Applications
The software people actually open — the layer where AI stops being infrastructure and becomes a product.
The largest layer by headcount and the most crowded. It is also where subscription creep happens fastest, because every app is now $10 to $30 a seat a month and nobody audits the total.
46 decisions · 198 verified alternatives · 39 categories
Every decision at this layer
Ranked by how self-sufficient the leading alternative is. The score is a published rubric, not an opinion — see methodology.
Microsoft 365 → LibreOffice
The mature, fully open-source desktop office suite that runs entirely on your own machine.
Free / runs locally
GitHub → Forgejo
Community-governed, copyleft self-hosted Git forge.
Free / self-host
Adobe Photoshop → GIMP
The long-standing open-source image editor for photo retouching and compositing.
Free and open-source
Miro → Excalidraw
Hand-drawn style diagrams, instantly, for nothing.
Free and open source. Excalidraw+ is an optional paid hosted tier.
Jira → OpenProject
GPL-3.0 self-hosted project management with Gantt, agile boards, and portfolio features in the free Community Edition.
Free to self-host (Community Edition, GPL-3.0); paid Enterprise cloud/on-premises tiers from about €5.95/user/month for premium and security add-ons
Postman → Bruno
A fast, git-native API client that stores collections as plain files.
Free and open-source core; optional Pro ($6/user/mo) and Ultimate ($11/user/mo) for advanced Git, SSO, and support
Proprietary Smart-Home Hubs → Home Assistant
Local-first home automation on hardware you own.
Free / open-source (runs on your own hardware)
ElevenLabs → Kokoro
82M parameters, Apache-2.0, and the top of the TTS leaderboard.
Free — weights are Apache-2.0. Costs are hardware only; a rented GPU capable of faster-than-real-time synthesis runs roughly $20–$80/month, and nothing at all if you already own a suitable card.
Confluence → BookStack
Shelves, books, chapters, pages — a wiki organised like a library.
Free and open source. A small VPS runs it comfortably.
Google Photos → Immich
A self-hosted photo and video backup that feels like Google Photos.
Free and open-source (self-host); you provide the hardware and storage
Claude Code → opencode
The MIT terminal agent that picks up your CLAUDE.md where you left it.
Free and open source (MIT); you pay your own model provider. Optional OpenCode Go at $10/month (Go Plus $40/month) for open-source models, or the pay-as-you-go Zen gateway. Verified on opencode.ai 2026-10-03.
Bolt.new → Dyad
A free desktop app builder that runs on your machine, with any model and no token meter of its own.
Free and open source; bring your own API key or a ChatGPT subscription, or run a local model. The free Basic Agent is listed at 20 messages a day. Optional Dyad Pro is $20/month with 200 AI credits, and Dyad Max $79/month with 900. Verified on dyad.sh/pro 2026-10-06.
Lovable → Dyad
A free desktop app builder with Supabase built in, any model, and your code on your own disk.
Free and open source; bring your own API key or a ChatGPT subscription, or run a local model. The free Basic Agent is listed at 20 messages a day. Optional Dyad Pro is $20/month with 200 AI credits, and Dyad Max $79/month with 900. Verified on dyad.sh/pro 2026-10-06.
v0 → Dyad
A free desktop app builder with a Next.js and shadcn template, any model, and your code on your own disk.
Free and open source; bring your own API key or a ChatGPT subscription, or run a local model. The free Basic Agent is listed at 20 messages a day. Optional Dyad Pro is $20/month with 200 AI credits, and Dyad Max $79/month with 900. Verified on dyad.sh/pro 2026-10-06.
Shopify → Medusa
A headless commerce engine in TypeScript, MIT, no revenue share.
Free and open source. You pay for hosting and the developers who build the storefront.
Airtable → Baserow
MIT-core, self-hostable no-code database with the closest Airtable-style experience.
Free to self-host (MIT core); paid cloud and self-hosted premium/enterprise tiers available
Cursor → Cline
The open-source agent that lives in the editor you already have.
Free and open source (Apache-2.0) — you pay only your model provider. Optional prepaid Cline credits and a paid enterprise tier exist; bring-your-own-key needs no account.
Figma → Penpot
The one open design tool that genuinely competes — and it self-hosts.
Free and open source, self-hosted or on Penpot's free cloud. Paid plans for hosted teams.
Zoom → Jitsi Meet
Open-source video meetings with no account required.
Free / open-source (self-host or use a public instance)
Mailchimp → listmonk
Fast, self-hosted newsletter and mailing-list manager in a single binary.
Free / self-host (you pay only your server and SMTP-sending costs)
Google Analytics → Plausible
Lightweight, cookieless, privacy-first analytics.
Free self-host (Community Edition); paid cloud
DocuSign → Documenso
Open-source signing with real cryptographic signatures and no envelope cap.
Free and open source to self-host, with no envelope limits. Documenso Cloud is paid.
Calendly → Easy!Appointments
Mature, self-hosted appointment booking with Google Calendar sync.
Free, self-hosted (own server/hosting cost only). Optional paid add-ons: SMS reminders, payment processing, custom development, and managed hosting from the maintainer.
Retool → Appsmith
The closest open equivalent — drag, drop, connect, self-host.
Free and open source to self-host. Paid cloud and enterprise tiers.
Typeform → Formbricks
Self-hosted surveys built for privacy-first teams.
Free and open source to self-host. Paid cloud and enterprise tiers.
Salesforce → EspoCRM
A complete CRM that a small team can run without a specialist.
Free and open source to self-host. Some advanced extensions are paid.
HubSpot → EspoCRM
Mature open-source CRM with the workflow depth teams actually leave HubSpot for.
Free / self-host (GPL core); paid Advanced Pack and cloud hosting optional
Notion → Logseq
A local-first, open-source outliner over plain Markdown.
Free / open-source
Trello → Wekan
The closest open-source, self-hosted match to Trello's own card-and-list model.
Free / self-host (commercial support available separately)
Freshdesk → Zammad
A full-featured, AGPL-licensed help desk with ticketing, a knowledge base, and multi-channel inboxes.
Free to self-host with unlimited agents; optional managed cloud plans start around €19/agent/month and Zammad also sells paid support contracts for self-hosted installs.
Zendesk → Zammad
A full-featured, AGPL-licensed help desk with ticketing, a knowledge base, and multi-channel inboxes.
Free to self-host with unlimited agents; optional managed cloud plans start around €19/agent/month and Zammad also sells paid support contracts for self-hosted installs.
Adobe Acrobat Pro → Stirling PDF
A complete PDF toolbox on your own server — 50+ tools, MIT core.
Free (MIT core) — self-host via Docker; optional paid enterprise tiers
Auth0 → Keycloak
The mature, CNCF-backed open-source identity and access management server.
Free / self-host (Docker image or standalone distribution); commercial support available via Red Hat build of Keycloak (RHBK) for enterprises that want a support contract.
Tableau → Metabase
The one non-technical colleagues actually use without training.
Open-source edition free and self-hostable. Cloud and enterprise tiers are paid.
Evernote → Joplin
A free, open-source, Markdown-based note app with end-to-end encrypted sync and native Evernote import.
Core app is free forever with no note/device caps. Sync is free if you bring your own WebDAV/Nextcloud/S3/Dropbox target, or self-host Joplin Server for personal use at no cost; Joplin Cloud (managed hosted sync) starts around $2.99/month.
Slack → Mattermost
Self-hosted team chat built for security-conscious orgs.
Free self-host; paid Enterprise
1Password → Bitwarden
Open-source and free forever — the easy pick for most people.
Generous free tier; paid from about $1/month; self-host free
NordVPN → Mullvad VPN
The privacy gold standard — flat price, no account, fully audited.
Flat €5/month, no tiers; anonymous 16-digit account number, no email
Amplitude → PostHog
Product analytics, session replay, flags and experiments in one self-hostable product.
Generous free tier on cloud; self-hostable at no licence cost for the MIT core.
Gmail → Proton Mail
End-to-end encrypted, open-source, Swiss — the privacy default.
Free (1GB); paid Mail Plus ~$4/mo; bundled Proton Unlimited adds Drive, VPN, and Pass
Zapier → n8n
Powerful, self-hostable workflow automation with a large node library.
Free to self-host; paid n8n Cloud tiers available
Contentful → Directus
An instant API and admin app over any SQL database you already have.
Free to self-host on the Core tier. Since Directus 12, higher limits and extra features need a licence key (a free key is offered); Directus Cloud and commercial licences are paid.
Incogni → EasyOptOuts
Near-top removal rates for $19.99 a year.
$19.99/yr flat — the 200+ most visible brokers and people-search sites, automated
PartnerStack → Rewardful
Stripe-native affiliate tracking with a flat fee and no revenue share.
Flat monthly fee by tracked revenue volume — no percentage of partner-driven revenue. Free trial available.
Clearbit (HubSpot Breeze Intelligence) → RB2B
Person-level identification for US traffic, with a genuinely free tier.
Free tier with a monthly identification allowance; paid plans above it. Checked 2026-08-01.
SendGrid → Amazon SES
Roughly $0.10 per thousand — the price floor for this category.
About $0.10 per 1,000 emails. Checked 2026-08-05.
Categories in this layer
Where this sits in the stack
L4 below · Models & tooling — The models themselves, plus the gateways, vector stores, frameworks and observability that make them usable.