Best Free Business Software in 2026: 21 Free Alternatives to Paid Apps

Free Mailchimp alternatives

$20.00/mo

MailerLite Established
Email newsletter and automation tool. The free plan covers up to 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month, 2 users and basic automations, but emails carry MailerLite branding.
Brevo Established
Email marketing platform whose free plan lets you send up to 300 emails a day (about 9,000 a month) with no credit card. Emails carry Brevo branding, and only one user is included.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) Established
Creator newsletter platform. The free Newsletter plan allows up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts, forms and landing pages, but no automated sequences, Kit branding stays on, and there is one user.
Buttondown Established
Simple, privacy-focused newsletter tool with a Markdown editor. Free for your first 100 subscribers; tagging, analytics and paid subscriptions cost extra.

$12.00/mo

Cal.com Established
Open-source scheduling tool. The free Individual plan has unlimited event types and calendars, payments, and 100+ integrations; round-robin and team scheduling need a paid plan.
Google Calendar appointment schedules Established
Built into Google Calendar. A free personal Google account gets one booking page; unlimited pages, email reminders and checking multiple calendars require Workspace or Google One Premium.
Zcal Solid
Scheduling app with a free-forever plan for personal use: unlimited booking links, meeting polls, calendar sync, video-call integrations, email reminders and Stripe payments, with no ads.
Calendly (free plan) Established
Calendly's own free plan keeps one event type, one connected calendar and a customizable booking page for one-on-one meetings.

$8.75/mo

Discord Established
Free chat, voice and video app with servers and channels. Fine for communities and small teams, but it lacks business admin, compliance and integration tools.
Element (Matrix) Established
Open-source, end-to-end encrypted team chat on the Matrix network. Free to use on public servers or to self-host; managed business hosting costs extra.
Zulip Established
Open-source team chat organized by topic threads. Zulip Cloud Free keeps 10,000 messages of search history and 5 GB of storage; self-hosting is free with all features (mobile push for up to 10 users unless you qualify).
Slack (free plan) Established
Slack's free plan works for small teams, but messages and files are only visible for 90 days and free-plan data is deleted after one year.

$18.00/mo

Loom (free Starter plan) Established
Loom's free plan allows up to 25 videos per person, 5-minute screen recordings and 720p quality.
OBS Studio Established
Free, open-source screen recording and streaming software with no time limits or watermark. Steeper learning curve, and there is no built-in share-a-link hosting.
ScreenPal Established
Screen and webcam recorder (formerly Screencast-O-Matic). The free plan has no watermark but caps recordings at 15 minutes, hosts up to 10 videos and does not record system audio.
Microsoft Clipchamp Established
Microsoft's video editor with a built-in screen, camera and voice recorder. The free plan exports unlimited, watermark-free videos at up to 1080p; premium stock and 4K cost extra.
ShareX Established
Free, open-source Windows tool for screenshots and screen recordings (video or GIF), with optional uploads to many hosting services.

$38.00/mo

Wave Established
Small-business accounting and invoicing. The free Starter plan covers unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping, but automatic bank imports and receipt capture are paid (Pro is $19/month), and card payments carry fees.
Manager.io Established
Full double-entry accounting software (invoicing, bank reconciliation, reports). The desktop edition is free with no time limit; the hosted cloud edition is paid.
GnuCash Established
Free, open-source double-entry accounting for personal and small-business books, including invoicing and reports. Desktop only, with a dated interface and no cloud sync.
Akaunting Established
Open-source accounting software you can self-host for free (invoicing, expenses, reports). The hosted cloud plans and many add-on apps cost extra (cloud from $12/month).