ArcHub: Art

Free, open-source creative tools

Graphic Art

Animation

Blender - Incredible software that offers professional capability in 3D modeling, 3D animation, 2D animation, CGI/VFX, and more.
FreeMoCap - Advanced but usable motion capture framework for everyone
OpenMoonRay - MoonRay is DreamWorks’ open-source, multi-award-winning, state-of-the-art production MCRT renderer, which has been used on feature films
Pixie - Photo-realistic ray-tracing renderer for generating photo-realistic images. Developed by Okan Arikan and George Harker from the University of Texas, Austin.
Storyboarder - visualize a story as fast you can draw stick figures
OpenUSD - Format made by Pixar that combines lots of scene data and allows for real-time collaboration between artists across multiple applications.
OpenToonz - 2D animation software famously used by Studio Ghibli
How To Think When You Draw - blog and books by the Etherington brothers
DrawPile - collaborative drawing program that lets multiple people draw, sketch, paint and animate on the same canvas simultaneously
RenderChan - Rendering manager for 2D animation projects.
Pencil2D - Minimalistic, cross-platform 2D animation software that allows for easy switching between raster and vector workflows.
Infinigen - A powerful tool for procedural generation of infinite, photorealistic worlds with real geometry.
Tixl - Amazing realtime animation toolkit for motion graphic artists that can be used in audio-reactive VJ content, automating keyframe animation, development of fragment or compute shaders, and much more.
Friction - Raster and vector motion graphics software with effects and other cool features. It is based on enve, a now defunct open source animation software.
Wick Editor - Adobe Flash/Animate-inspired animation tool with bulit-in scripting that can also do games/interactive projects.

Photography

GNU Image Manipulation Program - One of the most popular Photoshop alternatives with an impressive feature set and versatility.
RapidRAW - Modern, high-performance Lightroom alternative with a beautiful interface.
Darktable - Virtual lightroom and darktable for photographers, allows for processing of raw image files.
RawTherapee - Like Darktable with a steeper learning curve, but with excellent HDR and tonemapping capability.
ART - A popular fork of RawTherapee with the purpose of simplifying the UI while keeping functionality in tact.
DigiKam - Tool for sorting and organizing expansive collections of photos, with batch editing features.
Immich - Self-hostable image and video management solution.
Memories - A beautiful Nextcloud app that provides a private and powerful, self-hosted photo management suite.
Photoprism - AI-powered application for advanced photo organization and easy sharing.
HDRView - High-dynamic range image viewer for viewing and comparing images with support for many file types, 10-bit displays, and Apple EDR.
Siril - Advanced astronomical image processing for space photographers. Provides calibration, enhancement, and more.
Upscayl - Excellent AI image upscaler.
Hugin - Panoramic imaging toolchain for stitching photos together.
Curtail - Handy image compressor for Linux.
pngquant - Efficient command line utility for compressing PNG files.

Video Production

kdenlive - Video editor with multi-track capability, support for a wide varitey of video and audio formats, and a suite of useful production tools. It's been in active development since 2002!
Shotcut - Video editor with professional audio processing features, lots of video effects, and a customizable interface with undockable panels. It also boasts support for some video-related hardware.
OpenCut - Multi-platform, intuitive video editor that even runs in the browser.
Pitivi - Video editor with a focus on design and usability, with natural integration into the GNOME desktop environment.
Flowblade - Video editor with a multitude of included tools, boasting stability and a speedy workflow.
Olive Video Editor - Video editing software with node-based compositing built-in and fast disk cache performance.
OpenShot - Simple, bare-bones video editing akin to Windows Movie Maker or iMovie.
Avidemux - Small but mighty. Ideal for quick edits, filtering, and encodes.
Gyroflow - Gyro-based video stabalization.
OpenColorIO - Color grading/management tool for use with Olive Video Editor, Blender, Krita, and more.
Natron - Professional compositing software for Motion Graphics and VFX.
Open RV - Award-winning image and sequence viewer for VFX artists and animators.
xSTUDIO - Similar to Open RV, this is another media playback and review program for film and animation.
Handbrake - Powerful, cross-platform video transcoder.
Video Hub App - Brilliant tool for organizing and managing video libraries, great for filmmaking and media consumption. Pre-built binaries are available for $5 (most of which goes to charity), or you can build it from source for free!

CAD Software

FreeCAD - 3D parametric modeler for product design, mechanical engineering, and architecture. Features Python integration, OpenSCAD integration, and 2D drafting.
QCAD - Another excellent CAD program with layers, grouping, 60+ tools, a part library with 4800+ CAD parts, and more.
OpenSCAD - Code-based, non-interactive 3D modeling workbench.
LibreCAD - Lightweight 2D drafting software.
OpenVSP - Parametric aircraft geometry tool for designing functional air vehicles.
Avogadro - Molecular editor and visualizer for chemical engineers.
MolView - Web-based molecular editor and visualizer.
topologicpy - Spacial modelling and analysis for architecture, engineering, and construction.
Mayo - 3D CAD model viewer and converter.

Audio

Audio Editors

Audacity - Simple, intuitive multi-track recorder and waveform editor. It has been around since 2000 and remains an exceptionally popular tool for audio recording and editing.
Tenacity - A fork of Audacity from an older version (3.0.2), now taking the project in a new direction.
Wavacity - Another fork of Audacity, but this time ported to the web browser!

Audio File Cleanup & Manipulation

SoX (Sound eXchange) - Sound file conversion tool that can also apply filters and effects.
GramoFile - Sound recorder that can split long audio files into seperate tracks, clean up pops and clicks in tracks, and add filters that recreate the soud of vintage recording tech.
declick - Dynamic digital click remover.
SoundTouch - Changes tempo, pitch, and playback rate of audio stems and files.

Music Source Separation Libraries

Open-Unmix - CLI program that will attempt to separate individual tracks from an audio recording using PyTorch.
Spleeter - Another music source separator developed by Deezer developers.
Demucs - Yet another, but developed by Meta researchers (I know, I'm sorry, but it is entirely FOSS).

Metadata Management

Tone - Audio tagger for dumping and editing metadata from multiple audio formats, such as FLAC, MP3, M4B, and more.

DAWs

Digital Audio Workstations

Ardour - Full-featured, cross-platform, multi-track workstation & MIDI sequencer with support for VST, LV2, and LADSPA plugins. Best option for working with audio tracks.
Qtractor - Multi-track recorder/editor with a powerful MIDI sequencer for Linux. Supports VST, LV2, DSSI, and LADSPA plugins. Not as capable as Ardour in working with audio tracks, but much better at handling MIDI tracks.
OpenDAW - A (soon to be) open source browser-based DAW. The project has a lot of promise, and will soon have a Desktop version and VST plugin support.
MusE - Complete multitrack DAW for Linux that handles both MIDI and audio tracks.
Zrythm - An in-development automated and convenient workstation for music production.
Helio - Remarkably intuitive and concise sequencer with helpful visualization tools.
LMMS - Ideal workstation for beatmaking or a loops-based workflow, like you may find in FL Studio or Ableton Live, though it does not feature native audio recording.
ossia score - Intermedia sequencer with mixed node-based and timeline workflow.
Ensembles - Digital workstation for arranging music for live performance, not targeted toward studio recording.
Rosegarden - MIDI sequencer and editing tool for composers with classical music notation built-in.

Audio Plugins

Plugin Hosts

Carla - Non-linear plugin host for running plugins outside the DAW, using Windows VSTs on Linux, and more.
Yabridge - Seamless support for both 64-bit and 32-bit VSTs (VST2 & VST3) on 64-bit Linux hosts.
AudioGridder - Allows users to offload DSP processing to remote computers to save system resources when using intensive plugins.
Element - VST plugin that is itself a modular, node-based plugin host that allows you to chain together plugins to create powerful new sounds.

Packs

Calf Studio Gear - Extensive pack of LV2 plugins including instruments and effects in modulation, delay, dynamics, EQ, and more.
Socalabs Plugins - Collection of useful plugins including a great reimplementation of mverb, some basic effects, several synths inspired by retro video game consoles, utility plugins, and more.
DPF-Plugins - Small collection of plugins by DISTRHO in LADSPA, DSSI, LV2, VST2 and VST3 formats.
DISTRHO Ports - Collection of open-source plugin ports to Linux, including the popular TAL-Noisemaker, Vitalium, mverb, and more.
IEM Plug-in Suite - Plugin suite comprised of a great multi-band compressor, encoders, decorders, and visualization tools.
Zam-Plugins - Several audio plugins including a really nice dynamic EQ and more, all in LV2 or VST formats.
Invada Studio - Pack of basic effects, filters, and more.
x42 MIDI Filter Collection - More than 25 MIDI data filters.
Linux Studio Plugins (LSP) - Suite of excellent plugins made for Linux users.

Synthesizers

Cardinal - FOSS version of VCV Rack 2 that runs as a plugin in your DAW, or even in your browser!
Helm - Versatile polyphonic synthesizer in multiple plugin formats or a standalone app.
Surge - Subtractive hybrid synth that seemingly does it all.
Odin 2 - A monstrous 24-voice polyphonic synth fit for the gods.
ZynAddSubFX - Polyphonic synth with additive, subtractive, and pad modes.
Orchestools Genesyn 2 - Additive synth with 4 generators and 100 presets to play with.
Sorcer - LV2 wavetable synth primarily for EDM producers.
Geonkick - Fantastic modern percussion synthesizer.
WeirdDrums - Small but highly tweakable synthesizer for techno/EDM drum sounds.
Dexed - Synth plugin inspired by the Yamaha DX7.
DSP56300 - Emulating late '90s/early '00s VA Synths based on the Motorola 56300 chip, such as the Virus B and Virus C.
Digits - Fantastic sounding Casio CZ synth emulation.
OPNPlug - FM Chip synthesizer, inspired by the YM2612 found in the Sega Genesis/MegaDrive and some classic arcade cabinets. Great for chiptunes.
SoyBoy - Emulating the sounds of the Game Boy.

Virtual Instruments

DrumGizmo - Drum sampler plugin with great samples and support for eDrum triggers (with positional sensitivity in the works).
x42 AVL Drums - Acoustic drum sampler plugin, now with three great sounding kits.
Hydrogen - MIDI drum machine that can be used on its own or as a sequencer and trigger for external virtual drums (like DrumGizmo) and other virtual instruments.
x42 setBfree - Classic tonewheel organ, great for jazz, blues, and more.
Orchestools - This is actually 4 plugins: Strings, Brass, Winds, and Percussion. Together, you will have all of the sounds of a symphony orchestra at your disposal.

Sampling

Drops - For easily processing samples and cutting loops.
ninjas2 - Another easy sample slicer.
SooperLooper - Real-time live looping for Linux and MacOS users.

Dynamics

EQ10Q - Powerful and flexible 10-band parametric equalizer with filters.
Luftikus - Maag-inspired, analogue style EQ.
WSTD EQ - 3-band EQ that adds a bit of "crunch" to the sound.
WSTD 3Q - Same as the WSTD EQ, only with three seperate outputs. Needs a plugin host that supports port-groups.
Squeezer - Flexible, all-purpose compression.
abGate - Noise gate in LV2 format.
HiLoPass - Simple high-pass/low-pass filter that is controlled with just one knob.

Delay and Reverb

CHOW Matrix - Infinitely growable, complex delay effect with lots of options.
Cocoa Delay - Nice, warm delay plugin in Windows VST format.
Regrader - Degenerative delay where each repeat degrades in resolution.
mverb - Great sounding, simple reverb plugin.
CloudSeed - Vast and beautiful ambient reverb in VST format.
- Aether is a fork of Cloud Seed available in LV2 format.
Teufelsberg Reverb - 6 distinctive reverb sounds captured at the Berlin surveillance tower.
Dragonfly Reverb - A pack of reverbs including hall, plate, room, and reflections effects.

Modulation

YK Chorus - Chorus effect based on TAL's DSP code.
WSTD FLANGR - Basic flanger plugin with a wide range of sound.
CHOW Phaser - Very nice phhaser plugin available in both mono and stereo.

Distortion / Saturation

CHOW - Distortion plugin for heavy degredation.
C1Bitcrusher - Authentic sounding bitcrusher in VST2 format.
CHOW Tape Model - Digital emulation of analogue, reel-to-reel tape saturation.
Roth-AIR - Combines multiband compression and gentle saturation on high frequencies to add a crispy, airy presence to your tracks that is great for vocals, synths, strings, and more.

Vocal Processing

x42 Auto Tune - Pitch correction.
Autotalent - Pitch correction.

Guitar Effects

NAM (Neural Amp Modeler) - A truly impressive modeler that uses deep learning to replicate the sound of nearly any guitar amp or effect pedal.
- ToneHunt - Very large online repository of NAM models created by the community.
guitarix - Multi-format virtual amplifier.
GxPlugins - Suite of LV2 plugins intended to be a standalone expansion to guitarix.
BYOD (Build-Your-Own-Distortion) - Allows the user to create custom guitar effects from distortion and tone-shaping effect emulation in a node-based UI.
SmartGuitarAmp - Uses machine learning to simulate real-world guitar amplifiers.
SmartGuitarPedal - Uses maching learning to simulate real-world guitar effect pedals.

Misc Effects

BinAural VST - Mono-to-stereo plugin that allows you to position sound in 3D space.
Wolf Shaper - Waveshaper with a graphic editor.
ArgotLunar - Granular synthesis with lots of flexibility.
AirWindows - Incredibly subtle, "subliminal" sound texturing plugin.
PaulXStretch - Extreme time-stretching plugin.
Flutterbird - Automated pitch and volume fluxuation.
x42 Phase Rotate - Rotates the phase of a signal up to 180 degrees.
x42 Whirl Speaker - Imitates the sound of Don Leslie's electromechanical rotating speaker.
plugdata - Visual programming UI based on pure-data for audio experimentation. Can be used as a plugin or standalone.

Mastering

x42 Digital Peak Limiter - Tool for preventing clipping during mixing and mastering.
x42 Meter Collection - Audio meters for dynamic range, phase, LUFS and more.
ReFine - The final coat of paint for your new song, allowing you to dial in more warmth, space, and punch to individual tracks or the overall mix.

Standalone Instruments

Synthesizers

VCV Rack - An insanely powerful and configurable modular synth with tons of possible applications.
- VCVRack Library is a collection of plugins for VCVRack.
FluidSynth - Cross-platform soundfont synthesizer. It has no GUI, but is versatile and powerful if that doesn't scare you away. However, due to it's robust API, there are programs that do have GUIs and utilize FluidSynth on the backend.

Trackers

Bosca Ceoli - Tracker that comes pre-loaded with over one hundred MIDI and chiptune instrument sounds.
MilkyTracker - Chiptune synthesizer and sequencer.
klystrack - Simple but powerful four-track synth and sequencer.
SunVox - Small modular synth for a variety of devices.
Schism tracker - Open source re-implementation of Impulse Tracker.
hUGETracker - Tracker for Game Boy homebrew and chiptune composers.
FamiStudio - Tracker for NES/Famicom homebrew and chiptune composers.
GoatTracker 2 - Tracker for Commodore 64 homebrew and chiptune composers.

DJ Software

Mixxx - Community-driven software with dozens of features for newbie DJs and master turntableists alike.

Music Notation

MuseScore - Create and print your own sheet music in multiple formats (including classical, jazz chord charts, tableture, vocal arrangements, and more), with a clean UI and support for MIDI keyboard input.
LilyPond - Flexible software for making beautiful, printable sheet music. It is extremely customizable and can be expanded for practically any kind of notation you might need.
Chordly - Easily create simple chord charts with lyrics and transpose chords as needed.

Writing

Specialized Word Processors

Bibisco - Novel writing application with additional tools to aid in character development and world building, organizational featues, and the capability to anaylize your novel and provide helpful data at a glance.
Manuskript - Software for storytellers who are also planners, offering a detailed, hierarchal outliner and "novel assistant" to help you think it all out before you've started writing, as well as a distraction-free text editor.
Kit Scenarist - Cross-platform screenwriting application with a handy research module for easy reference of research material and virtual cards for mapping out your story structure.
GitBook - Software that takes advantage of Git's version control system for technical writing and documentation.
Twine - Tool for developing non-linear, interactive fiction.

Text Editors

ghostwriter - Text editor that allows you to use Markdown to create documents in various formats, all within a clean and customizable interface.
Emacs - Advanced, power-user text editor with content-aware editing modes, built-in documentation, and much, much more.
Spacemacs - Alternative to Emacs with a VIM-like featureset incorporated into the editor.
espanso - A "text expander" that allows you to code custom keywords to make your typing more efficient.

Notebooks

Notesnook - Private and secure notes app with automatic syncing and great organization.
Joplin - Cross-platform note-taking app with end-to-end encrypted note syncing between devices and a handful of other great features.
Turtl - Secure notebook app with an emphasis on collaboration.
Journal - Self-hostable, private journaling webapp.
EteSync Notes - Self-hostable, encrypted notes app for mobile and web.

Office Suites

LibreOffice - A truly free and complete office suite for everyone.
- Collabora Online is a self-hostable online version of LibreOffice with collaborative editing. It needs a document management platform such as Nextcloud - many Nextcloud providers offer some version of Collabora Online.
OnlyOffice - Modern, full-featured Office alternative for collaborators. Excellent compatability with Microsoft Office documents and can also integrate with Nextcloud.
- CryptPad is a self-hostable, cloud-based office solution that integrates OnlyOffice tools in the web browser, similar to Office365, and includes other features like Kanban and a real-time whiteboard aapplication.

Editing

LanguageTool - Grammer, style, and spell checker in the form of a desktop app, webapp, browser add-on, office-plugin, and more. Supports several common languages and counting.

Translation

LibreTranslate - Machine translation API for text and documents that is self-hostable, can be used offline, and has a free webapp.

Publishing

LaTeX - Document and book formatting software for anything from scientific research papers to high fantasy novels.
Scribus - Versatile desktop publishing toolset for finalizing print-ready books, magazines, and more.
gscan2pdf - Easily make PDFs or DjVus from scanned documents.

Software Development

APIs

Public APIs List on Github - Very long, organized list of free public APIs for your development projects.

Code Editors

VSCodium - Forked version of Microsoft's open source VSCode, relicensed under the MIT license and without telemetry.
Geany - Programmer's text editor and IDE that is lightweight, customizable, and supports many plugins.
Lua Carousel - Lightweight environment for programming on phones, tablets and computers.
Notepad++ - Simple notepad and source code editor for Windows.

UX/UI Design

penpot - Web-based design and prototyping platform made for cross-domain teams, a noteworthy alternative to Figma.
Pencil Project - Cross-platform tool for making GUI prototypes.
Alva - Tool for making "living" prototypes with working code components.
Excalidraw - Generic, intuitive, in-browser sketching tool for quick concepting.
Akira - Offline generic sketching tool, also great for concepting.
Icon Shelf - Icon manager for web developers where all icons are copyable as code.

Version Control

Meld - Offline tool for comparing and/or merging files and folders on your sytem. Extremely useful for general organization and project management, and can be useful for lots of tasks outside of software development, too.