Blog
Guides to getting things done for free, and notes on what we are building.
A free baby monitor app with no subscription: how Monitor compares
Monitor turns two phones into a free baby monitor with no subscription and nothing recorded. How it compares with Baby Monitor 3G, Cloud Baby Monitor and Nanit.
A free Calendly alternative for Google Meet
Book is a free booking page that puts your Google Meet link on every booking. It does not read your calendar, and here is what that means in practice.
A free Calm and Headspace alternative, with nothing locked
What the free versions of Calm and Headspace really include, from their own help centers, and a free app for breathing, meditation and sleep sounds.
A free Doodle alternative: find a time for a group with no ads
Doodle's free plan allows one group poll, and only its paid plans are ad-free. Here are free scheduling polls with no ads, checked on each vendor's own site.
A free Duolingo alternative with no hearts, no energy and no ads
On phones, Duolingo's free plan limits practice with Energy and shows ads. How Energy works, what Super adds, and a free app with unlimited mistakes.
A free form backend for any website: a Formspree alternative
Point your HTML form's action at a Forms endpoint and collect submissions with no server and no monthly cap. The code and the steps, start to finish.
A free invoice generator with no watermark, and what to put on an invoice
Make a clean PDF invoice for free, with no watermark and no account. Plus a checklist of what every invoice should include and how the totals work.
Bitly's free plan in 2026, and short links without ads or caps
Bitly's free plan allows 5 links and 2 QR codes a month, and it comes with ads. Here are free options without caps or ads, checked on each vendor's own site.
Free apps for new parents: a baby monitor, sleep sounds and help from family
Six free apps for new parents: a baby monitor from two phones, white noise with a sleep timer, a meal train, shared baby costs, family visits and a shower RSVP.
Free apps for students: language practice, resumes, PDFs and more
Free apps for student life, with no trial or subscription: language practice, a first resume, PDF tools, lecture transcripts, splitting rent and group projects.
Free Linktree alternatives with no fees on your sales
Linktree keeps 0% seller fees for its Pro plan and up. Here are free link-in-bio pages, each free plan checked on the vendor's own site, and what Bio does differently.
Free software you can count on: two sides, one promise
The OpenApps store now has apps for work and for life, and one promise. What reputable, secure, reliable and stays free mean, plus three new apps for life.
Free voice dictation that stays on your device: a Wispr Flow alternative
Dictate turns speech into text in your browser, with no word cap and no upload. It is a dictation pad, not system-wide. Here is when it fits.
Free white noise, pink noise and brown noise for sleep or focus
What white, pink and brown noise are, which one to try for sleep or focus, and a free mixer with a fading sleep timer and no daily time limit.
Give your AI assistant free apps: the OpenApps MCP, llms.txt and APIs
Add one MCP URL and your assistant can send contracts for signature, make forms, split costs, shorten links, find times and make invoices, free.
How to compress images without uploading them: a TinyPNG alternative
Images compresses JPG, PNG and WebP in your browser, so nothing is uploaded and there is no batch or size cap. How to do it, and which format to pick.
How to do box breathing and 4-7-8 breathing, step by step
Step-by-step guides to box breathing, 4-7-8 and coherent breathing, when people use each, gentle cautions, and a free app that counts for you.
How to have ChatGPT, Claude or any AI assistant send a contract for signature
Add the OpenApps MCP server or point your assistant at Sign's API. It can draft a contract, send it for signature and return a link for each signer.
How to merge PDFs for free without uploading them
Open PDF in your browser, drop in your files, put them in order and download one PDF. Nothing is uploaded, with no daily limit and no watermark.
How to sign a PDF for free, without an account
Upload the PDF to Sign, add yourself or others as signers, sign from a private link and download the signed copy. Free, with no account.
How to split rent and bills with roommates fairly
Three fair ways to split rent with roommates: equally, by room size, or by income, with worked numbers for each, plus how to handle bills.
How to transcribe audio for free without uploading it: an Otter alternative
Drop a recording into Dictate and get a transcript with timestamps and .srt subtitles, made on your own device. No minute caps and no upload.
How to use an old phone as a baby monitor, for free
Turn an old phone into a free baby monitor in a few minutes: where to put it, how to pair it, the settings that matter, and what a phone monitor cannot do.
Remove an image background for free at full resolution
Images removes backgrounds on your device at full resolution, with no credits and no upload. How to do it, what works well, and when to pay instead.
Splitwise's daily expense limit, and a free alternative with no cap
Splitwise's free version caps how many expenses you can add each day. What we could confirm about the limit, your options, and a free alternative with no cap.
The best free language learning apps in 2026, honestly compared
What is really free in Duolingo, Babbel, Busuu, Memrise and Rosetta Stone in 2026, which free app to start with, and how to learn in 10 minutes a day.
The best free Loom alternatives, with no 5-minute limit
Loom's free plan stops each recording at 5 minutes and 25 videos. Here are free screen recorders, each checked on its own site, and where each one falls short.
The best free remove.bg alternatives at full resolution
remove.bg's free previews stop at 0.25 megapixels, and full resolution costs a credit. Here are free background removers, each checked on its own site.
The best free Smallpdf alternatives, with no daily limit
Smallpdf's free plan has a daily download limit. Here are free PDF tools, each checked on its own site, including ones that never upload your files.
The best free Typeform alternatives with unlimited responses
Typeform's free plan stops at 10 responses a month. Here are free form builders with no response cap, with each free plan checked on the vendor's own site.
Why "free" QR codes stop working, and how to make one that never expires
Many free QR generators make dynamic codes that stop working when a trial ends. Here is why, how to check yours, and how to make one that lasts.
Why these apps are free, and what "at cost" means
OpenApps apps are free because they cost almost nothing to run. If one ever has a real cost per use, it charges exactly that cost and says so up front.
Introducing OpenApps: free versions of the apps you pay for
We are building free alternatives to the simple apps people pay for every month, starting with e-signatures, forms, expense splitting, short links, scheduling polls, PDF tools and invoices.
The best free DocuSign alternatives in 2026
DocuSign has no free plan, and its Personal plan stops at five envelopes a month. Here are the free alternatives, with each free plan checked on the vendor's own site.