Cross‑platform USB/SD card image flasher with a clean UI and smart safety features.

⚡ Fast, minimal interface

🗜️ Handles writing compressed images (ZIP, GZ, BZ2, XZ) directly unlike Refus

🛡️ Validates writes to avoid corrupted media

🚫 Hides system drives to prevent accidental nuking

🧩 Works on Windows, macOS (Intel/ARM), and Linux

👐 Open‑source and actively maintained

Ideal for prepping bootable ISOs, installers, and homelab recovery media.

Saltcorn is an MIT‑licensed platform for building full database‑driven web applications without writing code. Its point‑and‑click interface and drag‑and‑drop builder make it possible to create complete apps quickly and visually.

Key Features

• Drag‑and‑drop page builder

• Relational database management

• Web + mobile‑friendly apps

• PDF generation & email support

• Themes and plugin ecosystem

• Free, open‑source, MIT‑licensed

• Self‑hostable via Docker or NPM

• Trial hosting available on Saltcorn.com

Example Use Cases

• Wikis

• Issue trackers

• Dashboards

• Forums

• Project management tools

• Todo lists

• Software directories

LibreELEC is a “just enough OS” designed to run Kodi with maximum stability and minimum fuss. It strips away everything unnecessary, leaving a fast, appliance‑like media experience that works brilliantly on small devices and living‑room setups.

If you want a clean, reliable, open‑source media center that stays out of the way and simply plays your content, LibreELEC remains one of the best options out there.

If you’ve ever looked up at the night sky and wondered “What star is that?”, Stellarium answers it beautifully.

🪐 Realistic sky rendering
🔭 Telescope control support
🌙 Perfect for the curious, casual stargazers and serious astronomy nerds
💻 Runs on desktop, mobile, and even in the browser

It’s clean, powerful, and completely free

VirtualBox remains one of the most capable and flexible virtualization platforms out there — fully open‑source, cross‑platform, and backed by a massive community. Whether you're running a homelab, testing OS builds, or isolating workloads, it delivers a clean, reliable experience.

Why it stands out:

🚀 Full virtualization for x86_64, plus macOS/Arm (7.1) and Windows/Arm (7.2) support

🧩 Works across laptops, desktops, servers, and embedded systems

📚 Excellent documentation, tutorials, and training resources

🛠️ Active community with forums, test builds, and contribution opportunities

🆕 Frequent updates

If you need a dependable VM solution without vendor lock‑in, VirtualBox is still a rock‑solid choice.

Immich.app has become one of the most polished, privacy‑respecting photo solutions out there. If you’re tired of cloud lock‑in, slow syncing, or subscription creep, this project feels like a breath of fresh air.

✨ Why it stands out

🚀 Lightning‑fast uploads and browsing

🔒 100% self‑hosted with full data ownership

🤖 Smart search, face recognition, and maps

📱 Excellent mobile apps for seamless backup

🧩 Clean UI and active development

If you’re building a privacy‑first homelab or replacing Google Photos, Immich deserves a spot on your shortlist. It’s one of those tools that feels both powerful and thoughtfully designed.

A powerful, fully open‑source deepfake framework built on TensorFlow and Keras.

Faceswap runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, with an active community, detailed guides, and a modular workflow for extraction, training, and conversion.

Ideal for researchers, VFX hobbyists, and anyone exploring machine‑learning‑based face manipulation in an ethical, transparent way.

If Windows feels a bit too chatty, cluttered, or nosy, this script is a relief.

Win11Debloat is a lightweight PowerShell tool that removes pre‑installed apps, disables telemetry, and tidies up the overall experience. It works on both Windows 10 and 11.

It’s straightforward, configurable, and perfect for anyone who wants a cleaner, quieter system without wrestling with menus or registry edits. A small script with a big impact.

CrystalDiskInfo is a lightweight, open‑source HDD/SSD/NVMe monitoring tool that gives you instant visibility into drive health, temperature, SMART attributes, and early‑warning signs of failure

Highlights

📊 SMART health status + temperature display

🔔 Alarm notifications for failing drives

🧩 Supports USB, RAID, and NVMe devices

🪶 Extremely lightweight and easy to use

Perfect for anyone who wants proactive drive monitoring without bloat. A must‑have in any diagnostic or maintenance toolkit.

A lightweight, all‑in‑one stack for spinning up a local PHP environment in minutes. XAMPP bundles Apache, MariaDB, PHP, and Perl into a single installer, giving you a fast, frictionless way to test, prototype, or run local tools without touching system configs. Ideal for anyone who wants a simple, predictable dev setup that just works.

Highlights

• Apache, MariaDB, PHP, and Perl packaged together

• Cross‑platform installers (Windows, Linux, macOS)

• Minimal configuration; great for quick testing

• Open‑source and maintained by Apache Friends

• Reliable option for local development and demos

KMyMoney is a free, open‑source personal finance manager built on KDE technologies, offering a familiar and accurate way to track accounts, budgets, and transactions without relying on proprietary cloud services.

It’s available across major platforms and designed for users who want clarity and control over their financial data.

Highlights

🧮 Accurate & familiar — Double‑entry accounting with a clean, intuitive interface.

💻 Cross‑platform — Runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS.

🔒 Privacy‑respecting — No forced cloud sync; your data stays local.

🛠️ KDE frameworks — Stable, well‑maintained, and community‑driven.

📊 Feature‑rich — Categories, budgets, reports, reconciliation, and more.

Why it matters
If you want a dependable finance tool without subscriptions, tracking, or vendor lock‑in, KMyMoney delivers a solid, transparent alternative that fits perfectly into a privacy‑focused workflow.

🛠 Key Features

🗂 Create unlimited boards, lists, and cards for projects

🔄 Drag-and-drop workflow: “To Do,” “Doing,” “Done”

📝 Cards with titles, descriptions, due dates, labels, attachments, and comments

👥 Multi-user collaboration with role-based permissions

🔒 Self-hosted option for full data control and privacy

🌐 Access controls to limit visibility/editing per board or user

🛡 Security-focused: open-source code, community-audited for vulnerabilities

📥 Import Trello JSON & attachments with built-in migration tools

💡 Why it matters WeKan is a community-driven, open-source alternative to Trello. It’s lightweight, customizable, and privacy-respecting — ideal for teams that want control over their workflows without vendor lock-in.

📣 Takeaway If you need a flexible, secure, and self-hosted Kanban solution, WeKan delivers simplicity with power.

🛠 Key Features

⚡ Modern stack: PHP 8.4, Laravel 12, Filament

🔒 Enterprise-grade security, scalable architecture

👥 Contact & company profiles with full interaction history

📊 Sales pipeline visualization with custom stages

📝 AI-powered summaries of notes, tasks, and deals

🔄 CSV import/export for seamless migration

🌐 Multi-workspace support, role-based permissions, real-time notifications

💡 Why it matters Relaticle is a community-driven, open-source CRM designed for simplicity and efficiency. It’s free forever, self-hosted, and customizable — giving you full control without compromises. Perfect for teams that value transparency, collaboration, and adaptability.

📣 Takeaway If you’re tired of bloated, closed CRMs, Relaticle offers a lightweight, privacy-respecting alternative that grows with your business.

Ollama makes it easy to run large language models (LLMs) locally on your computer. It provides a lightweight runtime with an OpenAI-compatible API, model library, and simple installation process.

With Ollama, you can download and run models like LLaMA, Mistral, Gemma, Phi, and more directly on macOS, Linux, or Windows.

It supports GPU acceleration, custom model creation, and integration with developer tools. Designed for privacy and control, Ollama keeps all data on your machine while enabling powerful AI workflows without relying on cloud services.

Notes:

🖥️ Run LLMs locally with minimal setup.

📦 Includes a growing library of prebuilt models.

⚡ Supports GPU acceleration for faster inference.

🔒 Privacy-first: data stays on your device.

🔧 Developer-friendly with OpenAI-compatible API.

🌍 Cross-platform: macOS, Linux, Windows

Audiobookshelf is an open‑source, self‑hosted server designed for managing and streaming your audiobook and podcast collection. It gives you full control over your library, with a clean web interface and mobile apps that make listening seamless across devices. Perfect for anyone who wants to own their media without relying on third‑party platforms.

Key Features

📚 Self‑hosted – Run on your own server, keep complete control of your library.

🌐 Web interface – Browse, manage, and stream audiobooks and podcasts from any browser.

📱 Mobile apps – Native apps for iOS and Android with offline listening support.

🔖 Bookmarks & progress sync – Resume playback across devices with synced progress.

🎨 Metadata management – Edit titles, authors, covers, and organize your collection.

🛠️ Open source – Actively developed with contributions from the community.

🔒 Privacy‑friendly – No external dependencies or tracking.

Flying Carpet is an open‑source project that makes file transfer across devices simple and secure. Think of it as a cross‑platform alternative to AirDrop: no central server, no complicated setup, just two devices in close range using WiFi (and optionally Bluetooth). It’s designed to work seamlessly across Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Key Features

📱 Cross‑platform support – Works on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows.

📡 Ad hoc WiFi transfers – No network infrastructure required; devices connect directly.

🔒 Optional Bluetooth negotiation – Adds flexibility for initiating transfers.

⚡ Fast & lightweight – Simple interface, efficient transfer speeds.

🛠️ Open source – Built in Rust and Kotlin, available on GitHub for contributions.

🎥 Demo video & installers – Easy to get started with prebuilt binaries and clear documentation.

Quick links to app stores are on the github page. For Windows, Linux and MacOS look under "Releases" under the "About" section.

Helium is an innovative browser project that rethinks how we interact with the web. Instead of being just another tabbed browser, it positions itself as a lightweight, extensible environment where apps, protocols, and decentralized services can live side by side. Its goal is to make the internet more open, customizable, and user‑controlled.

Key Features

🌐 Protocol-first design – Supports not only HTTP(S) but also alternative and decentralized protocols.

⚡ Lightweight & fast – Minimal overhead, designed for speed and efficiency.

🔌 Extensible architecture – Developers can build and plug in new modules easily.

🔒 Privacy-conscious – Focus on user control, transparency, and reduced tracking.

🛠️ Open source – Built openly, encouraging contributions and experimentation.

🖥️ Cross-platform – Works across major operating systems with a consistent experience.

At the time of this post the project is in ALPHA

Super Grub Disk and its companion Rescatux are open‑source rescue tools designed to help users recover broken bootloaders and operating systems. Whether you’ve lost access to GNU/Linux or Windows after an update, a reinstall, or a misconfiguration, these utilities provide a simple, wizard‑driven interface to restore functionality and get your system back online.

⭐ Features
🔧 Bootloader recovery — Restore GRUB1/GRUB2 or Windows MBR with ease.

🖥️ Cross‑platform support — Works with GNU/Linux and Windows installations.

🪄 Rescapp wizard — Guided interface for filesystem checks, password resets, and GRUB fixes.

🔑 Password tools — Clear or reset Windows and GNU/Linux user passwords.

📂 Filesystem repair — Detect and fix corrupted filesystems to prevent boot errors.

🛠️ Expert tools — Includes GParted, TestDisk, Photorec, and other recovery utilities.

🌍 Community support — Share logs directly to forums or chat for collaborative troubleshooting.

💿 Lightweight ISO — Fits on CD/DVD or USB for quick bootable rescue media.

Wealthfolio is a beautiful, open-source portfolio tracker that runs locally on your devices. It helps you monitor all your accounts in one place, analyze performance, track dividends and fees, and set financial goals — all while keeping your data private and under your control.

⭐ Features

🔒 Privacy-first — Runs locally, keeping your financial data secure and offline.

📂 Account aggregation — Import CSV statements and view all accounts together.

📊 Analytics — Track asset allocation, fees, dividends, and interest earnings.

📈 Performance insights — Compare accounts against indexes and ETFs, view past trends.

🎯 Goal tracking — Define financial goals and monitor progress visually.

📅 Trading tracker — Simple swing stock trading with calendar views and performance analytics.

🛠️ Open-source — Transparent, community-driven development.

Castopod is a free, open-source podcast hosting platform that gives creators full control over their shows. With built-in support for Podcasting 2.0 and the fediverse, it empowers podcasters to self-host, engage directly with listeners, and distribute episodes everywhere without middlemen.

⭐ Features
🔒 Self-hosting freedom — Your podcast, your data, your rules.

🌐 Fediverse integration — Share, like, and comment across decentralized social networks.

📡 Cross-platform distribution — Publish once, appear everywhere (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Deezer, etc.).

🎬 Promotion tools — Create video clips & soundbites for social media.

📊 Analytics — IABv2-compliant insights with privacy-respecting listener data.

💰 Monetization options — Subscriptions, micropayments, tips, or embedded ads.

🆕 Podcasting 2.0 features — Add transcripts, chapters, persons, locations, and more.

🛠️ Open-source license — AGPL v3, community-driven and transparent.