Programs I Use (some proprietary, some open source)

Caden Durden17 appsUpdated Mar 31, 2024

This is a list of programs I use for various purposes. Feel free to browse the list for recommendations.

Image & Video

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
Digital Painting Tool
Image Editor
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Snapcraft
Flathub
PortableApps.com
Haiku
Flatpak
AmigaOS
AppImage
+5
Caden Durden’s note
I love using this software, it has most of the tools Adobe Photoshop has. I use it for various purposes, like making art, memes, and more. However, when it comes to using my drawing pad, I like using a different program.
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
Caden Durden’s note
This is my preferred raster image editor when I'm using my drawing pad. It is a terrific software with many tools, and is perfect for making cartoons.
Pinta
Like
Pinta is a image editing, drawing and painting application with a simple yet powerful interface. Pinta has a wide range of drawing tools, including: freehand, rectangles, circles and lines. It also has over 35 effects to apply to your images, and also has the ability to create...
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Image Editor
Digital Painting Tool
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Flathub
Mono
Snapcraft
Caden Durden’s note
Pinta is my preferred alternative to Microsoft Paint, which comes with the Windows installation. I love using this software along with Krita and GIMP.
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
Caden Durden’s note
When making logos, this is the perfect free vector graphics editor. It has a lot of stuff you might find useful, like 3D boxes, shapes, text, and many, many more!
ShareX
Like
Free and open-source tool for screen capture and recording; enables file uploads, annotation, dark mode, 4K support, and customizable themes.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Screenshot Capture Tool
Screen Recorder
Platforms
Windows
PortableApps.com
Steam
+29
Caden Durden’s note
ShareX is one of the gold standards for open source screenshot software, having a ton of sharing options for the screenshot.
Converseen
Like
Converseen is a free cross-platform batch image processor for Windows and Linux that allows you to convert, resize, rotate and flip an infinite number of images with a mouse click.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Image Converter
Platforms
Windows
Linux
Mac
FreeBSD
Caden Durden’s note
This software can let you convert images to a large variety of formats, such as PNG, JPG, TGA, ICO, and many more.
Kdenlive
Like
Intuitive multi-track video editor with robust hardware-accelerated support; offers chroma key, color grading, and extensive audio/video format compatibility.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Video Editor
Animated GIF Creator
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
KDE Plasma
Snapcraft
Flathub
Flatpak
+2
Natron
Like
Natron is an open source, cross platform nodal compositing application. It is built around industry standard open source tech such as OpenFX, OpenEXR, OpenColorIO and OpenImageIO. The feature set includes realtime playback/RAM cache, multi-threaded rendering, 2d tracking...
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
VFX Software
Motion Graphics Software
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
FreeBSD
Flathub
Caden Durden’s note
INRIA's Natron is an amazing software for making intros & lower thirds. It's perfect for your YouTube needs, and there are loads of tutorials on how to use this handy software. It has a similar GUI to NUKE, which costs money.
OBS Studio
Like
Comprehensive software providing screen recording and live streaming on Mac, Windows, and Linux with powerful encoding support and unlimited scenes.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Screen Recorder
Screen Casting Tool
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Snapcraft
Flathub
PortableApps.com
Steam
FreeBSD
+8
Caden Durden’s note
This is my preferred screen recorder for gaming videos, is full featured, and a perfect alternative to NCH Software's Debut Video Capture Software.
nomacs
Like
nomacs is a free, open source image viewer, which supports multiple platforms. You can use it for viewing all common image formats including RAW and psd images.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Image Viewer
Image Editor
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
FreeBSD
Flathub
+1
VLC Media Player
Like
Cross-platform, free media player supports multimedia files, DVDs, streaming, offers hardware acceleration, 4K, lossless audio, and more.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Media Player
Audio Player
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Windows Mobile
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
BSD
HUAWEI AppGallery
iPad
AppImageHub
Apple Watch
Snapcraft
Google Chrome
Apple TV
Flathub
PortableApps.com
F-Droid
Kindle Fire
Haiku
Android TV
Homebrew
Chocolatey
Xbox
OpenAPK
+4
Strawberry
Like
Audio player and music organizer supporting advanced playback, wide format compatibility, streaming from Tidal, Qobuz, Subsonic, and album cover fetching.
Cost / License
Freemium
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Audio Player
Media Player
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Haiku
Flathub
HandBrake
Like
An open-source multithreaded video transcoder, HandBrake compresses and converts digital media, supporting MP4, MKV formats, and offers hardware-accelerated conversion.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Video Converter
Audio Converter
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Snapcraft
Flathub
Haiku
Flatpak
Caden Durden’s note
Even though I use VidCoder for video converting & transcoding, it is based on this software. You can remaster remaster videos, and rip DVDs.

Publishing & Ebooks

Scribus
Like
Open-source DTP tool with flexible layouts, typesetting, CMYK support, and interactive PDFs, ideal for creating newspapers and brochures.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Desktop Publisher
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Flathub
PortableApps.com
Oracle Solaris
Flatpak
+2
Caden Durden’s note
This is my preferred alternative to InDesign, and is perfect for publishers who can't afford Adobe's A-list publishing software.

Web, E-mail, torrents, and file sharing

Bluefish Editor
Like
Bluefish is a powerful editor targeted towards programmers and webdesigners, with many options to write websites, scripts and programming code. Bluefish supports many programming and markup languages, and it focuses on editing dynamic and interactive websites.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Code Editor
Text Editor
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Flathub
Haiku
Mozilla Firefox
Like
Open-source browser with Gecko engine, supporting HTML add-ons and providing privacy features like Enhanced Tracking Protection and third-party cookie blocking.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Web Browser
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
BSD
HUAWEI AppGallery
iPad
AppImageHub
Snapcraft
Linux Mobile
Flathub
Samsung Galaxy Store
PortableApps.com
Haiku
Flatpak
Homebrew
Chocolatey
Gecko
F-Droid
+8
qBittorrent
Like
Open-source, ad-free torrent client offering a polished user interface, integrated multi-site search, RSS support, remote web control, and cross-platform availability.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Torrent Client
Torrent Search Engine
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
AppImageHub
Snapcraft
Flathub
PortableApps.com
Haiku
Cloudron
+2