4 tiny open-source tools that save me hours every week

After years of working with various tools designed to make my writing process faster and more efficient — including both paid and free ones — I've found out that, for obvious reasons, paid versions are often the best overall. But before you toss free software into your recycle bin, hear me out.

Open-source software might just be what you need and may even have some benefits that paid software can't boast of. For example, since the source codes of these tools are readily available online, their continuity is almost guaranteed. The codes can also be easily tweaked to fit your particular needs. Here are four tools I use in my writing that would make you reconsider opting for their paid alternatives.

LibreOffice

Replace all of Microsoft 365

LibreOffice is the perfect alternative to Microsoft's Office 365 suite, offering powerful and free alternatives to PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. With recent price hikes affecting the paid offering from Microsoft, there's no better time to jump ship and try out something new. Writer, Calc, and Impress are for writing, spreadsheets, and presentation slides, and they work extremely well.

The best part is that these tools are interoperable with Microsoft-managed file formats, so that you can open all of your Word documents, XLSX Excel spreadsheets, and PPT PowerPoint files. As a writer, it's one of the best open source suites out there, and it deserves a spot on your PC. Technically speaking, the entire LibreOffice suite isn't tiny, but each individual program across the suite is. You'll use up just over half a gigabyte for the whole of the suite, and it's incredibly lightweight, too.

Invoice Ninja

Quick invoice maker

This open-source invoice platform allows you to create quick and professional invoices to receive payment from clients. Once you provide the unit cost, the total cost is auto-calculated. It also presents a text field where you can input a detailed description of goods sold or the services you provided for clients. If you have different goods or services with varying unit prices, simply add them, and the platform will auto-calculate your new total.

I find this tool easy to use as I don't need to waste time creating client invoices. Another fascinating feature I enjoy using on Invoice Ninja is the Client feature. It allows me to save several reusable details about my clients, including name, email, website, and more. So with these details, once I edit my invoice, I can simply forward it to the client's email without using my email account on the web or app.

GIMP

Free image editing tool

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is hands down the best open-source photo editing software that I know of, and for its zero-dollar price tag, it packs a punch. For someone like me, who feels web articles are incomplete without pictures, GIMP sure comes in handy. I prefer taking pictures for my articles myself, and there comes the need to have them edited too.

With GIMP, you can create blog header images that pair seamlessly with your writing. And if you prefer to use stock photos, this invaluable software will still come in handy for making minor edits such as resizing, cropping, and color adjustment. And no, GIMP's capabilities are not limited to minor edits. It's well equipped for advanced photo retouching. For example, you can eliminate unnecessary details and imperfections with the clone and healing tool.

I also enjoy using GIMP's customizable interface. With the widget theme, you can change colors, icon sizes, and widget spacings to exactly what you want. This impressive app also features a full-screen mode, which allows you to edit while making the most of your screen estate.

Joplin

Note-taking made easy

Joplin is another game-changer when it comes to freelance writing. This exciting open-source gem takes note-taking a notch higher, adding a whole new level of organization to my workflow. For example, I typically create two top-level categories of notebooks: Clients and Research.

Inside the client's notebook, I often have a notebook for each client, titled by the client's name. Also, inside each client's notebook are important information such as the brief, deadline, expected word count, and call notes. It is like the one-stop for all my clients' info as opposed to scattering information across emails or various Google Docs.

Joplin also comes in handy for tracking tasks and deadlines. Since it has built-in to-do notes with accompanying checkboxes and due dates, I create a task note per assignment and tag each note as draft, revision, submitted, or paid. I also get to sort tasks by due date. That way, I rarely miss a deadline.

Explore more open source tools

These are my favorite open-source software as they apply to my writing needs. Most of them might be useful to you, too, especially if you are a business owner, since almost all businesses create invoices, use images, and take notes. However, you may also want to explore other open-source apps, and you could be pleasantly surprised at how useful these tools can be. Sure, there are some premium features you will rarely find in open-source alternatives, but you may realize that the trade-offs are well worth it.