Open Source Gems

Miguel Abreu9 appsUpdated Mar 14, 2020

Strong Apps that are made to not be "alternatives" (that's an insult u.u)

OpenToonz
Like
Open-source 2D animation software offering raster and vector support, advanced node-based effects, and plug-in extendibility, free for all uses.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Animation Maker
Digital Painting Tool
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
+7
Miguel Abreu’s note
GEM for Frame Animation. Open toonz is unbelievably powerful, has both vector and raster animation and you can use mypaint brushes for variation in frame work. Another software where the interface is quite dated though, there could be a lot of work in that regard.
Inkscape
Like
Open source vector graphics editor supporting SVG with features like custom brushes, pressure sensitivity, and layer management across multiple platforms.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Vector Graphic App
Digital Painting Tool
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Snapcraft
Flathub
PortableApps.com
Haiku
+8
Miguel Abreu’s note
GEM for Scalable Vectorial Drawing. Runs more Smoothly by each version that comes. Can't wait for 1.0, looks pretty as hell.
LibreOffice
Like
Free and open-source office suite with advanced word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, vector graphics, math formula editor, and database tools.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Word Processor
Spreadsheet App
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Android
BSD
Snapcraft
Flathub
PortableApps.com
OpenAPK
Flatpak
+11
Miguel Abreu’s note
GEM on Office Suite Applications. Powerful features - good interface design, easy to use and a good range of applications. A total beast.
LMMS
Like
Free cross-platform DAW supporting VST plugins, MIDI, and lossless audio. Offers music loopers and sequencers with privacy, no ads, and offline capability.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Music Production App
Digital Audio Workstation
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Flathub
PortableApps.com
Haiku
Flatpak
+2
Miguel Abreu’s note
GEM for Digital Audio Workstation The interface is still very complicatd, but still very powerful. Used along with Audacity is amazing.
Audacity
Like
Free open-source multi-track audio editor and recorder with 32-bit float processing. Supports many formats and plugins for Windows, macOS, Linux.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Audio Recorder
Audio Editor
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
AppImageHub
Flathub
PortableApps.com
Haiku
+6
Miguel Abreu’s note
GEM for audio recording and editing. Along with LMMS you got your own studio going, pretty muhc. The intercae is very dated and could use an update, or at least support for Community themes.
Krita
Like
A free, open-source painting program for professional artists offering customizable UI, 9 brush engines, layer support, and color management.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Digital Painting Tool
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Android Tablet
KDE Plasma
Epic Games Store
PortableApps.com
F-Droid
Steam
AppImage
+6
Miguel Abreu’s note
GEM For Digital Drawing Krita has a lot of features, the brushes defaults that come with it are very good and it runs very smoothly even with Drawing Tablets (no jitter, or delay).
GIMP
Like
Free open-source suite with advanced photo retouching, composition, batch processing, plugin extensibility, custom scripting, and wide file format compatibility.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Image Editor
Digital Painting Tool
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Snapcraft
Flathub
PortableApps.com
Haiku
Flatpak
AmigaOS
AppImage
+5
Miguel Abreu’s note
GEM for Photo/Image Editing. Tons of features - Interface could use improvements and the latest update is a step in the right direction in that regard.
Blender
Like
Free open-source 3D software for modeling, texturing, rigging, animation, rendering, compositing, video editing, and simulation.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
3D Modeler
3D Animator
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Snapcraft
Flathub
PortableApps.com
Haiku
Steam
Flatpak
+9
Miguel Abreu’s note
GEM for 3d Modeling 2.8 Is a blast, runs smoothly and the interface is just amazinggly well thought. Wish they could work more on the sculpting workflows though.
DragonBones
Like
DragonBones has a skeletal animation design panel named "DragonBonesDesignPanel" and a 2D skeletal animation library based on ActionScript.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Animation Maker
Game Development Tool
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Miguel Abreu’s note
GEM For Spine Animation Defenitely needs to be more known by the comunity, the software is very powerful but lacks comunity envolvement/tutorials.