Free Open Source Software can save you a lot of money.
There’s a growing community of people developing and using Open Source Software. They call it “free as in freedom.” This means that you’re free to use it how you please, without forced updates, and you can configure it to work with your unique process.
Additionally, Free Open Source also means free as in no financial cost. This sounds too good to be true. Why would any business give away software that others profit?
Open Source is Good Business
Proving the success of this business style is Raleigh’s Fortune 500 industry leader, Red Hat. They develop and offer a free alternative to Windows called the Linux Operating System. Red Hat pioneered the open-source business model by charging for quality service and giving away their software.
Because they are so successful Red Hat boasted nearly 3.5 Billion dollars revenue in 2019 with nearly half a billion in profit!
Good Software Should be Free for All
However not everyone is in it for the money, others volunteer with online communities making free software because they believe great tools should be available to all people.
Many of these are developed in a way that they run the same on Windows, MacOS, Linux, or any device, adding further benefits.
Quit paying monthly subscriptions or big licensing costs for your software tools now and you’ll save from $32-$100 per month per person.
Free Open Source Solutions
If you use commercial software there’s often a great Free Open Source solution waiting for you.
Save with these free open source solutions:
| Use | Commercial Software | Free Open Source Alternative | Avg Cost Paid/Saved |
| Image Editing | Adobe Photoshop | GNU Image Manipulation Program Krita | $21/mo |
| Vector Graphics Design | Adobe Illustrator | Inkscape | $21/mo |
| Office (Word Processor, SpreadSheet, Presentations) | Microsoft Office 365 | LibreOffice OpenOffice | $5-$20/mo |
| Simple PDF Editing | Adobe Acrobat Standard DC | LibreOffice Inkscape | $13-$15/mo |
| Email Client | Microsoft Outlook | Thunderbird | *Typically included with MS 365 |
| Video, Voice, and Text Chat | Zoom; MS Teams; Slack Chat | Nextcloud Talk | $7-20/mo |
| Video Editing | Adobe Premier Pro | KdenLive OpenShot | $21/mo |
| Publishing Designer | Adobe InDesign | Scribus | $21/mo |
| Grand Total | Low: $32/mo | High: $100/mo |
You may want help setting up a server to run software like Nextcloud. Perhaps you want to ask about other free open source solutions. Please contact us and we would be glad to consult with you on how you can host a server or help you find cost savings.