comment/review for an app. Why isn't it displayed on the app page and in my activities?
In order to avoid spam, comments and reviews need to be approved by admins before they are visible on our website. After the approval they will be visible on the app page and on the user activity.
I reported an application as not being an alternative but it's still listed, why?
Either we haven't had the time to approve the edit yet or we did not agree with you. There are several questions in this FAQ about our policies regarding alternatives. Have a look so you understand our point of view.
I want to be able to dislike an application, why can i only Like?
We think it's better to keep it simple and only be able to like. However you do have the option to dislike an app by writing a negative comment or review. We think it's important to motivate a negative vote.
What are AlternativeTo links and how can I make them?
AlternativeTo links are direct links to an app page on AlternativeTo. You can create them easily by pasting the URL of an app page in a comment, post, review or almost everywhere on AlternativeTo.net
The system will automatically convert that URL to a link with the name and the icon of the app that redirects to its page.
Platforms
What is "Custom Platforms"?
Custom platforms is a way to add any application that is already added to AlternativeTo as a platform to any other app. This makes it possible for example to find Google Chrome alternatives to Firefox Add-Ons and so on.
What is the self-hosted platform?
The Self-Hosted platform is usually used for web apps that you can install and run on your own webserver. It could be alternatives to Dropbox like Nextcloud and similar apps. You should also set the Self-Hosted platform for CMS like WordPress and other apps that are running on a Web Server.
Licenses
What is your general policy about licenses?
When you add an application you can choose among Open Source, Free with limited functionality (Freemium), Free for personal use, Free and Commercial. When you filter by license on the site we group together all apps that are not commercial into a filter called "Free", you can also filter by "Only Open Source" and "Commercial". We think that this is the best way for the majority of the users since most people only want a free app. Some users think it's important to use Open Source apps so you can also filter only by that.
What is the difference between Commercial and "Free with limited functionality" / "Freemium"?
In general we think that if a free version of the app can perform the main purpose of the app without costing anything we think it's a "Free with limited functionality" app. A good example is Dropbox that works extremely well in the free version but if you want more storage / features you can pay them.
Apps with time limitations (fully usable for a certain time period only) or usage limitations (usable for a number of times) and so on should be set as Commercial.
Other
Why are you running ads? How can i report bad ads?
As most websites on the internet, we are completely depending on ads to be able to get food on the table and pay for hosting, servers and stuff like that. However we do not want to show you ads that in any way are intrusive. If you get a pop-up, pop-under, ads that plays video / audio automatically or something like that, please let us know at hello@alternativeto.net
How do i suggest new features or report bugs?
You can suggest new features and report bugs on our Discord server in the #suggestions and #bug-reporting channels.
What should I do if i think an app is using suspicious activity to gain likes / reviews and so on?
Just let us know in the forum or by e-mail on support@alternativeto.net
May I ask people to upvote for my product?
Feel free to spread the word and bring friends into the discussion :)
But people should upvote things they genuinely like or find interesting, not because they were peer pressured to do so.
So remember that incentivizing people to upvote (with discounts, gifts and so on) or, worse, creating fake accounts to like or review your product may trigger the algorithm to drop it in the ranks or remove it from the front page entirely.
How can I make a donation to AlternativeTo?
If you wish to donate to AlternativeTo (thank you very much for that!), you can do so using our PayPal address paypal@alternativeto.net. The site is and will stay 100% free for all our users, but donations are greatly appreciated.