Best Windows Apps and Services

Handpicked collection of the most popular and highly-rated Windows applications

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NextDNS

NextDNS

Open Source

NextDNS is a powerful, cloud-based DNS service offering comprehensive network-wide content filtering and security. It protects all your devices from ads, trackers, malware, and phishing attempts, while providing advanced parental controls and detailed analytics, all through a highly customizable platform that requires no software installation on individual devices.

Comprehensive network-wide ad, tracker, and malware blocking.
Block ads
... Home & Family Network & Admin Security & Privacy Web Browsers
BB4Win

BB4Win

Open Source

BB4Win is a discontinued, lightweight alternative shell for Windows, inspired by Blackbox for X11. It transforms the traditional Windows desktop into a highly customizable, minimalist environment, offering users extensive control over their system's look and feel, and prioritizing efficiency and aesthetic flexibility over standard Windows UI conventions. It was popular among users seeking a departure from the default Windows experience.

Extremely lightweight and resource-efficient compared to Windows Explorer.
Linux-based
OS & Utilities
Gradle

Gradle

Open Source

Gradle is an open-source build automation tool known for its flexibility and performance. It supports a wide range of languages and platforms, including Java, C++, Python, and more, making it ideal for multi-language projects. Its powerful Groovy-based DSL and declarative builds streamline development workflows and enhance productivity across various development environments.

Superior build performance through incremental builds and caching.
Build system
Development
Trilium Notes

Trilium Notes

Open Source

Trilium Notes is a versatile, open-source personal knowledge base application designed for organizing notes in a hierarchical tree structure. It empowers users to manage information efficiently, from simple text notes to complex knowledge graphs, with robust features for tagging, search, and synchronization. Ideal for anyone seeking a powerful, customizable, and offline-first note-taking solution.

Unmatched hierarchical organization with infinite depth.
Electron based
Office & Productivity
fzf

fzf

Open Source

FZF is a command-line fuzzy finder that provides an incredibly fast and interactive search experience for various data sources. It allows users to quickly navigate and select files, command history, processes, hostnames, and more with highly responsive filtering capabilities directly within their terminal. Its efficiency and flexibility make it an indispensable tool for developers and power users.

Extremely fast and responsive, even with large datasets.
File Searching
File Management Online Services
Piskel

Piskel

Open Source

Piskel is a free online editor for animated sprites and pixel art, ideal for crafting GIFs, 8-bit game assets, and other retro-style graphics. Its intuitive interface and powerful features cater to both beginners and experienced pixel artists, offering real-time preview and layer support for efficient creation.

Completely free and open source.
Animations
Syncplay

Syncplay

Open Source

Syncplay is an innovative application designed for synchronized media playback, allowing users to watch videos together with friends, family, or colleagues online. It ensures everyone experiences the same moments at the same time, perfect for remote movie nights, collaborative learning, or shared entertainment. With no registration required, it provides a seamless and accessible way to connect through shared media experiences.

Ensures precise real-time video synchronization for all participants.
Integrated Chat
Social & Communications Video & Movies
Notepad3

Notepad3

Open Source

Notepad3 is a fast, light-weight, and highly configurable text editor for Windows, designed for developers and power users. Based on the Scintilla source code editing component, it offers syntax highlighting for numerous programming languages, powerful search and replace with regular expressions, and extensive customization options, making it a robust alternative to Notepad.

Extremely lightweight and fast launch.
IDE
Development
Scuttle

Scuttle

Open Source

Scuttle is an open-source, web-based social bookmarking platform designed for efficient organization and sharing of web content. It offers advanced features like document annotations, screenshot markups, and dead link checking, aiming to create a comprehensive knowledge management system. Although discontinued, its core functionalities provide robust tools for personal and collaborative information curation.

Comprehensive annotation tools (text highlighting, detailed notes, screenshot ma...
Social Bookmarking
Social & Communications
Xournal++

Xournal++

Open Source

Xournal++ is a powerful, open-source notetaking software designed for handwritten notes, sketching, and PDF annotation. It provides a robust set of tools for students, professionals, and anyone who prefers the tactile experience of pen and paper, enhanced by digital flexibility. With support for stylus input, LaTeX, and various export options, it stands out as a versatile solution for digital ink.

Excellent handwriting feel with stylus support and pressure sensitivity.
Handwritten Notes
Office & Productivity
Veyon

Veyon

Open Source

Veyon is a powerful open-source software for computer monitoring and classroom management. It enables teachers to remotely control and observe student computers, broadcast their screens, and facilitate collaborative learning environments. Ideal for educational institutions, Veyon enhances teaching efficiency and student engagement through its comprehensive suite of features.

Completely free and open-source, no recurring costs.
Classroom monitoring
Remote Work & Education
Notifier for Gmail

Notifier for Gmail

Open Source

Notifier for Gmail is a lightweight, cross-platform desktop application designed to keep users instantly updated on new emails across multiple Gmail and POP3 accounts. It provides real-time notifications, quick access to inboxes, and a highly customizable experience, ensuring you never miss an important message.

Real-time notifications for immediate email awareness.
POP3 Support
SonarQube

SonarQube

Open Source

SonarQube is an open-source platform designed for continuous inspection of code quality to perform static analysis of code. It detects bugs, vulnerabilities, and code smells across multiple programming languages, providing developers with actionable insights to improve software reliability and security. Integrate seamlessly into various development workflows.

Comprehensive static analysis for bugs, vulnerabilities, and code smells.
Continuous Integration
Apache Solr

Apache Solr

Open Source

Apache Solr is an open-source enterprise search platform, built on Apache Lucene, offering powerful full-text search, faceted search, near real-time indexing, and dynamic clustering. It's designed for high-performance and scalability, making it an ideal choice for complex search requirements across various applications, from e-commerce to data analytics.

Highly scalable and performant for large datasets.
Indexed search
Development
Beeftext

Beeftext

Open Source

Beeftext is a free and open-source text expander software designed for Windows. It significantly boosts productivity by allowing users to define frequently used text snippets, which can then be quickly inserted into any application using customizable hotkeys or autocompletion. It supports rich text editing, making it versatile for various professional and personal uses.

Supports rich text and image snippets.
Clipboard monitoring
Office & Productivity
Flutter

Flutter

Open Source

Flutter is an open-source UI software development kit created by Google. It enables developers to build natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop from a single codebase, offering a fast development cycle, expressive and flexible UI, and near-native performance across various platforms. Its hot-reload feature significantly speeds up iterations.

Rapid development with Hot Reload/Restart.
Android Development
Development
GNU Make

GNU Make

Open Source

GNU Make is a powerful and ubiquitous build automation tool primarily used in software development. It automates the compilation and linking of large programs, managing dependencies between source files and ensuring that only necessary components are rebuilt. Its declarative approach simplifies complex build processes across various programming languages and platforms.

Efficient incremental builds due to robust dependency tracking.
C++ support
Development
NZBGet

NZBGet

Open Source

NZBGet is a highly efficient and lightweight Usenet newsgrabber optimized for performance and resource minimalization. It automates the process of downloading, verifying, and repairing binary files from Usenet, offering extensive configuration options and cross-platform compatibility.

Extremely low resource consumption, ideal for low-power devices.
Workflow Automation
News & Books
Yeoman

Yeoman

Open Source

Yeoman is an open-source scaffolding tool for modern web applications, streamlining the setup of new projects. It helps developers quickly initiate projects with best practices, pre-configured build tools, and common frameworks, accelerating development cycles.

Accelerates project setup by automating common boilerplate creation, saving sign...
Web Development
Development
DNSCrypt Protocol

DNSCrypt Protocol

Open Source

DNSCrypt Protocol is a network protocol designed to secure DNS communications between a user's device and DNS resolvers. It encrypts DNS queries to prevent eavesdropping, spoofing, and man-in-the-middle attacks, enhancing user privacy and security online. It operates as a lightweight, open-source solution.

Encrypts DNS traffic, preventing eavesdropping and surveillance.
Encryption
Network & Admin Security & Privacy
PNotes

PNotes

Open Source

PNotes is a lightweight, portable, and highly customizable sticky notes application designed for Windows. It allows users to create and manage digital sticky notes directly on their desktop, providing a convenient way to jot down reminders, ideas, and essential information without cluttering physical space. Its intuitive interface and robust feature set make it an excellent tool for personal organization and quick note-taking.

Excellent portability, runs from USB with no installation required.
German
Office & Productivity
Bisq (Bitsquare)

Bisq (Bitsquare)

Open Source

Bisq is a peer-to-peer (P2P) decentralized exchange for cryptocurrencies, emphasizing privacy and security. It allows users to trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies directly with each other without relying on a central authority, eliminating KYC requirements and enhancing anonymity through Tor integration.

Unyielding privacy: No KYC required and built-in Tor integration.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency File Sharing Security & Privacy
Driver Store Explorer

Driver Store Explorer

Open Source

Driver Store Explorer (DSE) is a free, portable utility designed to help Windows users manage their driver store. It provides a convenient graphical interface to enumerate, delete, and clean up old, unused, or problematic drivers, helping to free up disk space and maintain system stability. DSE is an essential tool for PC enthusiasts and system administrators.

Efficiently frees up disk space by removing old drivers.
Fake users generator
OS & Utilities System & Hardware
Bitcoin Cash

Bitcoin Cash

Open Source

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a cryptocurrency that emerged from a hard fork of Bitcoin (BTC) in 2017, designed to offer a more scalable and efficient peer-to-peer electronic cash system. It aims to fulfill the original vision of Bitcoin by providing low transaction fees and fast confirmation times, making it suitable for everyday transactions and global commerce.

Significantly lower transaction fees compared to Bitcoin.
Anonymity
Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency Business & Commerce File Sharing
Soundbounce

Soundbounce

Open Source

Soundbounce is a collaborative social music platform designed to enhance shared music experiences. It seamlessly integrates real-time chat with synchronized music playback, allowing groups of friends or communities to discover, listen, and interact around music together. This innovative client supports various streaming sources, including Spotify, and fosters a dynamic environment for collective music exploration.

True real-time synchronized music playback for groups.
Integrated Chat
Audio & Music Social & Communications
YAML

YAML

Open Source

YAML (YAML Ain't Markup Language) is a human-friendly data serialization standard for all programming languages. It's often used for configuration files but is also suitable for data exchange between languages, offering a clean, readable, and highly flexible alternative to more verbose formats.

Highly human-readable syntax, easy to write and understand.
MarkDown support
Development
Grunt

Grunt

Open Source

Grunt is a JavaScript task runner that automates repetitive development workflows. From minification and compilation to linting and testing, Grunt handles virtually any task you need for efficient web development. It's built on Node.js, offering a flexible and powerful command-line interface for modern front-end build processes.

Highly configurable with explicit task definitions.
Web Development
Development
Gnash

Gnash

Open Source

Gnash is a free and open-source software player for SWF files, a format primarily used for Adobe Flash media. Developed as part of the GNU Project, it aimed to provide an independent and secure alternative to Adobe Flash Player, supporting various Flash functionalities for animation, video, and interactive web content, particularly during the widespread use of Flash on the internet.

Free and open-source software
Embeddable
Video & Movies
UPX

UPX

Open Source

UPX (Ultimate Packer for eXecutables) is a free, open-source executable packer that compresses various executable formats to significantly reduce their size. It’s widely used for creating smaller binaries, which saves disk space, reduces network transfer times, and can sometimes improve application load performance, all while keeping the executable self-contained.

Significantly reduces executable file size, improving distribution efficiency.
File Compression
File Management OS & Utilities
Metastream

Metastream

Open Source

Metastream is a unique collaborative browsing platform that specializes in synchronized video streaming. It allows users to watch videos and browse the web together in real-time, fostering a shared experience. With integrated chat, private group options, and support for major streaming platforms, Metastream transforms passive viewing into an interactive social event, all without requiring any complex registration.

Flawless real-time content synchronization across all participants.
Google Chrome Extensions
Social & Communications Video & Movies Web Browsers
Showing 30 of results

Recently Added Windows Apps and Services

Latest additions to our Windows software collection

NextDNS

NextDNS

Open Source

NextDNS is a powerful, cloud-based DNS service offering comprehensive network-wide content filtering and security. It protects all your devices from ads, trackers, malware, and phishing attempts, while providing advanced parental controls and detailed analytics, all through a highly customizable platform that requires no software installation on individual devices.

Comprehensive network-wide ad, tracker, and malware blocking.
Block ads
... Home & Family Network & Admin Security & Privacy Web Browsers
BB4Win

BB4Win

Open Source

BB4Win is a discontinued, lightweight alternative shell for Windows, inspired by Blackbox for X11. It transforms the traditional Windows desktop into a highly customizable, minimalist environment, offering users extensive control over their system's look and feel, and prioritizing efficiency and aesthetic flexibility over standard Windows UI conventions. It was popular among users seeking a departure from the default Windows experience.

Extremely lightweight and resource-efficient compared to Windows Explorer.
Linux-based
OS & Utilities
Gradle

Gradle

Open Source

Gradle is an open-source build automation tool known for its flexibility and performance. It supports a wide range of languages and platforms, including Java, C++, Python, and more, making it ideal for multi-language projects. Its powerful Groovy-based DSL and declarative builds streamline development workflows and enhance productivity across various development environments.

Superior build performance through incremental builds and caching.
Build system
Development
Trilium Notes

Trilium Notes

Open Source

Trilium Notes is a versatile, open-source personal knowledge base application designed for organizing notes in a hierarchical tree structure. It empowers users to manage information efficiently, from simple text notes to complex knowledge graphs, with robust features for tagging, search, and synchronization. Ideal for anyone seeking a powerful, customizable, and offline-first note-taking solution.

Unmatched hierarchical organization with infinite depth.
Electron based
Office & Productivity
fzf

fzf

Open Source

FZF is a command-line fuzzy finder that provides an incredibly fast and interactive search experience for various data sources. It allows users to quickly navigate and select files, command history, processes, hostnames, and more with highly responsive filtering capabilities directly within their terminal. Its efficiency and flexibility make it an indispensable tool for developers and power users.

Extremely fast and responsive, even with large datasets.
File Searching
File Management Online Services
Piskel

Piskel

Open Source

Piskel is a free online editor for animated sprites and pixel art, ideal for crafting GIFs, 8-bit game assets, and other retro-style graphics. Its intuitive interface and powerful features cater to both beginners and experienced pixel artists, offering real-time preview and layer support for efficient creation.

Completely free and open source.
Animations
Syncplay

Syncplay

Open Source

Syncplay is an innovative application designed for synchronized media playback, allowing users to watch videos together with friends, family, or colleagues online. It ensures everyone experiences the same moments at the same time, perfect for remote movie nights, collaborative learning, or shared entertainment. With no registration required, it provides a seamless and accessible way to connect through shared media experiences.

Ensures precise real-time video synchronization for all participants.
Integrated Chat
Social & Communications Video & Movies
Notepad3

Notepad3

Open Source

Notepad3 is a fast, light-weight, and highly configurable text editor for Windows, designed for developers and power users. Based on the Scintilla source code editing component, it offers syntax highlighting for numerous programming languages, powerful search and replace with regular expressions, and extensive customization options, making it a robust alternative to Notepad.

Extremely lightweight and fast launch.
IDE
Development
Scuttle

Scuttle

Open Source

Scuttle is an open-source, web-based social bookmarking platform designed for efficient organization and sharing of web content. It offers advanced features like document annotations, screenshot markups, and dead link checking, aiming to create a comprehensive knowledge management system. Although discontinued, its core functionalities provide robust tools for personal and collaborative information curation.

Comprehensive annotation tools (text highlighting, detailed notes, screenshot ma...
Social Bookmarking
Social & Communications
Xournal++

Xournal++

Open Source

Xournal++ is a powerful, open-source notetaking software designed for handwritten notes, sketching, and PDF annotation. It provides a robust set of tools for students, professionals, and anyone who prefers the tactile experience of pen and paper, enhanced by digital flexibility. With support for stylus input, LaTeX, and various export options, it stands out as a versatile solution for digital ink.

Excellent handwriting feel with stylus support and pressure sensitivity.
Handwritten Notes
Office & Productivity