These past couple of years, I realized I wasn’t necessarily paying for better tools. I was more so paying for familiarity and the fear that switching to alternatives would break the setups that already worked for me. However, many of my subscriptions had pro features I barely touched and basic features that were easily replaceable.

Once I started getting more intentional with the apps I was using, it became obvious that I didn’t need enterprise-level functions most of the time. I was mainly opening these apps to do very specific and boring things, such as resizing images, merging PDF files, and organizing my notes into folders. Not only are there free options out there that can handle all of these tasks, but they’re lighter and faster too.

OmniTools

It handles most basic file tasks

I’ve covered OmniTools extensively as an alternative to Adobe Acrobat. But it’s more than a PDF editor - it can handle images, videos, audio, and a host of text files. It runs in your browser, which I love for accessibility and portability, and you can also self-host it - the Docker image is only 28MB. I’d recommend OmniTools for anyone who handles any type of media or text files on a daily basis.

It takes care of basic image editing functions such as resizing, cropping, removing the background, compression, and more. Same thing for video: it handles rotation, cropping, trimming, and video speed adjustment. Plus, you’ve got audio tools such as merging and changing the speed. It’s a full media editor in one small web app.

Of course, it also has a massive kit of PDF tools. You can split, merge, compress, convert, edit, rotate, and password-protect. This completely renders an Acrobat subscription unnecessary. And it has much more than I’ve covered here, such as text tools, JSON tools, CSV tools, XML tools, and more.

Simplenote

A free and lightweight alternative to Evernote

If you’ve ever used Evernote for drafts, text notes, lists, and quick ideas, then Simplenote is worth a look. It’s exactly what the name says - a minimalist and straightforward way to jot things down without extra noise or distraction. It uses plain text by default, which makes it fit nicely into my local plain text stack, plus it supports Markdown formatting, has lists, and lets you pin notes.

While I normally prefer some type of folder structure for my notes, I actually appreciate the minimal way Simplenote handles it. It just lays out all of your notes in the left panel in order of last opened, which gives you a broad overview of everything you’ve created thus far. Simplenote is also fully cross-platform.

Wallabag

No need to pay for Readwise anymore

If, like me, you’ve ever used Readwise just to collect highlights and revisit articles later, Wallabag lets you do the same thing without handing money over to a middleman every month. It’s a self-hostable, read-it-later tool that gives you a private space to save web pages to come back to later.

The features are minimal but very useful. You can highlight content and also add comments to your highlights. Plus, the app lets you star and tag your saved contents. Although you can manually add content, there is a browser extension that lets you get content into the app right away. It takes a minute to set up, so I recommend checking out this documentation for help. Furthermore, it lets you import content from your Pocket, Instapaper, and Pinboard accounts.

One thing to note: if you’re not self-hosting Wallabag, you’d have to use the hosted version called wallabag.it. Unfortunately, this is a paid service (with a free trial). So I recommend checking out the self-host guide which you can find here.

Super Productivity

The only task management app you need

Super Productivity has been one of my go-to apps for staying on top of my tasks. This little powerhouse can replace proprietary and paid apps like Trello, Todoist, TickTick, and Toggl Track. It isn’t bloated with features you’ll never use, yet gives you all the essentials. It has a scheduler for tasks, a planner, timers, and also lets you organize your projects with tags.

I really like that you can choose how “invasive” the reminders and timers are in the settings - sometimes I don’t want a window popping up on the screen unexpectedly. With Super Productivity, all of your to-dos live locally, and there isn’t even a need to create an account. It’s cross-platform, and the app size seems to vary from 100 to 600MB depending on your OS.

Replacing subscriptions one app at a time

Switching to lightweight, open-source tools has transformed the way I handle my daily tasks, work, and knowledge. It made me realize I was paying for features I didn’t use or could get elsewhere for free. Plus, this little stack is lightweight and therefore doesn’t slow down my PC anymore.